The rules at a glance
All figures retrieved September 2, 2026 from the linked city, sheriff, police department or municipal code. Click a city for the full rules. Where a city does not publish a figure, the cell says so instead of guessing.
| City | Unverified burglar alarm | Residential permit | Commercial permit | Free false alarms |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| AustinTexas | Responds | Not published | Not published | Not published |
| CharlotteNorth Carolina | No permit number, no dispatch | Not published | Not published | Not published |
| DallasTexas | Responds | $50/yr | $100/yr | 3 burglar |
| DenverColorado | Call verification required first | $25 | $25 | 5 before general response |
| Fort WorthTexas | Permit buys the response | $50/yr | $100/yr | 3 burglar + 2 panic |
| HoustonTexas | Responds; permit revocable | $50/yr | $134.28–$268.56 | 3 burglar + 1 panic |
| Los AngelesCalifornia | Responds | $60 then $31/yr | $60 then $31/yr | None |
| MinneapolisMinnesota | Responds, always | None until 1st false alarm | None until 1st false alarm | None ($30 on the first) |
| NashvilleTennessee | Responds to listed alarm types | $20/yr | $50/yr | 3 burglar + 2 panic + 2 fire |
| New YorkNew York | Responds | No permit | No permit | n/a |
| PhiladelphiaPennsylvania | Responds | $50/yr | $50/yr | 2 per year |
| PhoenixArizona | Responds | $17 | $17 | 1 per 365 days |
| PortlandOregon | Suspended after 4; video buys it back | $25/yr | $125/yr | 1 warning |
| Salt Lake CityUtah | No dispatch unless verified | Free | Free | n/a for burglar alarms |
| San AntonioTexas | Responds | $50 ($30 senior) | $200 + $200 fire | Not published |
| San DiegoCalifornia | Responds | Not published | Not published | Not published |
| San Diego CountyCalifornia (unincorporated) | Responds | $272 once | $272 once | Not stated |
| SeattleWashington | No dispatch without evidence | $10/yr via your alarm company | $10/yr via your alarm company | Cancel before dispatch |
The rules in full, city by city
Austin, Texas
Responds to unverified alarmsAustin Police DepartmentIf your burglar alarm is not verified: officers are dispatched and investigate; the cost of a false one is billed, not deducted from your right to a response.
Permit or registration
Required. "Any person or business that operates, maintains, or owns a monitored or local (audible) alarm system, as described in the City of Austin’s Alarm Ordinance, is required to have an alarm permit." Permit types are residential, commercial, and principal (apartment complex).
What it costs
| Residential | Not published |
| Commercial | Not published |
TermTwelve months. "The Alarm Permit is valid for 12 months and must be renewed annually."
Austin sets alarm permit fees in a separate Emergency Response and Assistance fee schedule that the alarm page links but that returned 404 when this database was compiled. The amounts circulating on alarm-industry sites disagree with each other, so no figure is printed here.
False alarms: what you get free
Not published
| Each police response to a non-permitted location | $220 |
| Class C misdemeanor, first occurrenceCharged in addition to the response fee | $75 |
| Class C misdemeanor, second and subsequent | $100 |
If you never got the permit
$220 for each response to a non-permitted location, plus Class C misdemeanor charges of $75 for the first occurrence and $100 for the second and subsequent. Unpaid response fees block the permit from becoming active.
When response is cut off
Not stated on the Alarm Administration page. The page describes an appeal process for false alarms but no response-suspension threshold.
The rule that sets this
City of Austin Code of Ordinances, Title 4, Chapter 4-2, Article 2 (the Alarm Ordinance)
- Austin Police: Alarm Administration. Permit duty, one-year term, $220 non-permitted response fee, Class C fines, code cite
Charlotte, North Carolina
Response can be withdrawnCharlotte-Mecklenburg Police DepartmentIf your burglar alarm is not verified: officers are dispatched, but only if your alarm company gives CMPD your permit number when it calls. Without a registered permit number there is no dispatch at all.
Permit or registration
Required. "If you have an electronic burglar alarm system installed within the city limits of Charlotte or the unincorporated areas of Mecklenburg County, it must be registered." Auto, fire and medical alarms are excluded. The permit is non-transferable and issued to a specific address.
What it costs
| Residential | Not published |
| Commercial | Not published |
TermTwelve months from the date of issuance
False alarms: what you get free
Not published
| False alarm finesCMPD publishes the appeal and payment process but not the schedule; the county ordinance PDF and the permit application both refused automated access when this database was compiled. | Not published |
If you never got the permit
"The police cannot respond to an alarm at your address unless the alarm company has this number when calling to request police dispatch." An unregistered alarm therefore produces no response, whatever the fine schedule says.
When response is cut off
Not read first-hand. CMPD states the False Alarm Reduction Unit handles all false alarm appeals as outlined in the appeal process, but no threshold could be read from an accessible official source.
