All burglar alarm systems in unincorporated Cobb must be registered.

Begin the registration process at cityalarmpermit.us.

To register by phone or for online registration issues: (888) 535-4535.

One of the most common calls for service is the burglar alarm call. An officer spends an average of 20 minutes on each burglar alarm call; most of them being false alarms. This ongoing problem of false burglar alarms is wasteful of resources and costly to the residents and business owners.

The large number of false alarms led to the development of Cobb County’s alarm ordinance, which went into effect January 1, 2009. The ordinance requires all residential and business burglar alarms in unincorporated Cobb County to be registered. The ordinance also created a tiered fine system for excessive false alarms and unregistered burglar alarms. The goal of the ordinance is to reduce wasted man hours spent responding to false alarms. The registration requirement also provides police with contact information in case of a suspected break-in.

Please Note

Motor vehicle or boat alarms, fire alarms, and alarms designed to elicit a medical response do not have to be registered.

For more information, please contact:

False Alarm Reduction Unit
(770) 528-3819

Responding to false alarms is costly to you and your Police Department. Listed below are some tips that can help you prevent false alarms and possibly save you money in the form of false alarm fines.

• If your alarm is accidentally activated, don't panic, don't call 911, call your alarm monitoring station immediately. Give them your pass code and/or password.
• Make sure all alarm users and key holders at your address are trained to use the system.
• You can arrange to have your alarm monitoring station call you or another designated person first instead of the police when your alarm is activated.
• If you expect workers, real estate agents, delivery personnel, etc. do not set your alarm. If you must set your alarm, meet the people at your site to deactivate the alarm. Remember that you are responsible for their actions. You can also arrange with your alarm company to have separate codes for them.
• If your system sends a silent panic/duress signal when an incorrect code is entered, understand that your alarm company may not call you to verify the alarm. You should contact your alarm company if the alarm is false and have them to cancel the police.
• Be sure that doors and windows are tight fitting. Adjust hinges and strike plates on doors, so they move no more than ¼ inch when pulled or pushed on.
• Have an arming delay of at least 45 seconds on all doors.
• Do not leave doors and windows open or unlocked while you are away. Be sure all doors and windows are properly closed and locked prior to arming the alarm system.
• Do not leave anything that will move (pets, balloons, drapes, fans, etc.) in a room that is protected with a motion detector.
• Have the sensitivity settings on glass-break sensors adjusted so that sounds, such as thunder and outside construction, do not activate them.
• You can arrange with your alarm company not to dispatch the police for interior motion sensor activations without having other sensors activated (e.g a door activation with a motion sensor activation).
• If storms or brief power outages of 4 hours or less activate your alarm system, your system needs to be checked by a professional. These activations may be caused from dead/low batteries. Alarms during brief power outages cannot be waived. Have your alarm system checked and tested regularly.
• Call your alarm company after each false alarm to determine the cause of the false alarm. You may continue to have false alarms until the problem is repaired or adjusted.