Police refuse to respond to burglar alarm

FORT WORTH, Texas, Nov. 6 (UPI) -- A Texas man said police refused to respond to his report of a burglar alarm going off at his business because he had not paid a $50 annual fee.

Leroy Reber said he received a text message around 4 a.m. from the burglar alarm at his Fort Worth business, DFW Wholesale Security, and he got on his computer and viewed a live video feed of a burglar attempting to break into the store before repeatedly backing his van into the corner of the building, the Fort Worth (Texas) Star-Telegram reported Tuesday.

However, Reber said the 911 dispatcher refused to send police to the scene because he has not paid his $50 annual alarm permit fee.

"The dispatcher said, 'No, we can't send. We can't dispatch to that,'" Reber said. "I told them someone was there at that moment committing a crime and they still said 'no.'"

"I just don't understand why they wouldn't respond when I knew there was a burglar at my business at that moment," he said.

Police officials said the "no permit, no response" policy was a result of officers responding to more than 65,000 false alarms per year prior to the policy being put in place in 2003.

Fort Worth police said they are investigating the incident.

Reber said the burglar did not make it into the building, but $10,000 worth of damage was sustained by the structure.