The rule that sets this
Charlotte / Mecklenburg County Alarm Ordinance, adopted 1996
- CMPD: False Alarm Reduction. Registration duty across city and unincorporated county, 12-month term, the no-permit-number-no-dispatch rule, 98% false rate across 50,000+ annual alarm calls
Dallas, Texas
Responds to unverified alarmsDallas Police DepartmentIf your burglar alarm is not verified: officers are dispatched. Dallas is one of the US cities that adopted verified response and later reversed it; today the alarm gets a response and the false ones get billed.
Permit or registration
Required. "A security alarm permit is required if you have a security alarm that is audible and/or monitored to provide police response."
What it costs
| Residential | $50 / year |
| Commercial | $100 / year |
TermAnnual
False alarms: what you get free
Three free false burglar alarms per twelve-month period.
| 4th–6th false burglar alarm | $50 each |
| 7th–8th false burglar alarm | $75 each |
| 9th and subsequent false burglar alarm | $100 each |
| Panic / hold-up alarm, residence | $100 each |
| Panic / hold-up alarm, businessEscalating on the 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 4th and subsequent | $100 / $200 / $300 / $400 |
If you never got the permit
Not stated on the registration page.
When response is cut off
Not stated on the registration page.
The rule that sets this
Dallas City Code, security alarm registration
- City of Dallas: Special Collections, security alarm registration. Residence/business fee split, three free alarms, burglar and panic fine schedules
Denver, Colorado
Response can be withdrawnDenver Police DepartmentIf your burglar alarm is not verified: your monitoring company must attempt verification before it may request dispatch at all. Enhanced Call Verification is mandatory, meaning at least two separate calls to two different numbers. Officers then respond, until the location has accumulated enough upheld false alarms.
Permit or registration
Required for the alarm user, and separately required of any company that sells, installs, leases, maintains, repairs, replaces or monitors alarms. Alarm companies must check the permit status of their customers weekly.
What it costs
| Residential | $25 application fee |
| Commercial | $25 application fee |
TermOne year from the date of issue; renewal notice 30 days before expiry
False alarms: what you get free
Not stated as a free allowance; the consequence threshold is five upheld false alarms.
| False panic or hold-up alarmAssessed to the permit holder | $50 |
If you never got the permit
Non-permitted alarms may not be used, and alarm companies are directed to refer those calls rather than request dispatch.
When response is cut off
After five upheld false alarms the location moves to "general response": police are no longer automatically dispatched and the call goes out only as a general broadcast.
The rule that sets this
Denver Revised Municipal Code, burglar alarm provisions
- City and County of Denver: New alarm permit application. $25 application fee, one-year term, $50 panic false alarm fine, five-alarm general-response rule
- City and County of Denver: Stop false alarms. Enhanced Call Verification is mandatory; 83% of Denver alarm calls are false; 14,380 officer-hours and roughly $600,000 in 2023
Fort Worth, Texas
Response can be withdrawnFort Worth Police DepartmentIf your burglar alarm is not verified: officers are dispatched, and the permit is what buys that: "Property owners that install a monitored alarm system and wish to have a police response to an alarm activation must have an alarm permit."
Permit or registration
Required, issued by the Development Services Department, for any monitored alarm system whose owner wants a police response.
What it costs
| Residential | $50 / year |
| Commercial | $100 / year |
TermAnnual
False alarms: what you get free
Three false alarm calls plus two panic/robbery calls before service fees are assessed.
| 4th–5th false alarm in 12 months | $50 per call |
| 6th–7th false alarm in 12 months | $75 per call |
| 8th and beyond in 12 months | $100 per call |
If you never got the permit
Not stated on the alarms page.
When response is cut off
Excessive false alarms may result in revocation of the permit, "which would end police response to unverified alarms at your address."
The rule that sets this
Fort Worth False Alarm Reduction Program
- City of Fort Worth: Commercial and Residential Security System Alarm Permits. Permit-buys-response rule, $50/$100 split, allowance, escalating fees, revocation ends response
Houston, Texas
Response can be withdrawnHouston Police DepartmentIf your burglar alarm is not verified: officers are dispatched, and a false alarm counts against you only if police arrive within 65 minutes of the notification. Run past the allowance often enough and the permit is revoked.
Permit or registration
Required for both burglar and hold-up/panic alarms, issued by the Burglar Alarm Administration. Residential, non-residential/business and government sites are separate permit classes, and burglar and panic alarms are separately permitted.
What it costs
| Residential | $50 burglar alarm permit |
| Commercial | $134.28 burglar, or $134.28 hold-up/panic, or $268.56 for both |
Term12 months
An administrative fee of $33.56 is collected on any permit whose fee is greater than $50, which takes the non-residential permits to $167.84 and $335.68.
