The City of Beaverton enacted an Alarm Ordinance in 1989, that requires all residential and commercial users of burglar and robbery alarm systems within the city to have a permit. The annual permit fee is $15 for a residential system and $20 for a commercial system. Residential users who are age 65 or over and do not conduct business activities at their location are exempt from the permit fee, but must complete an application. The alarm permit gives police current, accurate information that allows them to serve you better and results in more effective responses.
The purpose of the ordinance is to reduce the number of false alarms that the Police Department receives. Currently, more than 92% of all burglar and robbery alarms prove false. Since police personnel respond to each alarm, a great deal of time and money is being spent needlessly. It is important that we reduce the number of false alarms so that police will have more time to perform other necessary services.
The ordinance also provides that the city is empowered to disable a system if an audible alarm sounds for more than 15 minutes and no one is available to shut it off. This is necessary to prevent an audible alarm from creating a disturbance for a prolonged period, especially at night. If your alarm is not already equipped with an automatic reset feature, you are encouraged to contact your alarm company to have this feature added.
Two false alarms are allowed each calendar year without penalty. Fines are $75 each for the third and fourth false alarms; $150 each for the fifth through tenth false alarms; and $200 for each additional false alarm within the same calendar year.
Alarms are a good crime prevention tool and we encourage their use. Your efforts in reducing the number of false alarms will help the police department make efficient use of their resources as well as help you avoid unnecessary false alarm fines.