[HISTORY: Adopted by the City Council of the City of Rockwood
as indicated in article histories. Amendments noted where applicable.]
[Adopted 2-18-1981 by Ord. No. 239]
As used in this article, the following terms shall have the
meanings indicated:
Any person using the service of, or utilizing or operating
or causing to be utilized or operated, a police alarm system.
Any alarm condition registered at the Police Department or
elsewhere, not resulting from criminal activity for which the alarm
was intended. However, any alarm caused by weather conditions shall
not be deemed a false alarm.
Any device designated for the detection of an unauthorized
entry into a premises or for the alerting of others of the commission
of an unlawful act, or both, which device, when actuated, emits a
sound or transmits a signal or message either by or over telephone
lines or otherwise.
Any individual, partnership, corporation or other entity.
No person shall use, or cause to be used or operated, any police
alarm system which is tapped or tied into the telephone lines or telephone
numbers of the City and/or the Police Department, or which automatically
calls, dials, communicates or transmits a telephone signal or message
to the telephone numbers of the City and/or the Police Department.
No person shall cause a false alarm of any police alarm system,
unless that person reasonably believed that someone was committing
an unlawful act and/or unauthorized entry into a premises.
This article is not applicable to the City, nor is it applicable
to audible alarms affixed to motor vehicles.
[Adopted 5-18-1994 by Ord. No. 330]
As used in this article, the following terms shall have the
meanings indicated:
A person, company or other form of entity which sells, installs,
operates, adjusts, arranges for or contracts to provide an alarm system
that will, upon activation, initiate an alarm assigned to a subscriber
of the service signaling entry, smoke, fire or flow requiring Police
or Fire Department response.
An instrument or an assembly of equipment and devices that
is arranged to signal the presence of a hazard requiring urgent attention
by the Police or Fire Department.
Any building, property, premises or motor vehicle equipped
with an alarm system.
The activation of a bell, horn, mechanical, electrical or
telephone alarm system, or any combination thereof, through mechanical
failure, malfunction, improper installation or the negligence of,
or failure of proper maintenance by, the owner or lessee of the alarm
system, or his or her employee or agent, which thereby requires police
or fire response.
No alarm company shall sell, install, adjust, arrange for or
contract to provide an alarm system that will, upon activation, electronically
or by other means, initiate a signal from the subscriber's premises
to the alarm company which would require response by the Police or
Fire Department, without first registering with the City Clerk the
name and telephone number of the alarm system subscriber, the address
of the premises where the alarm is located and the name and telephone
number of at least one other person who can be reached at all times,
day or night, and who can, within 30 minutes, open the premises so
as to deactivate the alarm or who is able to deactivate the alarm
system in some other fashion.
A.
To
defray the costs of responding to false alarms and to discourage the
continuation of repeat false alarms, the alarm company and/or the
owner and lessee of any alarmed premises shall be jointly and severally
responsible to pay to the City the fees provided for in Chapter A277,
Fines and/or Penalties, for each occasion on which the Police Department
or the Fire Department responds to a false alarm from the alarmed
premises.[1]
B.
After
the first false alarm, a written warning letter shall be sent, by
certified mail, to the property, home and/or premises in question
and shall be addressed to the owner and/or lessee of such premises,
by the respective department which responded to the false alarm.
C.
No
person shall fail to pay a required false alarm fee.
An alarm system experiencing more than four false alarms within
one year from the first false alarm shall be deemed to be defective,
and, upon written notice to the owner or lessee of the alarm system
by the City, the owner or lessee shall have the system inspected by
an alarm system contractor who shall, within 15 days of such inspection,
file a written report with the City of the results of its inspection
of the system, the probable cause of the false alarms and its recommendations
for eliminating false alarms. In lieu of such inspection, the owner
or lessee shall provide written evidence to the City that the defective
alarm system has been replaced. Noncompliance with this requirement
shall be deemed to be a violation of this chapter.
The Police Department and the Fire Department shall, monthly,
provide a list of all false alarms, identifying the alarmed premises
and the responsible alarm company, owners and/or lessees. The City
Treasurer shall bill each responsible alarm company, owner or lessee
for the amounts due. All amounts billed by the City Treasurer under
this chapter shall be due within 30 days after each billing. The City
Treasurer is hereby authorized to initiate collection procedures for
any overdue amounts.
A.
Any owner or lessee of an alarmed premises may appeal the assessment
of a false alarm fee to the City Administrator. Such appeal shall
be in writing, shall be filed with the City Administrator within 10
days after written notification of the assessment by the City Treasurer
and shall state adequate and verifiable facts showing that the false
alarm occurred under circumstances that could not be reasonably anticipated
or controlled by the owner or lessee of the alarmed premises. The
City Administrator shall render a decision on the appeal within 15
days after receiving the written appeal and shall notify, in writing,
the appellant and the City Treasurer of his or her decision.
B.
The decision of the City Administrator may be reviewed upon written
request by the appellant to Council within 10 days after receipt of
written notification of the City Administrator's decision.
C.
A review by the decision-makers in the appeal process shall, at a
minimum, include:
(1)
Whether the records or logs of the City support the occurrence of
the alarm;
(2)
Whether the response required any action on the part of the Police
or Fire Department;
(3)
The history of alarms made from the same location;
(4)
The sufficiency of rebuttal evidence contending that the alarm was
not due to mechanical failure, malfunction, improper installation
or negligent or improper maintenance, i.e. the inspection report from
the alarm repair person indicating that nothing was wrong with the
alarm;
(5)
Evidence regarding the applicability of any exemption in this chapter;
and
(6)
Evidence that the alarm was repaired as a response to notice from
the City. Repair within two weeks of notice may be sufficient to dismiss
the assessment of a false alarm fee.
The following circumstances shall not constitute a false alarm,
and no fee established in this chapter shall be assessed therefor:
A.
Alarms activated by a person working on the alarm system with prior
notification to the Police Department and/or the Fire Department;
B.
Alarms activated by damage to public utility lines, when the affected
public utility corroborates that the damage to such lines caused the
alarm;
C.
Alarms activated by hurricane, tornado, earthquake, vandalism or
other violent condition beyond the control of the owner or lessee
of the alarm system or of his or her employee or agent; or
D.
Alarms activated in premises where, by the nature of the activity
engaged therein, Police or Fire Department response would be automatic,
i.e., churches, hospitals, senior citizen homes or care facilities,
community centers and City Hall. The Police Chief shall provide a
list of said exempted premises to the City Clerk.
