The council voted 12-1 on Thursday, with Hanifa Shabazz dissenting.
Before the program went into effect, Wilmington police responded to about 14,000 alarms annually. About half of those were false. Lieutenant Bruno Battaglia, the program's administrator, says since October 1, there have been 4,724 alarms.
But Councilman Michael A. Brown Sr. introduced the measure to eliminate the renewal fee because many constituents objected to it.
Battaglia says people who register their systems for the first time still must pay a one-time fee of $20.
--- Information from: The (Wilmington, Del.) News Journal, http://www.delawareonline.com
