Alarm System Registration and False Alarm Notification Process

The City of Providence averages over 20,000 false alarms per year. Each call requires a Police Officer to respond to the location. These false alarms divert Police Officers from their assigned patrols and place an undue burden on Department resources.

On January 1, 2006 the City of Providence will implement an Ordinance in an effort to reduce the number of false alarms. The Ordinance requires any person utilizing an alarm system to register that alarm system with the Providence Police Department. A one-time registration permit fee of ten dollars ($10.00) per alarm system shall be payable to the city collector. New alarm systems must be registered within sixty (60) days after installation. A completed Alarm Registration Permit Form and the $10 registration fee in the form of a check or money order should be sent to the following address:

Providence Police Department
325 Washington Street
Providence, RI 02903
Attn: Alarm Registration Unit

The Ordinance defines a false alarm “as the activation of an alarm system which results in an arrival at the alarm site by the Police Department when an emergency does not exist.” If the responding Police Officer(s) determine the alarm to be false, the property owner is notified in writing of the false alarm. If there are three additional false alarms at the same location within a fiscal year, the property owner will be assessed a $50 fine. For each subsequent false alarm that occurs during the current fiscal year (begins July 1 and ends on June 30), the property owner will be assessed another $50.

If an alarm user has a grievance, a review board has been formed to hear false alarm grievances. The grievance board consists of: two members of the Providence Police Department, one member of the Providence City Council and two members of the RI Alarm Association.

Download the registration form in Adobe PDF format here.

For additional information concerning the registration and/or notification process, please contact the Providence Police Department’s Alarm Registration Unit at (401) 243-6117.