ARTICLE II. - BURGLAR OR HOLD-UP ALARM SYSTEMS

Footnotes:

--- (2) --- State Law reference— Burglar and hold-up alarm businesses, G.L. 1956, § 5-57-1 et seq.; local regulation of alarm businesses, G.L. 1956, § 5-57-38.

DIVISION 1. - GENERALLY#

Sec. 16-19. - Definitions.#

The following words, terms and phrases, when used in this article, shall have the meanings ascribed to them in this section, except where the context clearly indicates a different meaning:

Alarm business means any business of any individual, partnership, corporation or other entity engaged in selling, leasing, maintaining, servicing, repairing, altering, replacing, moving or installing any alarm system to be sold, leased, maintained, serviced, repaired, altered, replaced, moved or installed in or on any building, structure or facility.

Alarm permit means a permit issued by the city allowing the operation of an alarm system within the city.

Alarm system means any assembly of equipment, mechanical or electrical, arranged to signal the occurrence of an illegal entry or other activity requiring urgent attention and to which the police department is expected to respond, but does not include alarms installed in conveyances or fire alarms.

Alarm user means the person in control of any building, structure or facility or portion thereof wherein an alarm system is maintained.

Appeal officer means the director of public safety or an individual designated by the director of public safety to act in the capacity as an impartial arbitrator to review appeals related to the enforcement of this article.

Automatic telephone dialing alarm system means the automatic dialing of any automatic telephone dialing alarm system, and shall include any system which, upon being activated, automatically transmits by telephone or message or code signal indicating a need for emergency response; or a system which, upon activation, connects to an answering service whose function it is to transmit to the police department a need for emergency response.

False alarm means an alarm signal eliciting a response by police where a situation requiring a response by the police does not in fact exist; but this definition does not include an alarm signal caused by unusually violent conditions of nature, nor does it include other extraordinary circumstances not reasonably subject to control by the alarm user.

(Code 1994, § 16-26; Ord. of 1-6-1993(3), § 1)

Sec. 16-20. - Requirements of alarm users.#

(a)

There shall be a list known as the alarm information list, which will consist of the following information for a security alarm system signal:

(1)

The street address, apartment number if any, office, suite number or the exact location of the security alarm system.

(2)

The name of the person protected by the alarm system.

(3)

The entire name, street address, city/town and state of the subscriber as well as the area code and the telephone number.

(4)

The entire names, street addresses, cities/towns and states as well as the area codes and telephone numbers of at least two separate individuals (aside from the subscriber as indicated in subsection (a)(3) of this section) who can be reached 24 hours a day and who are authorized to respond to an alarm signal, and who have access into the premises or location in which the alarm is located.

(b)

All information obtained and maintained by the city pursuant to this section shall be confidential, a matter of public safety, and shall not be subject to disclosure to a third party unless specifically authorized in writing by the applicant or the public safety director for good cause shown or upon order of a court of competent jurisdiction.

(c)

Every individual, partnership, corporation or other entity doing business in the city as an alarm service shall provide the director of public safety with an alarm information list, setting forth all of their security alarm subscribers in the city. Further, such companies shall notify the director of public safety, by certified mail, of any change in status or additions or deletions to the alarm information list within five working days.

(d)

On January 1 of each year, alarm service companies doing business in the city shall file a notice with the director of public safety certifying the accuracy of the alarm information list.

(e)

Every security alarm user must notify the director of public safety in writing at least two days but not more than 15 days in advance of testing of security alarm equipment. Failure to notify the director of public safety in advance of a testing, as established hereby, shall constitute a false alarm and be subject to the assessment schedule contained in section 16-22.

(Code 1994, § 16-27; Ord. of 1-6-1993(3), § 6)

Sec. 16-21. - Response to alarm; determination and validity.#

(a)

Whenever an alarm is activated in the city, thereby requiring an emergency response to the location by the police department, and the police department does respond, a police officer on the scene of the activated alarm system shall inspect the area protected by the system and shall determine whether the emergency response was in fact required as indicated by the alarm system or whether in some way the alarm system malfunctioned and thereby activated a false alarm.

(b)

If the police officer at the scene of the activated alarm system determines the alarm to be false, such officer shall make a report of the false alarm, a notification of which shall be mailed or delivered to the alarm user at the address of the alarm system installation location, advising the alarm user of the false alarm.

(c)

The chief of police or his designee shall have the right to inspect any alarm system on the premises to which a response has been made, and he may cause an inspection of such system to be made at any reasonable time thereafter to determine whether it is being used in conformity with the terms of this article.

