Ordinance geared towards eliminating nuisance 911 calls

SOUTH BEND, Ind. -- A South Bend council member has introduced an ordinance that would penalize people who call 9-1-1 repeatedly, but don’t have an emergency.

According to police, certain properties in South Bend are responsible for a large number of 9-1-1 calls, causing the city’s safety resources to be pooled at those locations.

South Bend Council Member Tim Scott introduced an ordinance to get to the root of the problem, to try to eliminate unnecessary responses to what are considered problem properties.

If the ordinance passes, if police are called to a residence more than 5 times in a 2 month period, the property owner will be fined $250.

The ordinance will not apply if someone is calling about a true emergency.

If the ordinance passes, it will likely go into effect by May.