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As of July 1st Residential and Business Alarms Require Permit and Registration with Police

May 8, 2016 | 10:55 PM

LETHBRIDGE:   A spike in the number of police calls to false alarms has prompted Lethbridge Police to uphold a previously un-enforced bylaw. Bylaw 5078 requires all homeowners and businesses with alarms to obtain a permit and register the alarm with the police service.

An increase in false alarms is impacting police resources and taking officer response time away from legitimate calls.

Over the five years between 2010 and 2014, police responded to an average of more than 1400 false alarms per year.  Only about 35 alarms turn out to be genuine each year.

There is no cost to obtain an alarm permit and owners have until July 1 to register. After that time, the bylaw will be enforced.

The “Alarm System Registration” form and instructions on how to submit it are available online and can be found under “Online Services”.   

A news release from Lethbridge Police outlines penalties for un-permitted and non-registered alarms:

“The bylaw also sets out provisions to apply monetary penalties to alarm holders for false alarms. Alarm sites are permitted to have two false alarms within a one-year period without consequence. Upon the third false alarm being received, the permit holder must provide police with written certification from their alarm company demonstrating the cause of the false alarms have been dealt with and repaired. The third and any subsequent false alarms received thereafter, will result in a monetary charge – $75 for residential and $150 for commercial premises. Alarm sites that generate six or more false alarms within the permit period will result in suspension of the permit until such time as it can be demonstrated the cause of the false alarms has been repaired. Monitoring companies who continue to convey alarms on a suspended or revoked permit will be charged $150.”