Fishers Police Department: Public nuisance order led to 30% drop in excessive 911 calls

FISHERS, Ind. - The Fishers Police Department has reported a 30% reduction in excessive 911 calls from businesses in the past year and a half. Police attribute the decline to their enforcement of a public safety nuisance order.




Back in 2023, leaders with the City of Fishers said police resources were unnecessarily strained by businesses, particularly hotels and large retailers, calling 911 too frequently. So, they cracked down with an ordinance that could impose $250 fines after 15 or more calls, saying they were concerned that police or fire responses to urgent needs could be slowed down by avoidable calls.




"In particular, one hotel had a 911 button on their phones that their housekeeping was actually hitting when they went to pick up a handset to clean it," said Major Mike Janes with Fishers PD. "Through working with the hotel, they ended up replacing all of the phones with just a different style of phone, and we went to almost no hang up 911 calls at that particular hotel."




Janes said the ordinance has had an overwhelmingly successful impact. By sitting down with business owners, police have been able to solve the underlying issues that were leading to excessive 911 calls.




"One of our local apartment complexes had a 911 phone built into the wall that was basically a button and a speaker phone. What we found is that as kids or teens were walking by, they were pressing the button and not even sticking around, which made it so that we had to go out there. We worked with them and they were able to put a specialized cover over it that still allows access to it but takes an extra step. And just by doing that, we dropped the amount of times that our officers had to respond out there."




Under the ordinance, after seven complaints, a business will receive a warning notification. After 10 complaints, the business is required to meet with the public safety team and enter a remediation agreement within a month. Failure to comply will lead to a fine for each violation after the 15th complaint and a "chronic violator" designation for six months.




Fishers police indicated that businesses have been cooperative. The department has earned back roughly 321 hours to be more proactive in the community, and one hotel dropped from 26 calls to zero.




"Some of our most egregious offender businesses have dropped significantly in the calls for service because they've done things like make sure their alarm system is working properly so we're not getting repeated false alarms nearly every single night," Janes said.




Since the ordinance took effect, the city has met with 33 businesses. But officials were able to create plans with each business and avoid issuing even a single fine.




"What we've found in this relationship is our members are able to come to us with their problems, and it's a win for us, it's a win for the city that we can help solve that problem for them," said OneZone Chamber President and CEO Jack Russell.




Russell added that seeing the results of the ordinance has also been positive on the business side.




"Who would've thought that an ordinance like this would have really, really opened communication for the entire city and our businesses?" Russell said.



via: https://fox59.com/news/fishers-police-department-public-nuisance-order-led-to-30-drop-in-excessive-911-calls/