The City of Kamloops is moving to strengthen its security alarm bylaw in an effort to reduce the growing number of false alarm calls that are consuming RCMP resources and costing taxpayers thousands of dollars each year.

Council’s committee of the whole on Tuesday endorsed a recommendation to bring forward a new Security Alarm System Bylaw, along with amendments to the city’s fees and charges bylaw and municipal ticket information bylaw.

According to city staff, RCMP responded to 840 alarm-related calls within Kamloops city limits in 2025. Of those calls, 573 — nearly 70% — were determined to be false alarms.

Municipal Support Services Manager Alisha Beday told council the false alarms resulted in approximately 590 hours of RCMP time being spent on incidents that ultimately did not require police intervention.

“It’s estimated that in 2025 there was approximately 590 RCMP hours that were spent responding to false alarms, which represents an estimated cost of $61,360,” Beday said during her presentation.

The city says the increase is tied in part to the growing use of security systems in homes and businesses, combined with user errors, equipment malfunctions and inadequate staff training.

The proposed bylaw would introduce stricter penalties for repeat false alarms, particularly among commercial businesses that repeatedly trigger police responses.

In 2025, RCMP attended 140 commercial hold-up alarm calls — a 31% increase from the previous year. All were ultimately determined to be false alarms.

Beday said some businesses generated repeated calls for service.

“Throughout the calendar year, the RCMP responded to 20 hold-up alarms resulting from one business in particular, all of which were determined false once attended to by RCMP members,” she said.

Under the proposed changes, commercial hold-up alarms would no longer receive a free first false alarm. Repeat false alarms would face escalating fees, with some commercial alarm violations reaching as high as $5,000 for repeated offences.

The bylaw would also allow the city to issue municipal tickets for failing to properly maintain alarm systems, failing to provide emergency contacts and failing to verify alarms before contacting police.

Several councillors supported the objective of reducing unnecessary police calls but raised concerns about businesses operating in high-crime areas.

Councillor Bill Sarai questioned whether businesses should be penalized when alarms are triggered by attempted break-ins, particularly in neighbourhoods that experience frequent property crime.

“I’m looking at the areas of town that are already struggling with break and enters,” Sarai said. “That, to me, our obligation should be to protect them.”

Mayor Reid Hamer-Jackson echoed those concerns, suggesting some areas of the city experience significantly higher levels of crime and emergency calls than others.

“I really believe that we need to deal with the mental health and addiction problem, which is going to help all that,” the mayor said during the discussion.

However, staff emphasized that legitimate break-in attempts would not be classified as false alarms under the bylaw.

Beday explained that when officers attend an alarm and discover evidence of a crime, such as a broken window or forced entry, the call would not qualify as a false alarm and no fee would be issued.

“So, the incidents that you just outlined with respect to a broken window, that would not be deemed as a false alarm,” Beday said.

She added that the proposed bylaw includes a formal appeal process for property owners who believe they have been incorrectly charged. Staff also routinely review surveillance footage and additional information provided by businesses when determining whether a fee should stand.

Councillor Nancy Bepple cautioned against creating different alarm policies for different parts of the city, noting false alarms can occur anywhere.

“I don’t support making a policy specific to geography of the city,” Bepple said.

The proposed bylaw would also allow the city to recover costs when RCMP members are required to remain on scene because no contact person is available, as well as recover expenses associated with forced entry when an alarm is ultimately determined to be false.

If approved by council, the new bylaw and fee structure would take effect Sept. 1, 2026. The city says it plans to launch a public education campaign over the summer to inform businesses, residents and alarm monitoring companies about the changes.