False alarms: what you get free
Within each 12-month permit period, residential and non-residential sites alike get three free false burglar alarms and one free false panic or hold-up alarm.
| Burglar, 4th and 5th false alarm | $50 each |
| Burglar, 6th and 7th false alarm | $75 each |
| Burglar, 8th and each additional | $100 each |
| Panic / hold-up, residential: 2nd / 3rd / 4th / 5th+ | $140.09 / $280.20 / $420.29 / $560.39 |
| Panic / hold-up, non-residential: 2nd / 3rd / 4th+ | $280.20 / $560.39 / $700.50 |
| Collection fee on an unpaid penaltyAdded if the penalty is still unpaid on the 61st day after it is due | 30% of the penalty |
If you never got the permit
Every alarm notification from an unpermitted system is charged, false or not: $116.75 residential burglar, $233.50 non-residential burglar, $308.21 residential panic or hold-up, $490.34 non-residential panic or hold-up, for each notification.
When response is cut off
The permit is revoked on more than seven false burglar alarms in the preceding 12 months, or on false robbery/panic alarms exceeding 3 in one month, 4 in three months, 5 in six months or 6 in twelve. Reinstatement requires an administrative hearing, and a reinstated permit starts with its allowance already spent down to three burglar and one panic. Non-payment within 60 days also revokes the permit, with no hearing.
The rule that sets this
Houston Code of Ordinances, Chapter 11; alarm ordinance effective April 30, 2008
- City of Houston Burglar Alarm Administration: Ordinance at a Glance. The City’s alarm administration system: permit fee schedule, administrative fee, free-alarm allowance, burglar and panic fine schedules, unpermitted-notification charges, collection fee and the revocation and reinstatement thresholds. Linked as text rather than a hyperlink because houstontx.gov refused every connection when this database was compiled and the link could not be verified live
- Houston Police Department: Burglar Alarm Administration, houstontx.gov/police/alarm_detail/. The department’s own alarm page, named rather than linked: the host did not answer a single request when this database was compiled, so the link could not be verified live and an unverified link is worse than none
Los Angeles, California
Responds to unverified alarmsLos Angeles Police DepartmentIf your burglar alarm is not verified: officers are dispatched. LAPD handles 6,000 to 7,000 alarm calls a month and says over 90% of them are false, and nobody gets a free response any more: "the City will no longer respond to alarms free of charge."
Permit or registration
Required of every alarm user. "You must have an alarm permit—it’s the Law." The City states the duty in one breath for both occupancies: "Every alarm user, residential and business."
What it costs
| Residential | $60 initial, $31 annual renewal |
| Commercial | $60 initial, $31 annual renewal |
TermAnnual renewal
You must also post your permit number at or near the main entrance so the responding officer can identify your contact information.
False alarms: what you get free
None. The first false alarm is charged, and the $260 fee for service is recovered on every one.
| 1st false alarm, with a permit | $260 |
| 2nd false alarm, with a permit | $310 |
| 3rd false alarm, with a permit | $360 |
| 4th and beyond, with a permit | $410 |
If you never got the permit
The same false alarms cost more without a permit, and the gap widens each time: $360 for the first, then $460, $560 and $660, which is $100, $150, $200 and $250 above the permitted rate.
When response is cut off
Not stated on the Office of Finance page. Activations believed not to be false are appealed to the Board of Police Commissioners.
The rule that sets this
Los Angeles Alarm Ordinance, administered by the Office of Finance
- Los Angeles Office of Finance: Alarm Permits. The permit duty for residential and business, $60/$31 fees, the with-permit and no-permit false alarm tables, and the 90%-false figure
Minneapolis, Minnesota
Responds to unverified alarmsMinneapolis Police DepartmentIf your burglar alarm is not verified: officers are dispatched, every time, and the City says so: "Every time the Minneapolis police receive an alarm call, they arrive at the home or business. If the alarm is set off by mistake, the police still respond."
Permit or registration
Not required up front. Minneapolis is the outlier on this page: there is nothing to register until something goes wrong, and the first false alarm is what pulls you into the system.
What it costs
| Residential | No advance permit |
| Commercial | No advance permit |
Termn/a; registration is triggered by the first false alarm
False alarms: what you get free
None in the usual sense. The first false alarm costs a $30 registration fee rather than a penalty.
| First false alarm | $30 registration fee |
| Second false alarm | $100 penalty |
| Third false alarm | $200 penalty |
| Each additional false alarmThe fee increases $100 for each additional false alarm | +$100 on the previous |
If you never got the permit
n/a. There is no permit to be without; the fee schedule is the whole mechanism.
When response is cut off
Not stated. The City describes an appeal to the False Alarm Unit within 15 days, not a response cut-off.
The rule that sets this
Minneapolis false alarm fees, administered by Licenses, Permits and Inspections
- City of Minneapolis: False Alarm Fines. No advance registration, the $30/$100/$200/+$100 schedule, and the statement that police still respond
Nashville, Tennessee
Responds to unverified alarmsMetropolitan Nashville Police DepartmentIf your burglar alarm is not verified: officers are dispatched, but only to the alarm types the code lists, and the list is narrower than you might expect: burglary at both residential and business premises, robbery at business premises only, fire, medical, and panic at residential premises only.
Permit or registration
Required of "All residential, commercial, and multifamily properties with an alarm system", burglar and fire alike, with the names and numbers of at least two people to notify and at least one local person responsible for the system. Registration runs through Metro's ePermits system and the permit must be kept available to show on request.
