[HISTORY: Adopted by the Village Board of
the Village of Cambria 3-7-1988 as Title 7, Ch. 10 of the 1988 Code. Amendments noted where
applicable.]
This chapter shall be known as the "Village
of Cambria Alarm System Chapter."
The purpose of this chapter is to provide minimum
standards of regulations applicable to burglar, fire and holdup alarm
systems, alarm business and alarm users. Both society in general and
public safety in particular will be aided by providing a useful and
usable system of private security which properly balances quick response
by law enforcement with minimization of law enforcement time spent
on alarms which are false or otherwise not the intended function of
private security systems.
Within this chapter, the following terms, phrases
and words and their derivations shall have the meaning given herein:
Any business in which the owners or employees engage in the
activity of altering, installing, leasing, maintaining, repairing,
replacing, selling, or servicing alarm systems.
An assembly of equipment and devices or a single device such
as a solid-state unit which plugs directly into 110-volt AC line or
otherwise receives electrical energy arranged to signal the presence
of a hazard requiring urgent attention and to which the County Sheriff's
Department or Cambria law enforcement or fire departments are expected
to respond. In this chapter, the term "alarm system" shall include
the terms "automatic holdup alarm system," "burglar alarm system"
and "manual holdup alarm systems," as those terms are hereinafter
defined, and fire alarm systems which monitor temperature, humidity
or any other condition directly related to the detection of fire.
Excluded from this definition and from the coverage of this chapter
are alarm systems used to alert or signal persons within the premises
in which the alarm system is located of an attempted unauthorized
intrusion or holdup attempt or fire.
The instrumentation on an alarm console at the receiving
terminal of a signal line through which both visual and audible signals
show when an alarm device at a particular location has been activated
or which, in the event of malfunction, may also indicate line trouble.
Refers to a telephone answering service providing among its
services the service of receiving on a continuous basis through trained
employees, emergency signals from alarm systems, and thereafter immediately
relaying the message by live voice to the dispatch center of the County
Sheriff's Department or Cambria law enforcement and fire departments.
Refers to an alarm system which automatically sends over
regular telephone lines, by direct connection or otherwise, a prerecorded
voice message or coded signal indicating the existence of the emergency
situation that the alarm system is designed to detect.
An alarm system in which the signal transmission is initiated
by the action of the robber.
Refers to an alarm system which signals an entry or attempted
entry into the area protected by the system.
An office to which remote alarm and supervisory signaling
devices are connected, where operators supervise the circuits.
An alarm system which has the capability of transmitting
system signals to law enforcement or fire department or County Sheriff's
Department dispatch center.
The activation of an alarm system through mechanical failure,
malfunction, improper installation, or the negligence of the owner
or lessee of an alarm system or of his employees or agents, or other
undetermined cause. "False alarm" does not include alarms caused by
tornadoes or other violent climatic conditions.
To connect an alarm system to a voice grade telephone line,
either directly or through a mechanical device that utilizes a standard
telephone, for the purpose of using the telephone line to transmit
an emergency message upon the activation of the alarm system.
Refers to an alarm system in which the signal transmission
is initiated by the direct action of the person attacked or by an
observer thereof.
A telephone line leading directly into the dispatch center
of the County Sheriff's Department or Cambria law enforcement and
fire departments that is for the purpose of handling emergency calls
on a person-to-person basis and which is identified as such by a specific
number included among the emergency numbers listed in the telephone
directory or numbers in sequence therewith.
A person who buys or leases or otherwise obtains an alarm
system and thereafter contracts with or hires an alarm business to
monitor and/or service the alarm system.
[1]
Editor's Note: In this section and throughout the chapter, references to the Village Police Department or Chief of Police, which were abolished by ordinance 8-3-2009, have been revised to reference “law enforcement” or the “Village Board,” as applicable, at time of adoption of Code (see Ch. 1, General Provisions, Art. II).
Local law enforcement, in cooperation with the
County Sheriff's Department, shall promulgate such rules as may be
necessary for the implementation of this chapter. Such rules shall
require the approval of the Village Board and shall be open to inspection
by the public.
