THE POLICY

Since the incidence of false alarms is high, and our response comes from a widespread area, it is important that each alarm is responded to based on information we have on the alarm and on the false alarm record of the alarm site.

Alarms are installed to protect residential and business properties and responding to those properties will continue to be a service offered by the State Police. By enforcing these procedures we hope to limit our response to those where it is likely that a criminal offense or emergency is occurring.

REGISTRATION

We require that all alarm holders within the VSP coverage area be registered with us. You will also need to pay the annual fee of $50.00.*

*Statutory authority for alarm registration fees in Title 20, VSA, § 1871 (e)(3).

• Your property is within the VSP coverage area and you want the Vermont State Police to respond to burglary alarms. In this instance you are required to pay the registration fee.

Note - If there is a verified emergency at your house/business, the VSP will respond whether or not you have registered your alarm.

OR

• You live in a town where the Vermont State Police provide after-hours or back-up coverage so that we have accurate information. In this instance you are not required to pay the registration fee.

In towns where there is a local police department, there may be different requirements for alarm holders. You can contact your local police department or town clerk's office to get this information. Properties outside of the VSP jurisdiction are not required to register. If you are unsure if you are in a VSP area, click on this link to view the coverage map.

• Include the property owner’s information.
• If the property does not have a specific owner (financial institutions, schools, associations, etc.) please leave these fields blank.
• The Alarm Code is a secret word or number that should be made available to only management or supervisory personnel or owner/occupants of residences at the alarm site who might be present at the time of false alarms.
  • Upon receipt of an alarm that the dispatcher has reason to believe could be false due to either human error or mechanical failure and the nearest Trooper is in excess of five minutes away, the dispatcher will attempt to make contact with the alarm site to verify the circumstances surrounding the alarm. Your Alarm Code will be requested.
  • Your Alarm Code should also be given in the event you need to advise the State Police of anticipated false alarms due to maintenance and/or testing.

THE PROCESS

• Once the registration form and fee is received and the information is entered into our software program, an “alarm number” is assigned to each property.
• We will contact your monitoring company and give them this unique number.
• When the monitoring company calls our dispatch center, they will provide this number to the dispatcher allowing us to access the record quickly and accurately.
• If an alarm is unfounded, we will notify you based on the information provided on the registration form.

• After three (3) false alarms per calendar year, your alarm will be placed in non-response mode.
• If you want to have the Vermont State Police begin responding again, you must comply with our reinstatement policy. Your alarm will remain in non-response mode until compliance with the reinstatement policy is met.

1. The Alarm Installation/Service Company or Dealer must completely test and inspect the entire system, including transmitting all burglary zones within the alarm system at the premise to the Monitoring Central Station to validate that they function correctly. Please indicate on the Reinstatement Application, all service or repairs completed.

2. The Alarm Installation/Service Company or Dealer will provide any necessary training and education to the property owner. The property owner is responsible for the training and education of all users of the alarm system. Education should include proper use of alarm system as well as the importance of false alarm reduction.

3. The property owner must pay any outstanding fees and fines for Alarm Registration and past false alarms.

4. The property must be free from any alarms requiring a police dispatch for a 60-day Probationary Period. If, however, the homeowner believes a crime to be occurring, instruct the Monitoring Central Station to dispatch the VSP immediately or call 911.

During this 60-day probationary period, the Monitoring Central Station must document all burglary alarm activity including arming/disarming signals. If during the Probationary Period, the Monitoring Central Station receives a burglary alarm signal, calls the premises and:

• the phone is not answered, OR
• the person answering does not have a valid access code or other acceptable form if identification on file with the Monitoring Central Station, OR
• no one can be reached to validate the burglary alarm signal, the 60 day Probationary Period will begin again.

If the property was unable to be “false alarm free” for the 60-day Probationary Period, they will have the opportunity to try again. The property owner may make as many attempts as necessary to obtain a contiguous 60-day period without false alarms.

5. The property owner must complete and submit the Reinstatement Application to the VSP for review. After the VSP reviews the application, they will notify the property owner and Alarm Installation/Service Company of their decision for reinstatement. If reinstatement is granted, the property will be placed in response mode as of the date stated in the notification.