What it costs
| Residential | $20 / year |
| Commercial | $50 / year |
TermOne year from the date of issuance. A 2022 amendment moved renewals off a common date: they are now "due annually on or before the end of the month in which the initial permit was issued."
Chapter 10.60 sets the fee per alarm device rather than per premises, so a site with several devices is charged several times. Permits are not transferable; moving means cancelling and reapplying. Cancellation is free; paying online adds a 2.3% third-party convenience fee.
False alarms: what you get free
Per alarm device, per fiscal permit year: three false burglar alarms, two false robbery/panic alarms and two false fire alarms.
| Each false alarm past the allowanceHandled as a citation to metropolitan court; the code caps it: "fines for false alarms shall not exceed twenty-five dollars for each false alarm" | Up to $25 |
| Citation nullified or dismissed on correctionMay be waived by the general sessions judges on a finding of indigency | $12 |
If you never got the permit
Operating a functional alarm system without a permit is a violation, and so is letting one activate without a permit. An alarm company may not make a newly installed system functional for anyone without a valid permit.
When response is cut off
No disconnection may be ordered on premises required by law to have an alarm system. Failing to send someone to the premises within one hour of being notified of an activation is itself a violation.
The rule that sets this
Metropolitan Code of Laws, Chapter 10.60, Burglar and Fire Alarm Systems
- Metro Nashville: Alarm Registration. The current position, last updated July 1, 2026: who must register, $20 residential and $50 commercial, one-year term and the 2022 renewal-date amendment
- Metro Nashville Code: Chapter 10.60, Burglar and Fire Alarm Systems. The per-device basis, the allowance definition, the alarm types police and fire will respond to, the $25-per-false-alarm cap and the $12 nullification fee. Its "due April 1st" line predates the 2022 amendment above
New York, New York
Responds to unverified alarmsNew York City Police DepartmentIf your burglar alarm is not verified: officers are dispatched. New York runs no alarm-user permit scheme to condition that on.
Permit or registration
None. The NYPD’s own permits and licences page lists handgun licences, rifle and shotgun permits, sound amplification device permits, parade permits and unmanned aircraft permits, and no burglar alarm, security alarm or alarm user permit of any kind. The licensing that does exist in New York sits on the companies: installing, servicing or maintaining alarm systems requires a licence from the New York State Department of State, not from the City.
What it costs
| Residential | No alarm-user permit |
| Commercial | No alarm-user permit |
Termn/a
False alarms: what you get free
n/a; no citywide alarm-user scheme.
| Citywide false alarm fee for alarm usersAbsence on the NYPD permits page is not proof that no charge exists anywhere in the City’s rules; it is proof that the department that would issue an alarm permit does not issue one. | None found |
If you never got the permit
n/a. There is no permit to be without.
When response is cut off
n/a.
The rule that sets this
No citywide alarm-user ordinance identified
- NYPD: Permits & Licenses. The department’s complete permit list, which contains no alarm permit
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Responds to unverified alarmsPhiladelphia Police DepartmentIf your burglar alarm is not verified: officers are dispatched; the City’s lever is the registration fee and an escalating fine, not withheld response.
Permit or registration
Required. "The City requires all burglar alarms to be registered." Registration and payment go to the City’s Code Unit, not the police department.
What it costs
| Residential | $50 / year |
| Commercial | $50 / year |
TermAnnual, per registration year
False alarms: what you get free
Two per registration year. "Any more than two false alarms per registration year is considered excessive and is a violation."
| Third and each additional false alarm in a registration year | $75 each |
If you never got the permit
Not stated on the registration or fine pages.
When response is cut off
Not stated on the registration or fine pages.
The rule that sets this
Philadelphia Code, burglar alarm registration
- City of Philadelphia: Register a burglar alarm / Pay the annual fee. The registration duty and the $50 annual fee
- City of Philadelphia: Pay an excess false alarm fine. Two free per registration year, then $75 for each additional
Phoenix, Arizona
Responds to unverified alarmsPhoenix Police DepartmentIf your burglar alarm is not verified: officers are dispatched; the charge follows the response rather than replacing it.
Permit or registration
Required, and the duty reaches further than in most cities on this page: "Within the City of Phoenix, a permit is required for alarm systems monitored by an alarm company as well as those that are not." An unmonitored siren still needs the permit.
What it costs
| Residential | $17 application fee |
| Commercial | $17 application fee |
TermNot stated on the permit application
The application form carries one fee line for both a residence and a business; the City does not split the alarm subscriber permit by occupancy.
False alarms: what you get free
One. More than one false burglar alarm in a rolling 365 days makes each subsequent one chargeable.
| Each false burglar alarm after the first in 365 days | $96 |
| Each false fire alarm after the first in 365 days | $105 |
If you never got the permit
$96 for each burglar alarm activation the police respond to, and $105 for each fire alarm the fire department responds to, assessed whether or not the alarm was false.
