A commercial alarm in Portland needs a City permit that costs US$125, according to the Portland Police Bureau, and under Portland City Code chapter 14B.10, as Blinkless’s alarm permit database summarizes it, it is due within 30 days of the system going live. To apply, you email or mail the City’s form. You pay for an existing permit online.
| Permit or Deadline | What the City Sets |
|---|---|
| Commercial property | US$125 |
| Residence | US$25 |
| Senior 62 or older living at the address 12 months a year, with a copy of an Oregon ID | Free |
| New system | Due within 30 days of going live; a surcharge penalty if missed, its amount set in the Police Bureau’s budget |
| Renewal | More than 30 days late is a separate violation; at 45 days past expiry, the permit is canceled and your monitoring company is told |
Sources: Fees and application: Portland Police Bureau, Alarm permit application (portland.gov/police/alarm-permit-application), accessed 5 October 2026. New system and renewal rows: Portland City Code chapter 14B.10, as Blinkless’s alarm permit register summarizes it from sources retrieved 4 September 2026.
Under Portland City Code 14B.10.080 and 14B.10.090, your property’s first false alarm in a permit year is a warning with no fine. Each false alarm after it brings a fine, and after the fourth the City suspends police response to that alarm unless the Chief’s Office or its designee instructs a response.
Here is what each false alarm in a permit year brings:
- First false alarm: A warning with no fine, and the only fine-free warning that permit year.
- Second false alarm: A written notice with the fine and your right to appeal, plus a certified notice that four or more false alarms will suspend response. You can contest the false alarm by requesting a validity hearing in writing, filed within 10 days of receiving the notice. The request stays the effect of the false alarm determination.
- Third false alarm: A further notice, again with the fine.
- Fourth false alarm: The City’s System Administrator directs the Bureau of Emergency Communications, Portland’s 911 dispatch, to suspend response to further alarms unless the Chief’s Office or its designee instructs a response, and copies the notice to your monitoring company.
Fine Amounts and Unpaid Fines
Portland City Code does not set the fine amounts: the City sets them each year through its budget process. Under 14B.10.080, a fine left unpaid 30 days after its notice was mailed, with no appeal pending, brings a certified overdue notice and a late fee. If fines and late fees are still unpaid 10 days after the late-fee notice was mailed, the 14B.10.090 no-response process begins.
Getting Police Response Back: Three Conditions
The Portland Police Bureau resumes alarm response once you meet three conditions in Portland City Code 14B.10.090:
- Alarm verification: Add audio and/or video monitoring that verifies alarms, or multiple-device trigger systems, at the location.
- Account balance: Pay every outstanding fee and fine.
- Written agreement: Agree in writing that a fifth or more false alarm in a permit year will result in permanent cancellation of all premises use permits, five years without police response to alarm calls, and triple the fines and fees in the City’s schedule.
The code names these systems but not how the City decides what qualifies, so confirm with the City before you rely on one.
Source: Portland City Code 14B.10.090 C.2 (portland.gov/code/14/b10/090), accessed 5 October 2026.
Yes, if your property is eligible. Portland Police Bureau Directive 0630.37 lets the owner or manager of an eligible private property partner with the Police Bureau to enforce trespass law on the property when no responsible party is on location.
A complete application must give a physical address, and the property must be zoned or used properly. The directive lists these properties as not eligible:
- Businesses open 24 hours or with security on scene
- Multifamily housing
- Mixed-use developments
- Single-family residences
- Public property
- Property outside PPB’s jurisdiction
The directive does not define “security on scene”. You can take questions about an application, or exceptions to the program’s requirements, to the precinct’s Neighborhood Response Team sergeant.
Choose the property’s use and hours to see whether the directive’s exclusions apply.
Under the directive, enrollment works like this:
- Application: You apply through the Program Coordinator at Central Precinct, who screens it.
- Review and site survey: The precinct’s Neighborhood Response Team sergeant reviews the application and may meet on site to survey the property and place official notice placards.
- Approval: The sergeant documents the agreement in a police report and approves it.
- Term: The agreement lasts two years, cannot be transferred, and is revoked if an ownership change goes unreported or you fail to renew.
Source: Portland Police Bureau, Directive 0630.37, Trespass Enforcement Agreement Program (portland.gov/policies), accessed 5 October 2026.
What Officers Do Under the Agreement
PPB Directive 0630.37 sets three rules for officers acting on your agreement:
- Record check: Officers confirm your agreement in the dispatch system’s flag record before acting.
- Placards: Officers avoid acting under the agreement where no official notice placard is displayed, unless they can verify and reach the person in charge by telephone. This does not stop officers from taking police action that would be appropriate without an agreement.
- Unauthorized persons: Officers tell anyone found without authorization to leave and not return or face arrest for Criminal Trespass in the Second Degree.
With nobody from the property on site, two of the City rules above set conditions that matter at night:
- Alarm response: Under City Code 14B.10.090 C, after a fourth false alarm in a permit year, the City suspends response to further alarms unless the Chief’s Office or its designee instructs a response. Police resume alarm response once the three conditions set out above are met.
- Trespass agreement: Under PPB Directive 0630.37, 2.2, officers at an enrolled property avoid acting under the agreement where no official notice placard is displayed unless they can verify and reach the person in charge by phone. The directive says this does not stop other police action that would be appropriate without an agreement.
Here is one example night, two ways. The property has an alarm and cameras nobody watches live, and nobody from the property is on site or watching remotely.
Your Alarm Alone
- Police response to your alarm follows the City’s false-alarm rules above.
- Your cameras only record what happens. Nobody watches them live.
With Blinkless Live Remote Guarding
- Activity on your cameras after hours, or 24/7 if you need it, alerts a trained Blinkless agent, who goes live on the feed and assesses what is happening.
- If the agent judges the person on camera a trespasser or a threat, we issue a live voice-down over your speakers and order them to leave.
- We notify authorities when required, and you get instant alerts with footage and an incident report.
The code does not say how the City decides which monitoring qualifies, and Blinkless does not claim that its service does.
Every rule on this page comes from the City of Portland’s own texts, most of them accessed 5 October 2026. The trespass directive is marked under review, so check the City’s page for its current text before you apply.
- Alarm permit application, Portland Police Bureau, accessed 5 October 2026
- City Code 14B.10.080, Fines and Penalties, accessed 5 October 2026
- City Code 14B.10.090, No Response to Excessive Alarms, accessed 5 October 2026
- PPB Directive 0630.37, Trespass Enforcement Agreement Program, accessed 5 October 2026: universal review listed effective 15 December 2024
The permit deadlines come from other sections of chapter 14B.10, as Portland’s entry in Blinkless’s alarm permit database summarizes them. The trespass rules also appear in Portland’s entry in our trespass enforcement database.
This page is general information, not legal advice.
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We assess your property remotely and send you a written security plan. No site visit required.
- Your request: Fill out the form, and a Blinkless security specialist will be in touch shortly.
- Our remote assessment: We review your property from satellite imagery and your existing cameras.
- Your written plan: We send you a security plan for the property.
The plan sets out:
- Areas: Which parts of the property need monitoring
- Hours: When coverage is needed
- Response: How intruders and break-in attempts would be handled
- Contacts: Who receives the alerts
The assessment is free, and the plan is yours to keep, whether you hire Blinkless or not.