[HISTORY: Adopted by the Board of Supervisors
of Price County 2-19-1985 by Ord. No. 1-85. Amendments noted where
applicable.]
The purpose of this chapter is to provide minimum
standards and regulations applicable to burglar, fire, and holdup
alarm systems, alarm businesses 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 outside the intended
function of private security systems.
As used in this chapter, the following terms
shall have the meanings indicated:
Any business in which 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 single device such
as a solid-state unit which plugs directly into one-hundred-ten-volt
AC line or otherwise receives electrical energy arranged to signal
the presence of a hazard requiring urgent attention and to which the
Sheriff's Department is 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 system," 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.[1]
The instrumentation on an alarm console at the receiving
terminal of a signal line through which both visible 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 Sheriff's
Department.
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 directly to the 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
tornados 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 Sheriff's Department 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 or other entity who or which buys or leases or otherwise
obtains an alarm system and thereafter contracts with or hires any
alarm business to monitor and/or service the alarm system.
No person shall interconnect any automatic dialing
device to a Sheriff's Department 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 at
the Sheriff's Department shall be done only person to person on the
telephone line. The Law Enforcement Committee may approve a direct
line installation between a central station or answering service and
the Sheriff's Department, with full costs to be borne by the intermediate
service.
Alarms from premises may be terminated in the
Sheriff's Department by direct connect. Such connections must receive
individual approval of the Sheriff. Such connections shall be accomplished
in the following manner:
A.
Connection.
(1)
All connections shall terminate in the annunciator
panel.
(2)
Any subscriber or alarm user who or which obtains
authority from the Sheriff to terminate his or its alarm system in
the Sheriff's Department may contract with any alarm business of his
or its choice for the sale, installation, maintenance and/or servicing
of the alarm system to be installed on his or its premises.
(3)
The alarm subscriber approved for a direct connection
to the Sheriff's Department, or the alarm business contracting for
servicing the subscriber's alarm system, shall be responsible for
obtaining the leased telephone line between a subscriber's premises
and the alarm receiving equipment at the Sheriff's Department and
for furnishing the appropriate interface equipment, if required, in
order to provide an input signal which is compatible with the receiving
equipment used to operate the standard annunciator panel.
(4)
The alarm subscriber shall provide the Sheriff's Department
with the names and telephone numbers of at least two other persons
who can be reached at any time, day or night, and who are authorized
to respond to an emergency signal transmitted by the automatic alarm
device and who can open the premises wherein the device is installed.
(5)
Only burglar, holdup and fire alarms will be permitted
for direct connection.
B.
Testing.
(1)
No alarm system designed to transmit emergency messages
directly to the Sheriff's Department shall be tested or demonstrated
without prior notification of the Sheriff's Department dispatcher.
Subscribers will be advised on proper test procedures.
(2)
No alarm system relayed through intermediate service
to the Sheriff's Department shall be tested to determine the Sheriff's
Department response without first notifying the Sheriff's Department
dispatcher.
When the service provided by an alarm business
to its subscribers 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 activating of an alarm system,
except when law enforcement finds that an unauthorized person is on
the premises or was seen on the premises immediately before the alarm
was activated or that there is fresh evidence of forceful entry or
attempted forceful entry. The fee for answering alarms shall be established
by the County Board of Supervisors. The fee is inapplicable when the
alarm is caused by a tornado or other violent climatic conditions.
This fee is imposed whether the Sheriff's Department receives the
alarm by direct connection or through an intermediary such as an answering
service or central station. Failure to pay the fee within 30 days
of receipt of the bill shall be grounds for immediate disconnection
from the system. This section is intended to impose a strict liability
on the person, firm, or corporation responsible for the police alarm.
The Sheriff, with the approval of the Law Enforcement
Committee, is authorized to require the owner or lessee of any alarm
system directly connected to the Department to disconnect such device
until it is working in such a manner as will not produce a high frequency
of false alarms. The Sheriff and the Law Enforcement Committee shall
not require such disconnection unless at least four false alarms are
received in a twelve-month period. Any person who has been denied
an alarm system permit or who has had his alarm system disconnected
by order of the Sheriff of Price County shall have the right to appeal
that revocation to the entire Law Enforcement Committee.
Any person who violates any provision of this chapter shall, upon conviction thereof, pay a forfeiture to the County of Price as provided in Chapter 290 of the County Code, along with the statutory penalty assessment and costs, and in default of payment of said amount such person shall be imprisoned in the Price County Jail for a period not to exceed 30 days. Each false alarm or other violation of this chapter shall constitute a separate offense.
New subscribers shall apply for a permit at
least 60 days prior to the intended date of operation. All subscribers
shall renew permits annually during the first month of each year,
commencing January 1986. An annual fee per permit established by the
County Board of Supervisors shall be charged by Price County to all
subscribers. Failure to pay the fee by January 31 of each year shall
be grounds for immediate disconnection from the system without further
notice. Subscribers in existence prior to the effective date of this
chapter shall apply for a permit and pay a permit fee within 30 days
of said effective date.
The Sheriff may select any alarm business to
provide a master alarm panel, at no cost to Price County, to be located
in the dispatch center. The Sheriff shall review any annual fee assessed
to subscribers by the alarm business providing the panel for reasonableness.
No alarm business shall remove a master alarm panel without six months'
prior notice to its subscribers and Price County, and the cost of
removal shall be borne solely by the alarm business. The alarm business
chosen shall permit, through intercompany agreements, other alarm
companies to terminate alarms at the master alarm panel.
The County of Price 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 the 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.
