More than $90,000 dollars in fines are being handed out to Anchorage businesses and homeowners where police say they've spent too much time responding to calls.
Police hope the hefty fine will turn things around.
Anchorage police say the Black Angus Inn was one of the worst offenders in 2013. The manager of the inn referred Channel 2 reporters to a property owner in California, but no calls were returned.
“We have certain locations in town that are resource users to the extreme,” said APD Lieutenant Garry Gilliam. He called the Black Angus Inn one of those “resource users.”
“The Anchorage police responded more than 390 times to that location in 2013," Lt. Gilliam said.
The inn’s property owner is now facing a $28,000 bill from police. Similar, the Econo Inn is facing $22,500 in fines, but its management declined to be interviewed.
APD charges $500 for each response to a location that's considered excessive. The limit for businesses is 100 calls in a year; for residences, it’s eight.
“They maxed out in June,” Gilliam said.
Gilliam said the ordinance that outlines charges for businesses and homes is not about making money.
“The reason is because this law, or this ordinance, gives the city the ability to encourage property owners to manage issues that are on their property." Gilliam said businesses are given a warning prior to reaching their limit. In 2013, he said a total of 10 locations will receive fines, eight of which are homes. Police said they responded to some of those homes more than 30 times.
Any response to domestic violence, sexual assault or serious medical emergencies do not count as excessive, even if the location has reached the maximum.
Most homeowners aren't yearly repeat offenders, but 2013 was the second year in a row that the Black Angus Inn received such fines.
“A lot of it comes down to poor business practices. A lot of it comes down to sloppy work on the management (and) the people that they hire to deal with it,” Gilliam said.
Police want businesses to make changes, like locking doors, installing better lighting, or hiring security.
Businesses can decide to pay for the changes, or pay up to police.