When response is cut off
Not stated on the false alarm pages.
The rule that sets this
Phoenix City Code, Chapter 10, Article IX, Alarm Systems
- City of Phoenix: Preventing False Alarm Systems. The monitored-and-unmonitored permit duty, the $96 no-permit assessment and the $96 / $105 false alarm charges
- City of Phoenix: Burglar and Fire Alarm Permit Application. The application form carrying the $17 fee, made payable to the City of Phoenix
Portland, Oregon
Response can be withdrawnPortland Police BureauIf your burglar alarm is not verified: officers are dispatched at first. Then Portland does something unusual: it tells you which technology buys the response back.
Permit or registration
Required within 30 days of installation. Permits are free to seniors aged 62 or older who live at the address 12 months a year, on proof of age and residency.
What it costs
| Residential | $25 / year |
| Commercial | $125 / year |
TermPer permit year
The five-to-one commercial premium is the widest occupancy split on this page.
False alarms: what you get free
One. "The first false alarm notice in a permit year will not be assessed a fine and instead acts as a warning," with no further warnings that year.
| Failure to register within 30 days of the system becoming operativeThe code imposes "a surcharge penalty" on any alarm user who misses the 30-day window, and puts its amount in the Police Bureau’s annual budget submission rather than in the ordinance | Surcharge, set annually |
| Excessive false alarms during a permit yearThe code puts the amounts in the City’s annual budget process rather than in the ordinance: "The fine and fee schedule will be set through the annual budget process." | Set annually |
| Fifth and subsequent false alarm in a permit year | Triple the fines and fees |
If you never got the permit
A surcharge penalty for any alarm user who fails to obtain a permit within 30 days of the system becoming operative. Missing the annual renewal by more than 30 days is a separate violation, curable by renewing; at 45 days past expiry the permit is cancelled and the monitoring company is told so.
When response is cut off
After a fourth false alarm in a permit year the System Administrator directs the Bureau of Emergency Communications to suspend response. To get it back you must add "additional monitoring services… consisting of either audio and/or video verification monitoring or multiple-device trigger systems", pay every outstanding fee and fine in full, and agree in writing that a further violation means permanent cancellation of all premises use permits, five years without police response to alarm calls, and triple fines.
The rule that sets this
Portland City Code Chapter 14B.10, Burglary and Alarm Systems, §§ 14B.10.080 and 14B.10.090
- Portland City Code 14B.10.090: No Response to Excessive Alarms. The four-alarm suspension, the audio and/or video verification requirement to restore response, and the five-year cancellation
- Portland City Code 14B.10.080: Fines and Penalties. The first-alarm warning and the budget-set fine schedule
- Portland Police: Alarm permit application. $25 residential, $125 commercial, free for seniors 62 and older
Salt Lake City, Utah
Verification requiredSalt Lake City Police Department · in effect since December 1, 2000If your burglar alarm is not verified: police are not dispatched at all. Salt Lake City has run verified response for a quarter of a century: "A private guard responder shall confirm an attempted or actual criminal event at the alarm site before a police officer will be dispatched." Robbery, panic and duress alarms are exempt and remain high priority, because a person set them off.
Permit or registration
Required before an alarm system may be operated, and free. "Alarm permits are required prior to the operation of an alarm system. There shall be no charge for the permit."
What it costs
| Residential | No charge |
| Commercial | No charge |
TermRequired prior to operating the system
Salt Lake City is the one city on this page that requires a permit and charges nothing for it. It dealt with its false-alarm burden through dispatch policy instead of fees.
False alarms: what you get free
For burglar alarms the question does not arise: unverified ones are not dispatched. The penalty schedule applies to duress, panic and hold-up alarms, which are.
| 1st false duress / panic / hold-up alarm in 365 days | $100 |
| 2nd | $150 |
| 3rd | $250 |
| 4th | $350 |
| 5th | $450 |
| False Alarm Prevention CourseA certificate of completion dismisses a single penalty | Dismisses one penalty |
If you never got the permit
Operating an alarm system without the (free) permit is a violation of the ordinance.
When response is cut off
Not applicable to burglar alarms in the usual sense; there is no unverified dispatch to suspend.
The rule that sets this
Salt Lake City alarm ordinance, effective December 1, 2000
- Salt Lake City Police Department: Resources. The verified-response rule, the private guard responder requirement, the robbery/panic/duress exemption, the free permit and the duress fine schedule
- SLCPD: Verified Response: The False Alarm Solution. The department’s own account of the policy and the 99% false rate that prompted it
San Antonio, Texas
Responds to unverified alarmsSan Antonio Police DepartmentIf your burglar alarm is not verified: officers are dispatched. San Antonio’s distinctive move is upstream of that: it treats a commercial alarm as a different regulated thing from a residential one, and prices it four times higher.
Permit or registration
Required, and split by occupancy as named permit types. Commercial sites need separate permits for fire and for security alarm systems. Gated communities with restricted-access entry take a one-time gate permit, obtained by the HOA or community manager.
