We just installed a home alarm system. Do we need to register with the Sheriff’s Office?
Yes, Santa Cruz County’s Alarm Ordinance requires that you register your alarm. There is a fee of $10 for one year’s registration. Once you are registered, your information is entered into the Sheriff’s computer aided dispatch system. Once registered, you are allowed 3 false alarm responses. After that, there will be a cost recovery fee of $59.80 for each false alarm response.
The Santa Cruz County ordinance states that the Sheriff’s office will respond to all registered alarm calls. They do not respond to unregistered alarm calls unless there is an exterior and interior breach of the system, a previously reported crime at the address or if the panic button has been pushed. If the Sheriff’s office must respond to an alarm that is not registered, there will be a cost recovery fee levied.
The Santa Cruz County Alarm Ordinance is intended to reduce the incidence of false alarms at businesses and residential structures, thereby ensuring that police personnel will not be diverted from responding to actual criminal activity. For more information, please contact (520) 761-7869.