Alarm Permit in Colorado Springs, CO
Permit Summary
Alarm Permit Basics
Alarm Systems Covered
The permit program covers alarm systems designed to signal illegal or unauthorized entry or other activity for which law-enforcement response is requested, including covered residential and business systems and self-monitored systems. The code excludes vehicle alarms unless permanently located at a site; occupant-only alarms with no exterior-audible device; domestic-violence alarms, medical panic alarms, and fire alarms; and proprietary systems that are unmonitored by a licensed alarm company and notify only private on-site personnel.
Who Must Register
For an alarm monitored by an alarm company, CSPD states that the alarm company must register the alarm and process the annual permit fee. A person or business with a self-monitored alarm must register the system directly and select “Self Monitored” as the alarm company.
Monitoring Rules
A monitoring alarm company must follow Enhanced Call Confirmation requirements before requesting police dispatch, including a second contact attempt to a different number if the first attempt does not reach an alarm user who can properly identify themselves. The code provides exceptions for fire, panic, robbery-in-progress, and verified crime-in-progress alarms. The monitoring company must provide the alarm user permit number to the Communications Center, communicate pertinent location information, and send cancellations as soon as it determines police response is unnecessary.
Registration & Renewal
Registration Timing
An alarm user may not use a covered alarm system without first obtaining an Alarm User Permit. The code also requires alarm users and/or alarm companies to submit an alarm permit application within 10 days of a new alarm-system installation or monitoring. A new person taking possession of premises with an alarm must apply within 30 days.
Permit Validity
An Alarm User Permit is valid for one calendar year from its date of issue. The permit year begins on the day and month the permit is issued.
Renewal Rules
Alarm permits renew annually on the permit anniversary date. CSPD's alarm-program FAQ states that monitored-system renewals are administered by the alarm company. Renewal fees are $24 for business and residential permits and $12 for qualifying residential seniors age 65 or older.
Multiple System Rules
A separate Alarm User Permit is required for each alarm system. The CSPD alarm FAQ likewise states that multiple monitored alarm systems require a permit for each alarm.
Transfer / Change Rules
Alarm User Permits are not transferable. A new user taking possession of a premises with an alarm must apply within 30 days. A new permit is required for a change in address or ownership of a business or residence, subject to special address-change procedures for participants in Colorado's Address Confidentiality Program. Other application information changes must be reported to the Alarm Administrator within 30 days.
Alarm Company Requirements
Alarm Company Rules
An alarm company must register with the Alarm Administrator before selling, leasing, installing, servicing, or monitoring alarm systems in Colorado Springs; the company registration fee is $110 initially and $110 annually. Alarm companies must maintain required state licenses or certificates, provide 24-hour alarm-user/designee and responsible-party contact information, notify the Alarm Administrator of new systems within 10 days, follow dispatch/ECC requirements, provide permit and company registration numbers for dispatch, instruct users on operation and false-alarm prevention, and report testing in advance to the Communications Center.
False Alarms & Penalties
False Alarm Allowance
The first false alarm within an alarm permit year has no charge. CSPD may offer an Alarm User Awareness Class in lieu of the first payable false-alarm fine; the class must be completed within 30 days of the invoice and may be used only once.
False Alarm Penalties
Within each alarm permit year, the first false alarm is free; the second is $30; the third is $75; the fourth is $100; and the fifth and each additional false alarm is $200. Penalties are due within 30 days of the invoice. After four false alarms, police response may be suspended, although duress, robbery, holdup, and panic alarms remain eligible for response. Reinstatement after suspension for excessive false alarms carries a $100 nonrefundable fee and requires specified corrective information.
Unpermitted Alarm Penalty
City Code section 8.5.109 sets a $50 penalty against an alarm company that fails to obtain an alarm-user permit for a newly installed or monitored alarm within 30 days. Separately, section 8.5.110 authorizes a $100 penalty per violation for violations throughout the alarm ordinance.
Dispatch & Appeals
Dispatch / Response Rules
A cancellation received before a police officer is dispatched is not counted as a false-alarm response. After four false alarms in a 12-month permit period, police response may be discontinued after notice; response suspension does not apply to duress, robbery, holdup, and panic alarms. Unpaid penalties more than 30 days after invoice may also result in response suspension. Monitoring companies may not request police response after four false alarms in a permit period unless there is actual evidence that a crime is being or has been committed.
Appeal Rules
An alarm user may appeal the Alarm Administrator's determination of the number of false alarms or denial of response reinstatement. A written notice of appeal must be filed with the Chief of Police or designee within 10 days of the determination notice, with a $25 appeal fee. The Chief or designee conducts the hearing under a preponderance-of-the-evidence standard and may allow, modify, refund, dismiss, reduce, or reverse the challenged action as warranted; the decision is the City's final agency determination.
What Alarm Users Need to Know
Requirements
A covered alarm system operated within Colorado Springs requires an Alarm User Permit. For professionally monitored systems, the alarm company is required to register the alarm and process the annual permit fee; self-monitored alarm users must register their own systems. Alarm users must maintain the system to reduce false alarms, provide the permit number to the monitoring company, and maintain a responsible party who can make a reasonable effort to respond to the alarm location within 30 minutes when notified by police.
Exemptions
The City Code excludes vehicle alarms unless the vehicle is permanently located at a site; alarms that alert only occupants and have no exterior-audible sounding device; domestic-violence alarms, medical panic alarms, and fire alarms; and proprietary systems that are not monitored by a licensed alarm company and notify only private on-site personnel. Federal, State, and local governments are exempt from the permit fee, not from the permit requirement stated for covered alarm systems.
Documents / Information
The online registration requires applicant and alarm-user contact information, the alarm location and billing address, permit and premises type, alarm/maintenance/monitoring company information, prior Colorado Springs permit-holder status, an emergency contact, and acknowledgment of the alarm ordinance. Date of birth is required to claim the senior residential fee. The online form does not identify a separate document upload requirement.