[HISTORY: Adopted by the Township Council of the Township of Jefferson 3-19-2003
by Ord. No. 8-03 (Ch. 3 of the 1967 Code). Amendments noted
where applicable.]
The purpose of this chapter is to provide for the establishment and
maintenance of an efficient, effective and uniform police and fire alarm system
within the Township of Jefferson and to provide standards and regulations
for alarm equipment, devices or systems to be installed or connected with
or to the police panel alarm system at police headquarters in Jefferson, or
otherwise installed or connected so as to elicit a response by the Jefferson
Township Police Department or, through the Police Department, the Fire Department
or other municipal agency.
The provisions of the chapter shall apply to any person who installs,
connects, operates, maintains, services or owns any alarm equipment, device
or system, including local and central station alarms, designed to summons
the Police Department or, through the Police Department, the Fire Department
or other municipal agency to any location within the Township of Jefferson
in response to any type of call, signal, alarm or preprogrammed, prerecorded
message.
As used in this chapter, the following terms shall have the meanings
indicated:
Any type of equipment, device or system which is connected to a private
alarm company monitoring station which monitors alarm activations at their
subscriber locations. Upon alarm activation, and in the event that no person
can be reached at the location or the person reached fails to properly respond
with the correct code word or number, such company will contact the police
to respond to the location.
Any type of equipment, device or system using telephone wires to
activate an audible alarm at the police communication desk and provide both
an information readout and a printout.
Any activation of an alarm system, whether intentional or unintentional,
by failure, malfunction, accidental tripping, misoperation, misuse, inadvertence
or negligence by the subscribers, their employees or agents.
The license issued by the Chief of Police of Jefferson Township permitting
a person to engage in, manage, conduct or carry on the business of installing,
leasing, connecting, maintaining, servicing, repairing, arranging, adjusting,
replacing, moving and programming, in any building, place or premises in the
Township of Jefferson, any alarm, equipment or device designed to summon the
Police Department or, through the Police Department, the Fire Department or
other municipal agency.
Any type of equipment, device or system which, when actuated, produces
a signal or alarm not connected to the police panel alarm system such as a
store, burglar or intrusion alarm actuating a bell, horn or other sounding
device, for the purpose of summoning the Police Department or, through the
Police Department, the Fire Department or other municipal agency to the location
thereof and in response thereto.
Includes any natural person, partnership, firm, corporation or association.
That system giving a visual or audio response, or both, on the control
panel of the police console located within the confines of the Police Department
of the Township of Jefferson, monitored by the Police Department and which
includes the subscriber modules, the control modules, the control cabinets,
the energy pack and all necessary and accessory equipment, wires and connections
therein and thereto.
Any type of equipment, device or system, preprogrammed or automatic,
using telephone wires to transmit any alarm, message, signal or report directly
through or to the Police Department switchboard for the purpose of summoning
the Police Department or other municipal agency to any location within the
Township of Jefferson in response thereto.
The Council of the Township of Jefferson.
A.
No person shall install, connect or maintain or cause
to be installed, connected or maintained any alarm equipment, device or system
in or to the police headquarters in the Township of Jefferson for the purpose
of transmitting a signal or alarm or reporting a signal, alarm or prerecorded
message to the attention of the Police Department for the purpose of summoning
the Police Department or, through the Police Department, the Fire Department
or other municipal agency in response thereto, without first having made application
and been issued a one-time permit therefor in accordance with the provisions
of the chapter and the rules, regulations and procedures hereinafter established
and provided thereunder.
B.
No person shall install, connect or maintain or cause
to be installed, connected or maintained any local or central station alarm
without first having registered the same with the Chief of Police, as hereinafter
provided.
A.
All applications for the issuance of a permit required
under this chapter shall be made in writing to the Chief of Police on a form
provided therefor and shall be accompanied by an application and processing
fee of $25.
B.
Said application, among other information which may from
time to time be required or prescribed by the Chief of Police, shall contain
the name, address and telephone number of the applicant, the name, address
and phone number of each of the premises and customers or person to be served
by the proposed installation or connection, location of the device, alarm
equipment or system, the name of the installer, the type of device, alarm
equipment or system provisions relating to false alarms and testing procedures
and a list of persons to be contacted in event of alarm.
C.
Upon application for a permit, the Chief of Police shall
cause an investigation to be made, and thereafter, provided the applicant
has complied with all of the terms of this chapter and the rules and regulations
made, promulgated and adopted pursuant thereto, shall issue the permit.
D.
Permit fees for an existing alarm system shall be waived.
No permit shall be granted except upon the following terms and conditions:
A.
Applicant shall furnish and complete all information
required relating to the application and the alarm, equipment, device or system
to be installed or connected and data relating to prevention of false alarms
and testing procedures.
B.
No person other than applicant and his agent and employees
shall exercise the privileges under the permit.
C.
Applicant shall maintain his equipment in good condition
and repair.
D.
No permit shall be transferred or assigned in any manner.
E.
