CALIFORNIA BRIEFING / LOS ANGELES

A City Council committee approved a new policy Monday that would require alarm companies to ensure all customers had obtained a mandatory permit and paid a $31 fee before installing the security devices in any residence or business.

Councilwoman Wendy Greuel, who sponsored the ordinance approved by the Public Safety Committee, said she hoped the new requirements would help the city recoup lost dollars. In 2007, 93% of the burglar alarm calls that the Los Angeles Police Department handled were false, according to officials at the Police Commission.

In her argument for the new ordinance, which must be approved by the full City Council, Greuel noted that responding to those false alarms amounted to 15% of LAPD officers’ time.

City billings for false alarms totaled $26.8 million between 2004 and 2006, but city officials have not collected much of that money because so many residents and business owners do not have proper permits for their alarms, making it difficult for the city to bill them.