One page alarm permit form. Simply print out, complete, and mail in!
In 1997, The Oxnard City Code relating to alarm systems underwent a major revision, based partly upon the following facts and figures from 1995:
- The Oxnard Police Department responded to 6,264 false alarms in 1995.
- Only 1.55% of the 6,264 alarms received by the Oxnard Police Department reported an actual or attempted crime
- Of the 97 actual alarms, 79 were from systems that had no false alarms the entire year and the remaining 18 legitimate alarms were from alarm systems that had only one false alarm in 1995. All alarm systems with three or more false alarms in 1995 never reported an actual or attempted crime!
- In 1996, one property accounted for 133 false alarms; another resulted in 115 responses by Oxnard Police.
In 1998, Oxnard responded to 6,931 alarm calls which comprised 10 percent of all calls for police service. The average cost for police response was $62.04. With 98.8% of all alarms calls determined to be false, the cost of responding to false alarms in 1998 was $424,725.84. The false alarm program was started in July of 1998.
YEAR | FALSE ALARMS | ALARM CHANGE | FINE AMOUNT | FINE CHANGE |
---|---|---|---|---|
1998 | 6,931 | N/A | $21,300 | N/A |
1999 | 4,639 | -33% | $75,575 | +355% |
2000 | 4,743 | +2% | $89,725 | +19% |
2001 | 4,831 | +2% | $73,680 | -18% |
2002 | 4,595 | -5% | $70,589 | -4% |
2003 | 4,206 | -8% | $121,366 | +75% |
2004 | 3,683 | -12% | $90,207 | -26% |
2005 | 3,449 | -6% | $94,557 | +5% |
2006 | 3,173 | -8% | $70,420 | -25% |
2007 | 3,147 | -1% | $63,420 | -9% |
2008 | 3,003 | -4% | $53,020 | -16% |
Many of the Ordinance changes were based upon the Alarm Ordinance Model provided by the National Burglar & Fire Alarm Association and the False Alarm Reduction Association.
Our efforts at combating false alarms are getting results but there is work yet to be done. See a chart on the results of the Oxnard false alarm reduction effort from 2000 to 2009.
Make sure that you only deal with an alarm company licensed by the California State Department of Consumer Affairs, Bureau of Security & Investigative Services. Consumer Affairs now offers a way to check for valid alarm licensing online. You can search by county name, alarm license number, or name of the alarm company, alarm company qualified manager or alarm company employee.
Not only must the company be licensed to do business in California, so must the alarm company employee that comes to your home or business to install or repair the alarm system. If in doubt, ask the alarm employee for his A.C.E. (Alarm Company Employee) card. If they do not have one in their possession, contact the Oxnard Police Department Alarm Control Officer immediately at 805.385.7672 and do not allow the employee to enter your home!
According to Oxnard City Code 16.1-48, a false alarm is any alarm, whether audible or silent, to which the responding officer finds no evidence or situation requiring a response by a police officer, such as an attempted crime, a crime in progress or a crime that has just occurred. A false alarm includes a site where one or more doors or windows are found unsecured and there is no evidence of unlawful entry. Alarms that are activated due to a power outage are also considered false. Silent robbery alarm set-off by owners or employees to report an incident other than a robbery is also a false alarm.
- Malfunctioning alarm systems
- Owner, visitor, real estate agents, cleaning crews or other employee error in disarming the alarm system
- Doors or windows left open or ajar
- Animals locked inside and moving about the premises
- Mail being dropped through a door mail-drop slot
- Power outages coupled with improper battery back-up system
- Telephone line problems
- An overly-sensitive system that activates when persons rattle a door or window
- Errors by the alarm monitoring (central station) service
- Drapes or balloons blowing in the breeze
If you set off a burglary alarm by accident in a home or a business, try to contact the alarm company immediately if they do not call you. If you cannot recite the property’s password or code word over the phone to the alarm operator, the police will be dispatched! It is recommended that you wait for the officers’ arrival in front of the property in plain view. Remember that the responding officers probably do not know who you are, so be prepared to offer some form of identification to establish your legal presence on the property in question.