Monitored Alarms
The Seattle Police Department (SPD) and the City of Seattle are committed to providing quality and timely service to its residents and businesses with the resources available. Our highest priority is responding to violent in-progress incidents that threaten the safety of our communities.
- SPD responds to alarm calls with evidence of an in-progress crime.
- In 2023, the Seattle 911 Center received approximately 13,000 residential and commercial burglary alarm calls from alarm monitoring companies. Unfortunately, most of those calls were the result of a sensor trip by a homeowner or business employee. Many others were the result of old or failing equipment.
- Of the 13,000 alarm calls in 2023, less than 4% were confirmed to have a crime associated with them that resulted in an arrest or report being written.
- Now, SPD responds to calls from alarm companies with evidence of a crime in-progress. Examples include situations that have audio, video, panic alarms or eyewitness evidence that a person is illegally entering or attempting to enter a residence or commercial property.
- 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.
- Alarm users should contact their alarm company to discuss which alarm system options might be best for getting a response to their burglar alarm.
- SPD does respond to all robbery, panic, and duress alarms as those indicate a greater public safety risk.
How does the False Alarm Program work?
- Alarm companies are billed directly from the City of Seattle Finance and Administrative Division for use of police services including the alarm registration and false alarm fees.
- Based on Seattle Municipal Code for alarms, the City has a relationship with the Alarm Companies, not the subscribers.
- Per SMC 6.10.060 - Duty to inform subscribers of ordinance and billing policies.
- The fee structure is not designed to generate a profit for the city, but to recover the costs of police dispatch and response. Calls canceled by the alarm company prior to police dispatch are not billed.
- We require alarm companies to be licensed and used enhanced call verification prior to requesting police dispatch. We require physical evidence of a need for a police dispatch to consider an alarm call valid (an alarm signal, open doors, or open windows are not considered valid alarms).
- We offer a waiver, once every 84 months for those that attend an alarm user workshop or switch to Private Guard Dispatch response.
Frequently Asked Questions About False Alarms
A false alarm is defined in Seattle Municipal Code 6.10.005 as, “the notification to the Seattle Police Department or Seattle Fire Department concerning the activation of an alarm system or alarm device when:
- There is no evidence of a crime or other activity that warrants the assistance of the Seattle Police Department on the premises, as indicated by the investigation of a police officer on the scene or by the lack of a police report filed by the property owner, and no individual who was on or near the premises or who had viewed a video communication from the premises called for the dispatch or confirmed a need for police response; or
- There is no indication or presence of a fire on the premises, that warrants a call for assistance from or investigation by the Seattle Fire Department, and no individual who was on or near the premises or who had viewed a video communication from the premises called for the dispatch or confirmed a need for fire response; or
- The dispatch of police or fire personnel was cancelled by the alarm system monitoring company, whether the alarm was cancelled before or after the arrival of police or fire personnel at the alarm site.”
The primary difference between a burglary/intrusion alarm and RPD alarms is that RPD alarms are intentionally activated by an individual to notify police of a potentially life threatening incident, where as burglary/intrusion alarms are passive and detect only motion or a broken contact.
The fee is used to recover the costs of sending officers to false alarms. The fees are imposed when an officer responds to and arrives at a location where an alarm is determined to be false. Alarm companies are billed directly from the City of Seattle Finance and Administrative Services (FAS) – Consumer Protection Division(CPD) for use of police services including the alarm registration and false alarm fees.
The City of Seattle bills the alarm company for the false alarm. To recover the cost of a false alarm fee, alarm companies commonly pass this fee onto the subscribers. Alarm company customers that disagree with their billing should dispute this with their alarm company. Alarm companies have an option to obtain a one-time waiver or appeal the fee. For more info view Can false alarm fees be waived or appealed?
Per SMC 6.10.060, Alarm companies who choose to bill their subscribers for any license fee imposed by this chapter shall give to each of their subscribers a copy of the licensee's policies and practices with respect to such billing.
Each licensed alarm company is issued a permit or Unique Identifying Number (UIN) by the Consumer Protection Division. This UIN is required to be given to the 911 call-taker when an alarm is called into the Seattle Police Department. Effective January 1, 2009, if a company cannot provide a UIN to the 911 call-taker, the call will not be accepted or dispatched.
No. It is not the responsibility of the alarm user to register their alarm system with the City of Seattle. Your alarm company is required to give a list of new subscribers to the City of Seattle quarterly when they turn in their licensing paperwork to the City’s Consumer Protection Division. See Can alarm companies pass along fees to customer? for license and false alarm fees.