What it costs
| Residential | $50, or $30 for a resident aged 65 or older; no fee for an exempt permit |
| Commercial | $200 police alarm, plus $200 fire alarm as a separate permit |
TermOne year from the issue date; renewal notice sent 45 days before expiry
A waiver is available to victims of domestic violence. There is no discount or waiver for disabled veterans or military personnel.
False alarms: what you get free
Not published
| False alarm feesThe permit page links the ordinance but states no false alarm amounts, and the SAPD permit application PDF is a scanned image that cannot be read. | Not published |
If you never got the permit
Not stated on the permit page.
When response is cut off
Not stated on the permit page.
The rule that sets this
San Antonio City Code, Chapter 25, Article IV (exemptions at Ch. 25.56)
- City of San Antonio: Apply for an Alarm Permit. The residential/commercial permit classes and fees, the senior and exempt rates, the gate permit and the one-year term
San Diego, California
Responds to unverified alarmsSan Diego Police DepartmentIf your burglar alarm is not verified: officers are dispatched; permitted systems get an annual allowance before penalties.
Permit or registration
Required, and for more alarm types than most cities cover: "The City of San Diego requires permits for burglary, robbery, fire and harmful gas alarm systems for both residential and commercial properties."
What it costs
| Residential | Not published |
| Commercial | Not published |
TermOne year, renewed annually
The Police False Alarm Program FAQ states one figure covering "residential/commercial" alike, but the PDF uses a custom font map that renders the digits unreliably, and the City fee schedule that would confirm it returned 404. A separate fire alarm permit is $18 for two years.
False alarms: what you get free
Not published
| False alarm feesThe City states the fee "is based on the actual cost incurred" but the digits could not be read from the PDF. | Not published |
If you never got the permit
Not read first-hand.
When response is cut off
Not read first-hand.
The rule that sets this
San Diego Municipal Code § 33.37, Police Regulated Burglary and Panic Alarm Systems
- San Diego Police Department: Permits. The permit duty across burglary, robbery, fire and harmful gas alarms for both occupancies, and the § 33.37 cite
San Diego County, California (unincorporated)
Responds to unverified alarmsSan Diego County Sheriff’s OfficeIf your burglar alarm is not verified: deputies are dispatched. The county’s lever is the permit itself: with one, "the Sheriff’s office will work with you to reduce fines or exempt them if possible."
Permit or registration
Required of everyone in the unincorporated areas with a residential or business alarm. "That means your neighbor, too!"
What it costs
| Residential | $272 one-time |
| Commercial | $272 one-time |
TermOne-time. "You are not required to renew this permit. It will be valid as long as you are the owner of the property."
Not transferable between people or addresses. Paying by credit card over the phone adds a $3.00 fee.
False alarms: what you get free
Not stated as a fixed count on the permit page.
| False alarm finesThe Sheriff’s Office states that unresolved false alarms "could result in fines", and that permit holders get help reducing or exempting them | Discretionary with a permit |
If you never got the permit
The permit page frames the whole scheme around this: without one, the county does not know who you are until the alarm goes off and a deputy responds.
When response is cut off
Not stated on the permit page.
The rule that sets this
San Diego County alarm system permit, Sheriff’s regulatory licensing
- San Diego County Sheriff: Alarm System Permit. The $272 one-time fee, the no-renewal rule, the both-occupancies duty and the fine-reduction position
Seattle, Washington
Verification requiredSeattle Police Department · in effect since October 1, 2024If your burglar alarm is not verified: police do not come. Since 1 October 2024, "SPD will only dispatch officers to calls from alarm companies with supporting evidence, such as audio, video, panic alarms or eyewitness evidence that a person is illegally entering or attempting to enter a residence or commercial" property. In the department’s own words, "SPD does not respond to calls from alarm companies based on sensor or motion activations alone as those have proven over time not to be reliable evidence of criminal activity." Robbery, panic and duress alarms are always answered.
Permit or registration
Not on you. Seattle is the one city on this page that puts the whole duty on the monitoring company: "It is not the responsibility of the alarm user to register their alarm system with the City of Seattle." Your alarm company holds the licence, is issued a Unique Identifying Number it must give the 911 call-taker, and is billed directly.
What it costs
| Residential | $10 per year, billed to your alarm company |
| Commercial | $10 per year, billed to your alarm company |
TermAnnual licence, held by the monitoring company
Fire and sprinkler systems are licensed separately by building height: $76 under 3 storeys, $223 for 3–4, $693 for 5 or more. Alarm companies may pass any of this on to subscribers, and must hand over their billing policy if they do.
False alarms: what you get free
None as a count. A call cancelled before dispatch costs nothing; everything after that is billed.
| False burglar alarm | $115 |
| False panic / duress / robbery alarm | $230 |
| Cancelled after dispatch, before arrival | $30 |
| Cancelled before dispatch | $0 |
| WaiverAvailable if the alarm owner attends an alarm user class or switches to Private Guard Dispatch response | One per 84 months |
If you never got the permit
n/a for alarm users; the licence sits with the monitoring company.
