Burglar Alarms

* I understand the Los Angeles Police Department’s frustration with responding to false alarms (Feb 9). But if Chief Bernard Parks is under pressure to cut his budget and sees responding to burglar alarms as a drain on LAPD resources, just what does “about $8 million in revenues last year” from permit fees and fines get us? Seems to me that $8 million for the “equivalent of 41 officers” comes to about $195,000 per officer for the past year. In essence, aren’t we alarm owners paying for our burden to the LAPD?

Chief Parks and his budget analysts point to the volume of false alarms and propose reducing response to cut spending. Assuming permit fees and fines are not going to be lowered, revenues will not be cut. What is going to happen to those moneys?

MARIA W. WHITE

Woodland Hills