(Code 1994, § 16-28; Ord. of 1-6-1993(3), § 7)

Sec. 16-22. - False alarm assessment schedule.#

(a)

After the chief of police or his designee has recorded three separate false alarms from a security alarm system, then the alarm user will be notified by the chief of police or his designee, via first class mail, of such facts and shall be required to submit, within ten working days, a report describing the alarm user's efforts to discover and eliminate the cause of the false alarms. This notice shall contain the dates and times of each alleged false alarm. If the chief of police or his designee determines that a report submitted in accordance with this section is unsatisfactory or that the alarm user has failed to show by the report that reasonable steps have been taken to eliminate or reduce false alarms, then the chief of police or his designee will inform the alarm user that subsequent false alarms will cause the alarm user to be assessed monetary charges as follows:

(1)

For the fourth false alarm in a 12-month period, $75.00.

(2)

For each subsequent false alarm thereafter in a 12-month period, $150.00.

(3)

For failure to obtain and maintain a valid alarm permit within seven days subsequent to written notification by the chief of police or his designee, $50.00.

(b)

All assessments/fines assessed under this section shall be paid by certified check or money order payable to the city within ten days of notification.

(c)

If the alarm user submits a report as required by this section, and the chief of police determines that the action taken or to be taken within reasonable time constraints will substantially reduce the likelihood of false alarms, then the chief of police or his designee shall notify the alarm user, in writing, that no assessment/fine will be made at the time. The alarm user will, however, be subject to assessment/fine procedures on the next false alarm signal transmitted.

(d)

The provisions of this section shall not apply to security alarm systems owned and/or operated by agencies of the city.

(Code 1994, § 16-29; Ord. of 1-6-1993(3), § 8; Ord. of 11-8-1999; Ord. of 3-15-2000)

Sec. 16-23. - Appeals procedure; penalties.#

(a)

Any alarm user who is aggrieved by a decision of the director of public safety may, within five working days of notice receipt, appeal in writing to the director of public safety for consideration to be waived from the assessment. The director of public safety or his designee will review the appeal with the requested consideration of waiver. If still unsatisfied, the alarm user may, within 30 days of the final decision of the director of public safety, appeal to the city municipal court.

(b)

Failure to pay any monetary charge under section 16-22 or to file an appeal to the municipal court following 30 days of the final decision of the director of public safety shall constitute a violation of this article, punishable by fines of two times the amount of the monetary charge.

(Code 1994, § 16-30; Ord. of 1-6-1993(3), § 9)

Secs. 16-24—16-49. - Reserved.#

DIVISION 2. - ALARM USER PERMITS#

Sec. 16-50. - Required.#

(a)

It shall be unlawful for any person to operate an alarm system without a valid alarm user's permit.

(b)

All alarm user permits shall be acquired from the city upon filing of an application with the office of public safety director or his designee.

(c)

All alarm users shall report any changes on their permit to the public safety director or his designee in order to maintain a valid alarm permit.

(d)

If a business has one or more alarm systems protecting two or more separate structures having different addresses, a separate permit will be required for each structure.

(e)

Failure to obtain and maintain a valid alarm permit shall result in a fine of $50.00 for the first offense and $100.00 for each additional offense.

(Code 1994, § 16-41; Ord. of 1-6-1993(3), § 2; Ord. of 11-8-1999)

Sec. 16-51. - Application; emergency notification and reporting service information.#

(a)

Applications. Applications for alarm user permits shall be made on forms provided by the police department. Each application shall state the name, address and telephone number of the applicant's property to be serviced by the alarm, and the name, address and telephone number of the applicant's residence, if different. If the applicant's alarm is serviced by an alarm company, the application shall also include the name, address and telephone number of that company.

(b)

Emergency notification. Each application for an alarm user permit shall list an emergency telephone number of the user or his representative to permit prompt notification of alarm calls and facilities assisting the police in the inspection of the property. Changes in emergency telephone numbers shall be kept current, and failure to provide updated information may constitute grounds for revocation of the permit.

(c)

Reporting service information. Each holder of an alarm user permit shall immediately notify the police department in writing of any and all changes in the information filed with the city regarding such permit. Failure to do so shall constitute grounds for revocation of the permit.

(Code 1994, § 16-42; Ord. of 1-6-1993(3), § 3)

Sec. 16-52. - Issuance of permit decals.#

A decal with the alarm user's permit number, name and permit address will be issued with the alarm user permit. This decal should be prominently posted on or near the front entrance to the premises so that the information provided on the decal is visible from the outside of the structure. If the alarm user does not wish to display a decal, then the alarm user has the option of using his address as the mode of identification for the permit. The alarm user shall signify this on his permit.

(Code 1994, § 16-43; Ord. of 1-6-1993(3), § 4)

Sec. 16-53. - Requirements for permit.#

In order to qualify for an alarm user permit, the user's alarm system shall comply with the following requirements: (1)

All alarm systems shall have a backup power supply that will become effective in the event of a power failure or outage in the source of electricity from the utility company.

(2)

All alarm systems which utilize an audible bell, horn, siren or other sound-emitting device shall be equipped with an automatic shutoff device which will deactivate the alarm system within 15 minutes after activation.

(Code 1994, § 16-44; Ord. of 1-6-1993(3), § 5)