The permit is accepted upon the express condition the
permittee shall indemnify and hold the Township of Jefferson harmless from
and on account of any and all damages arising out of the activities of the
permittee or its alarm contractor.
F.
Each separate building, store, premises, place or location
shall require a separate permit and a separate installation or connection
to the police panel alarm system.
G.
The applicant or permittee upon acceptance of such permit,
thereby agrees to hold and save harmless the Township of Jefferson, its agents
or employees from any liability whatsoever in connection with any such alarm,
equipment, device or system or the operation and maintenance of the same which
shall be the sole responsibility of the person having had the same installed
or connected.
All local and central station devices, alarms, equipment or systems
shall be registered with the Chief of Police, and all information required
with respect to such registration shall be provided and information kept current
by the registrant. All residents and business owners with existing local and
central station devices, alarms, equipment or systems shall have one year
from the adoption of this chapter to register said alarm system.
Any permit issued under the provisions of this chapter may be suspended
or revoked by the Chief of Police or Township Fire Marshal for any violations
of or failure to comply with the provisions of this chapter or any rule or
regulation promulgated by the Chief of Police and approved by the Township
Council pursuant to this chapter, including the following:
A.
The permittee, his agent or employee willfully failed
to and did not comply with a request by a member of the Police Department
to proceed immediately to the location of permittee's alarm and render necessary
services.
B.
The permittee, his agents or employees knowingly installed
or maintained a faulty system alarm device. An inordinate number of false
alarms shall be prima facie evidence that such alarm device is knowingly a
faulty device.
C.
The permittee has breached the terms and conditions of
the permit. No permit shall be revoked or suspended without giving the permittee
30 days' notice in writing of such action and an opportunity to show cause
before the Chief of Police why such action should not be taken. Any person
aggrieved by the action or determination of the Chief of Police in the denial
of a permit or in the suspension or revocation of any permit provided for
in this chapter may appeal to the Township Council of the Township of Jefferson.
No permit shall be issued for the installation, connection, operation,
maintenance, service or ownership of any tape dial alarm, equipment or device.
Any unauthorized equipment may be disconnected by the Chief of Police or his
designated representative for noncompliance with this section. Any person
installing or maintaining unauthorized equipment shall be prosecuted for violation
of this section, and each day the equipment is in operation shall be considered
separate violation.
All alarm systems utilizing an outside audible/signaling device shall
not be active for more than 15 minutes in duration. All such alarms shall
have an automatic silencing device that shall deactivate any outside audible/signaling
device. Any such system that does not have aforesaid silencing device shall
be deemed in violation of this chapter.
A.
The Township of Jefferson shall be under no duty or obligation
to any permittee hereunder or any other licensee hereunder for any of the
police panel alarm system equipment or any other equipment device or system
connected thereto, the same being maintained at will and subject to termination
at any time by cancellation of the system by resolution duly adopted by the
council of the Township of Jefferson. However, any individual permit or license
issued hereunder may be revoked at any time by the Chief of Police as hereinabove
provided.
B.
Notwithstanding payment of any fees and/or the receiving
or issuance of any permit or registrations as herein required, the Police
Department of the Township of Jefferson shall not be under any obligation
whatsoever concerning the installation or connection or adequacy, operation
or maintenance of the alarm, equipment, device or system so installed or connected,
and the Township of Jefferson and its authorized agents hereby assume no liability
whatsoever for any failure of such alarm, equipment, device or system, failure
to respond to any such alarm or transmittals or for any act of omission or
commission as a result of any such alarm, equipment, device or system; and
the obligation for the maintenance and upkeep of such alarm equipment, device,
and system, except for the equipment installed in police headquarters, shall
be the sole responsibility of the person having had the same installed or
connected.
For the equipment, device and systems installed or connected within
the Township of Jefferson, the permittee shall pay whatever charges are required
by any alarm company making such installation and, in addition thereto, the
permit fee hereinbefore provided.
A.
The subscriber shall be accountable for false alarms
caused by the equipment failure or malfunction of the alarm system installed
by the subscriber's alarm installer or the subscriber's alarm maintenance
company.
B.
Subscriber shall not be held accountable for false alarms
caused by severe weather conditions, electrical malfunctions, malfunctions
of the alarm console located at police headquarters, malfunction of telephone
lines used to transport the alarm signal over which the subscriber or the
subscriber's alarm installer or maintenance company have no control or by
the tripping of an alarm by other than the subscriber which is done with malicious
intent.
C.
In the case of a false alarm by any type of device regulated
in this chapter, including local and central station alarms, any person having
knowledge thereof shall immediately notify the Police Department in a manner
to be prescribed by rules and regulations herein made and provided. In addition,
in the case of a false alarm, the Chief of Police shall cause an investigation
to be made and keep a record of said false alarms on file. The Police Department
shall record and keep a log for all false alarms. For such false alarms, the
following penalties are prescribed:
(1)
For first false alarm, a verbal warning shall be issued.
(2)
For the second false alarm, a written warning shall be
issued.