No person shall interconnect any automatic dialing
device to a law enforcement department's primary trunk line. No person
shall permit such devices which were installed prior to the effective
date of this chapter to remain interconnected from any property owned
or controlled by that person. Such devices may be connected to a central
station or an answering service. Relaying messages so received to
Cambria law enforcement or fire department shall only be done person
to person on the telephone line.
Direct connections to Village law enforcement
or fire department are prohibited.
A.
No alarm business or alarm system designed to transmit
emergency messages to law enforcement or fire department shall be
tested or demonstrated without prior notification of the law enforcement
or fire department dispatcher. Alarm business or alarm system owners
or lessors will be advised on proper test procedure.
B.
No alarm system relayed through intermediate services
to the law enforcement or fire department will be tested to determine
law enforcement or fire department response without first notifying
the appropriate authority.
When the service provided by an alarm business
to its subscriber is disrupted for any reason by the alarm business
or the alarm business becomes aware of such disruption, it shall promptly
notify its subscribers by telephone that protection is no longer being
provided. If, however, the alarm business has written instructions
from its subscriber not to make such notification by telephone during
certain hours, the alarm business may comply with such instructions.
There is hereby imposed a fee for law enforcement
response to any alarm resulting from the activation of an alarm system,
except when law enforcement finds that an unauthorized person is on
the premises, was seen on the premises immediately before the alarm
was activated or that there is fresh evidence of forceful entry or
attempted forceful entry. There shall be no fee for the first and
second response in a twelve-month period. Any fees for subsequent
responses are as set by the Village Board. The fee is inapplicable
when the alarm is caused by a tornado or other violent climatic conditions.
This fee is imposed whether law enforcement or fire department receives
the alarm by direct notice or through an intermediary such as an answering
service or central station. Failure to pay the stated fee within 30
days of receipt of the bill shall be grounds for a refusal of law
enforcement services in regards to future alarms being received. However,
before any refusal or notification of "no service" is given, that
action shall receive approval from the Village Board.[2]
The Village of Cambria shall be under no duty
or obligation to a subscriber or to any other person concerning any
provision of this chapter, including, but not limited to, any defects
in an alarm system or any delays in transmission or response to any
alarm; however, this in no way shall be construed that it is not the
proper function of law enforcement to respond to alarms.
B.
Interior alarms. A permit under this chapter is not
required for an alarm system which gives a signal, visual or audible,
or both, solely within the interior of the building in which it is
located.
C.
Issuing authority. The issuing authority for permits
shall be the Village Board.
D.
Application. Application for permit required under
this chapter shall be filed with the Village Board. The Village Board
shall prescribe the form of the application and request such information
as is necessary to evaluate and act upon the permit application. The
Village Board shall deny a permit if the alarm system for which it
is sought does not comply with this chapter.
A.
Hearing. Before a permit issued pursuant to this chapter
may be revoked, a hearing shall be held before the Village Board.
Notice setting forth the time, place and nature of the hearing shall
be sent by mail or delivered to the permittee at the address shown
on the permit application not less than seven days prior to the hearing.
B.
Grounds for revocation. The Village Board may revoke
a permit on the following grounds:
C.
Appeals. Any permittee may appeal the decision of
the Village Board by filing a written notice of appeal with the Village
Clerk/Treasurer within 10 days after the decision. Such appeal shall
be heard by the Village Board within 30 days after filing the appeal.
The Village Board may affirm, amend or reverse the decision or take
other action deemed appropriate. An appeal timely taken suspends the
revocation until the Board gives its decision. The Clerk/Treasurer
shall give written notice of the time and place of the hearing to
the appellant by certified mail or personal delivery not less than
seven days before the hearing. In conducting the hearing, the Village
Board shall not be limited by the technical rules of evidence.
A.
Any person who shall violate any section of this chapter shall be subject to a penalty as provided in § 1-5 of this Code.
B.
When any premises located in the Village is owned,
leased or occupied by two or more persons as joint tenants, tenants
in common, joint lessees, or in any other manner, each person shall
see that the provisions of this chapter are complied with, and each
person may be subjected to a penalty on violation of this chapter.