When response is cut off
The practical suspension is the policy itself: a sensor-only activation is never dispatched, whatever your history.
The rule that sets this
Seattle Municipal Code Chapter 6.10, Alarm systems (definitions at 6.10.005; billing at 6.10.060)
- Seattle Police: Monitored Alarms. The evidence-of-a-crime-in-progress dispatch rule, the sensor-and-motion exclusion, the robbery/panic/duress exception and the fee schedule
- City of Seattle: Alarm System Monitoring business regulations. The October 1, 2024 start date, the company-not-user licensing rule, the $10/$76/$223/$693 licence fees and the $115/$230/$30 false alarm fees
The part nobody tells you until it happens
An alarm permit is the contract under which a city agrees to send officers to your property, and 7 of the 18 jurisdictions on this page have written down when they won’t. 2 have stopped dispatching to an unverified burglar alarm altogether. 5 more can withdraw it from you in particular, most of them after enough false alarms and Charlotte the moment your alarm company calls without a permit number. The rest bill you and keep coming, for now.
The direction of travel isn’t subtle. Salt Lake City moved to verified response in 2000 and never went back. Seattle joined in October 2024, and its wording is the clearest statement of the logic on this page: sensor and motion activations alone “have proven over time not to be reliable evidence of criminal activity”, so they aren’t dispatched. Portland doesn’t require verification up front, but tells you what buys your response back after a suspension: audio and/or video verification monitoring, or multiple-device trigger systems. Three cities, three routes, and the same requirement at the end of each: somebody has to confirm that a crime is happening.
Why the same alarm costs a business up to five times as much
Cities have priced commercial alarms as a different product. Portland charges a household $25 and a business $125. San Antonio charges $50 and $200, and then asks a commercial building for a second $200 permit if it also has a fire alarm. Dallas and Fort Worth charge a business double, and Nashville two and a half times. Houston charges $50 residential and $134.28 commercial before its administrative fee lands on top.
Almost nobody searches for this. The phrase people type is “alarm permit”, with no occupancy attached, so the split only shows up at the point of filling in the form, and by then the equipment is installed. If you run more than one site across more than one city, that arithmetic is worth doing before the invoices arrive.
Where remote guarding fits
Every rule on this page points the same way: the alarm that gets a response is the one somebody has confirmed. Remote video monitoring is that somebody. When the alarm trips, a live operator opens the camera feed, sees whether there is a person on your property, and calls it in as a verified alarm with a description. That is the evidence Seattle’s rule names, and the “audio and/or video verification monitoring” Portland accepts as the way back after a suspension. Blinkless remote guarding adds a voice: the operator speaks to the intruder through on-site speakers before anything is taken. An intruder who leaves at the warning is an incident closed without a police call, and without another entry on your false alarm count.
Salt Lake City goes a step further and wants a private guard responder at the site to confirm the event. That is a different purchase, and the guard cost calculator prices it against monitoring with the wage arithmetic shown.
All of it puts the weight back on the cameras. Verification means seeing well enough to say what a person is doing and what they are wearing, and a camera that registers movement at the far end of a lot can’t do that. Our camera planner puts your property on a satellite map and shows, camera by camera, how far each one can identify a person rather than just notice one. If the cameras you already have are Hikvision, Dahua or one of the many labels built on their hardware, run them through the banned camera checker first: federal grant and loan money can’t buy listed equipment, and that matters before you spend anything on an upgrade.
If you are about to put monitoring out to tender, the RFP builder writes the two clauses this page makes necessary: police requested only on a verified incident, and the municipal false-alarm fee landing on whoever made the call. For portfolios that cross the border, the Canadian half of this question is a separate page, verified response in Canada, where five of the eight police services covered require verification before they dispatch.
Methodology
Every figure on this page was retrieved on September 2, 2026 from the city, county sheriff, police department or municipal code that sets the rule, and each city section links its own sources. Where a city’s own source couldn’t be read, because the server refused every connection, the fee schedule is a scanned image or the document 404s, the cell says “Not published” rather than repeating a figure from an alarm-industry blog. Those gaps are the state of the record, and they are logged, city by city, in the research file behind this page. Fee schedules and ordinances change: treat the linked source as authoritative, and if you find a figure out of date, tell us and we will correct it. This page is general information about municipal alarm rules, not legal advice.
Reuse
The permit, fee and response tables are free to copy, quote and republish under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 license: credit Blinkless and link back to this page. That covers our compilation and wording only. The ordinances and city pages each section links to belong to the municipalities that publish them.
Frequently asked questions
Do I need a permit for my burglar alarm?
In most US cities, yes, and in Phoenix that holds even for an alarm nobody monitors: a permit is required for alarm systems monitored by an alarm company as well as those that are not. Of the 18 jurisdictions on this page, New York runs no alarm-user permit at all, Minneapolis registers you only after your first false alarm, and Seattle puts the duty on your monitoring company rather than on you. Everywhere else the permit is what entitles you to a police response, and in Charlotte the alarm company has to quote your permit number when it calls or police won't be dispatched.