(3)
For the third false alarm, and any subsequent false alarms
within a one-hundred-and-eighty-day period, a minimum fine of $100, up to
a maximum fine of $500.
[Amended 12-19-2007 by Ord. No. 25-07]
(4)
Where an alarm device is connected to the police panel
alarm system and the investigation of the Police Department discloses continued
abuse of the privileges of such connection and a disregard of the permittee
for taking remedial steps to avoid false alarms, the Township Council reserves
the right to require disconnection from the police panel alarm system for
a limited or permanent time, provided that no such permit shall be revoked
or suspended without giving the permittee an opportunity to show cause before
the Chief of Police why such action should not be taken.
D.
The permittee shall take all necessary steps to immediately
ascertain the cause of any false alarm and shall alleviate the problem within
72 hours or show cause before the Chief of Police why the malfunction cannot
be remedied within that time period. The Chief shall have the discretion to
grant an additional period of time within which to make the repair.
Any unauthorized equipment may be ordered disconnected by the Chief
of Police or his designated representative for noncompliance with this chapter,
and any person installing or maintaining unauthorized equipment shall be prosecuted
for violation of this chapter, and each and every day said equipment is in
operation shall be considered a separate violation. Any permittee shall, by
acceptance of the permit, be deemed to have consented to inspection of the
premises on which said alarm devices are installed at reasonable hours by
the Chief of Police or his designated representative.
A.
No person shall engage in, manage, conduct or carry on
the business of installing, leasing, connecting, maintaining, servicing, repairing,
arranging, adjusting, altering, replacing, moving or programming in or on
the building, place or premises in the Township of Jefferson any police, fire,
burglar, dial, telephone, local or automatic alarm equipment, device or system
which is equipped to report to or to attract the attention of the Police Department
or Fire Department in order to secure a response thereto without first having
applied for and received from the Chief of Police of the Township of Jefferson
an annual license therefor.
B.
There shall be no cost to the alarm installer for an
initial license or any renewal thereof. All installers' licenses hereunder
shall expire on December 31 of the year in which issued, and all licenses
for renewal thereof must be submitted in writing to the Chief of Police on
or before January 31 of the succeeding year. In addition, the installer must
have an exempt card from the New Jersey State Electrical Contractors Licensing
Board to install alarms within the Township of Jefferson.[1]
C.
Upon filing an application for a license, the applicant
shall complete a form provided therefor by the Chief of Police.
D.
The Police Chief shall cause an investigation to be made
of the applicant for an installer's license to determine the qualifications,
responsibility and reliability of such applicant and the quality and reliability
of equipment, devices or systems to be installed or connected by said installer,
as well as the liability of such installer to comply with the rules and regulations
to be made and promulgated by the Police Chief and adopted by the Township
Council.
E.
Licensed electrical contractors and their employees shall be exempt from having to obtain an alarm installer's license as provided in § 138-15A through D. In lieu of such requirement, licensed electrical contractors shall be required to complete an annual registration form provided by the Chief of Police, which form shall include the name, address and telephone number of the licensed electrical contractor, the electrical contractor's license and business permit numbers, the names, addresses and telephone numbers of every person employed by such contractor who shall engage in the installation and servicing of alarms in the Township of Jefferson, the names and types of equipment, devices or systems installed and utilized, and such other information as may be required from time to time under the rules and regulations promulgated by the Chief of Police. In order to insure that the information registered with the Chief of Police is reasonably up-to-date, licensed electrical contractors will be required to submit a new registration form annually. Such forms must be submitted to the Chief of Police on or before January 31 of each year.
F.
Licensed electrical contractors and their employees and
installer licensee hereunder shall be required to maintain complete and accurate
records of each and every of such alarm equipment, device or system installed,
connected, maintained, leased or serviced within the Township of Jefferson
and shall notify the Chief of Police of the same, and all installations, connections
and all alarm equipment devices and systems shall conform to the rules and
regulations made and provided herein by the Chief of Police and approved by
the Council.
A.
The Chief of Police may make, prescribe and promulgate
supplementary rules and regulations for the installation and connection of
alarm equipment, devices or systems covered by the terms of this chapter and
for the performance, maintenance and operation of same as may be reasonably
necessary to fulfill the purposes of this chapter.
B.
Said rules and regulations and all changes thereof shall
be subject to the approval of the Township Council. Said rules and regulations
shall be in writing and shall be given to each permittee or licensee at the
time of the application for or issuance of the permit or license or at the
time of the promulgation of amendment of such rules and regulations. The violation
of any such rules and regulations shall constitute a violation of this chapter.
Any person, firm or corporation found guilty in the Municipal Court
of the Township of Jefferson for violation of the terms of this chapter shall
be subject to a fine of not more that $500 or imprisonment for a period not
exceeding 90 days, or both.
Members of the Police Department, Fire Chief or Township Fire Marshal
and their designees shall be empowered to enforce and/or issue summons or
warnings to enforce this chapter.
