Guard Service for Select Monitoring Markets
Some cities or counties require visual verification during a burglary alarm event before we can request that your local police department is sent to your monitored location. Visual verification provides evidence that a crime is in progress in order for police to be requested for dispatch. Visual verification for police dispatch is a requirement mandated by the municipality, meaning your local police department will only respond to a burglary alarm if someone onsite can verify suspicious activity or that a crime is in progress.
Cameras with Video Verification (opens in new tab) enabled in the SimpliSafe® Mobile App may satisfy the requirement of visual verification in some municipalities. Video Verification allows monitoring specialists to verify the need for police at your property by reviewing video footage from your cameras. For municipalities where an actual eye witness is required to meet the municipality’s visual verification requirement, our professional monitoring agents will request Guard Service pertaining to your specific monitoring market to assist with visual verification.
For more information, please review your municipality's alarm ordinance. If you are unsure of how to find this information, please email permits@simplisafe.com for more information.
What is Guard Service and How Does it Work?
SimpliSafe® partners with different Guard Services, depending on your market. For some markets this may be Securitas Guard Service, while other markets like Las Vegas, NV and Milwaukee, WI use NJB. SimpliSafe’s® mobile security guard dispatch partner supports police dispatch to our customers in municipalities where visual verification is required before police can be dispatched to a location.
When an alarm event occurs at your location, the Primary Contact is first notified of the event. If the Primary Contact (opens in new tab) for a location does not answer the phone during an alarm event, or if the incorrect safe word (opens in new tab) is provided, your respective Guard Service may be called to investigate the alarm event further.
The mobile security guard will head to the monitored location and upon arrival will perform a visual check for any signs of unauthorized presence or intrusion (burglary). If the guard sees a crime in progress or signs of a break-in, the guard will call the police on your behalf and request dispatch to your location.
What is the Cost Associated with Guard Service?
The cost of dispatching a mobile security guard varies by municipality. In most areas of coverage, this fee is $75.00 except in Milwaukee, WI where it is $86.81. Because your municipality requires visual verification, this service or a similar means of providing visual verification is required no matter who monitors your system for your municipality to dispatch police.
If an alarm event occurs and our professional monitoring agents are required to request dispatch of a mobile security guard to your monitored location, you will receive an invoice for the dispatch fee and any other permit-related fees separate from your monthly monitoring bill. Please note that this is NOT a recurring charge. This fee is only charged when a mobile guard is sent to the location of your system.
You can view your payment and billing history (opens in new tab) at any time using the SimpliSafe® Online Account (opens in new tab) on a computer.
Do I Have to Have Guard Service to Use SimpliSafe® for Monitoring?
If you choose to opt out of Guard Service and an alarm occurs, SimpliSafe® will not be able to request police dispatch to your monitored location unless you or an individual at the monitored property reports seeing a crime in progress to the SimpliSafe® monitoring center. This means if no one on-site can visually verify the situation, even if your system is armed and an alarm triggers, police dispatch will not be available.
If you wish to opt out of Guard Service, please email permits@simplisafe.com. The Permit Team will review your request and reach out to you with further details.