How much does an alarm permit cost?
From nothing to $272, and that spread inside one country is the reason this page exists. Salt Lake City charges nothing. Phoenix charges $17. Los Angeles charges $60 to start and $31 a year after that. San Diego County charges $272 once and never asks again. Several cities charge a business far more than a household for the same equipment: Portland is $25 residential against $125 commercial, and San Antonio is $50 residential against $200 for a commercial police alarm permit, plus another $200 if the building also has a fire alarm.
Will police come if my alarm goes off?
Not everywhere. In Salt Lake City and Seattle an unverified burglar alarm gets no dispatch at all: Seattle requires "audio, video, panic alarms or eyewitness evidence that a person is illegally entering", and Salt Lake City has required a private guard responder to confirm a criminal event since December 1, 2000. In Charlotte, Denver, Fort Worth, Houston and Portland police come now but the city can take that away: Portland suspends response after a fourth false alarm in a permit year, Houston revokes the permit after more than seven, and Charlotte won't dispatch at all unless your alarm company quotes a permit number. Everywhere else on this page police still respond to an unverified alarm and bill you for the false ones.
What does a false alarm cost?
Anything from $25 to $700.50 for a single activation, depending on the city, the alarm type and how many you have already had. Nashville caps it: fines "shall not exceed twenty-five dollars for each false alarm". Los Angeles starts at $260 for the first one and has no free allowance. Houston charges up to $700.50 for a repeated false panic alarm at a non-residential site, and adds a 30% collection fee if it goes unpaid past 60 days. Panic and hold-up alarms cost more wherever a city prices them separately, and they keep their police response where burglar alarms have lost it: Salt Lake City answers them at high priority and Seattle always answers them.
How many false alarms am I allowed before I get charged?
Two or three in most cities that count them, and the count runs per permit year rather than per calendar year. Dallas and Houston both allow three false burglar alarms in twelve months. Philadelphia allows two per registration year. Phoenix and Portland allow one. Los Angeles allows none; the first false alarm is billed. Minneapolis inverts the whole idea: there is nothing to register until your first false alarm, which costs a $30 registration fee, and the penalties start from the second.
Do commercial and residential properties pay the same?
Often not, and the gap is wide enough to matter for anyone managing more than one site. Portland charges commercial five times the residential rate. San Antonio charges four times, and treats a commercial fire alarm as a separate permit again. Dallas and Fort Worth both charge double, and Nashville two and a half times. Houston charges a household $50 and a business $134.28 before an administrative fee. Plenty of cities charge one rate to everyone, among them Los Angeles, Phoenix, Philadelphia and Denver. Searchers almost never type "commercial alarm permit", so the split stays invisible until you're filling in the form.
What counts as a verified alarm?
The cities that require verification name a short list: live audio or video confirming that someone is on the property, an eyewitness such as a guard or a person at the scene, or in some ordinances more than one detection zone tripping. Seattle names "audio, video, panic alarms or eyewitness evidence". Salt Lake City requires a private guard responder to confirm an attempted or actual criminal event before an officer is sent. Motion and sensor activations on their own don't qualify; Seattle says they "have proven over time not to be reliable evidence of criminal activity".
Does remote video monitoring count as verification?
In the cities that define verification, yes, when a live operator has watched the feed and can say what they saw. Seattle lists video among its accepted evidence. Portland names "audio and/or video verification monitoring" as what restores a suspended response. On our Canadian page, Toronto Police accept a video device. Salt Lake City is the exception on this page: its rule wants a private guard responder at the site. The difference is between a camera that records and a camera someone is watching, and that is what remote guarding is: an operator on your cameras the moment the alarm trips, who can speak to the intruder through on-site speakers and, if it comes to it, call police with a description of a person they can see.
My city suspended police response to my alarm. How do I get it back?
Portland gives the most exact answer, and it is worth reading anywhere: response is restored only when you add "additional monitoring services… consisting of either audio and/or video verification monitoring or multiple-device trigger systems", pay every outstanding fine, and agree in writing that a further violation means five years without police response to alarm calls and triple fines. In Houston reinstatement takes an administrative hearing, and the restored permit starts with its allowance already spent. The pattern is the same across cities: you get response back by making your alarms verifiable rather than by promising to be careful.
Where do these figures come from, and how current are they?
Every figure was retrieved on September 2, 2026 from the city, county sheriff, police department or municipal code that sets the rule, and each city section on this page links its own sources. Where an official amount couldn't be read first-hand (San Antonio's fine schedule, Austin's permit fee, Charlotte's fees, San Diego's permit fee) the cell says so rather than repeating a number from an alarm-industry blog. Fee schedules change; treat the linked source as authoritative and tell us if you find one out of date.
Make your alarm one the police will answer
Blinkless remote guarding gives every alarm live video and audio verification, the evidence Seattle dispatches on and Portland restores response for, with an operator who can talk intruders down before anything is taken, and before another false alarm lands on your record.
Or call (212) 470-2511. We answer.