[HISTORY: Adopted by the Mayor and Council of the Borough
of Raritan as indicated in article histories. Amendments noted where
applicable.]
[Adopted 4-26-1977 (Ch. 3, Art. I, of the 1966 Code)]
All dial alarm devices connected to the telephone lines of the
Borough of Raritan Police Department are henceforth prohibited.
Any person, firm or corporation who hereafter connects a dial
alarm device to the telephone lines of the Police Department of the
Borough of Raritan shall be in violation of this article, and each
day that such connection shall remain shall be a separate violation
of this article. Nothing herein, however, shall prohibit the continuation
of dial alarm devices which are connected to the telephone lines of
the Borough of Raritan Police Department on the effective date hereof.
Any person, firm or corporation that shall violate any provision
of this article shall, upon conviction thereof by any court authorized
by law to hear and determine the matter, be fined such sum not exceeding
$500 as such court, in its discretion, may impose; or, if the party
so convicted is a natural person, such person may be imprisoned for
such term not exceeding 90 days as such court, in its discretion,
may impose or be fined such sum not exceeding $500 as such court,
in its discretion, may impose, or such natural person may be both
imprisoned and fined not exceeding the maximum limits set forth herein
as such court, in its discretion, may impose.
[Adopted 4-27-2004 by Ord. No. 04-06 (Ch. 3, Art. II, of
the 1966 Code)]
The purpose of this article is to provide standards and regulations
of various types of intrusion, burglar, fire and other emergency alarm
devices.
The provisions of this article shall apply to any person or
legal entity which operates, maintains or owns any alarm device or
local alarm designed to summon the Police Department, Fire Department
or other municipal agencies to any location in response to any type
of alarm signal.
As used in this article, the following terms shall have the
meanings indicated:
Any type of alarm system actuating equipment which provides
warning of intrusion, fire, smoke, flood or other peril.
Any alarm actuated by inadvertence, negligence, or unintentional
act of someone other than an intruder and shall include, as well,
alarms caused by malfunctioning of the alarm device or other relevant
equipment, but shall not include intentional false alarms subject
to penalty under the Disorderly Persons Law.[1]
Any alarm or device which, when activated, produces a signal
or sound, such as a store burglary alarm actuating sound devices.
Any natural person, partnership, corporation or association.
A.
Any person or legal entity operating, maintaining or owning any alarm
device or local alarm designed to summon a police department, fire
department or other municipal agencies to any location in response
to any type of alarm signal shall be responsible for completing a
registration form which shall be maintained at the Department of Police,
which may designate such forms in its discretion as it believes necessary
and appropriate. It shall be the responsibility of such owners and/or
legal entities to keep all information current and make such changes,
amendments or revisions as necessary.
[Amended 10-12-2004 by Ord. No. 04-11]
(1)
All persons and legal entities which currently have an alarm device
or local alarm as defined herein shall register said alarm and/or
alarm device within 90 days of the effective date of this article.
(2)
Any person who fails to register an alarm and/or alarm device as
required herein shall be subject to a fine of no less than $200 and
no more than $2,000, imprisonment for a period not exceeding 90 days
and/or a period of community service not exceeding 90 days for each
offense.[1]
(3)
Any changes, amendments or revisions to the information previously
provided as to registration shall be made within 15 days of such changes,
amendments or revisions occurring.
(4)
At such time as a new owner may assume a building with an alarm and/or
alarm device, such new owner must complete and submit a registration
form and pay the registration fee within 30 days of assuming ownership.
(5)
The maximum time allowed for activation of an alarm before automatically
resetting an alarm shall be 15 minutes. Any person in violation of
this provision will be subject to a penalty of no less than $200 and
no more than $2,000, imprisonment for a period not exceeding 90 days
and/or a period of community service not exceeding 90 days per event.[2]
(6)
No alarm may have an "automatic dialer," which is defined as a system
that calls the Police or Fire Departments with a prerecorded message
reporting an alarm.
B.
In the case of a false alarm, any person having knowledge thereof
shall immediately notify the Police Department. In addition, in the
case of false alarms, the Chief of Police shall cause an investigation
to be made and keep a record of such alarms and investigations on
file. For such false alarms, the following penalties shall be applicable
to the person in possession of the premises at which the false alarm
occurred upon a conviction or guilty plea:
(1)
Alarms other than fire alarms:
[Amended 10-12-2004 by Ord. No. 04-11]
(a)
For the first and second false alarms in any given calendar
year, a warning shall be issued;
(b)
The third offense is a fine of $50;
(c)
The fourth offense is a fine of $75;
(d)
The fifth offense is a fine of $100; and
(e)
The sixth and all subsequent offenses is a fine of $200 and
a mandatory court appearance.
(2)
Fire alarms:
(a)
For the first and second false alarm in any given calendar year,
a warning shall be issued.
(b)
For the third, fourth and fifth false alarm in the same calendar
year, a fine of $200 for each offense shall be levied.
(c)
For the sixth and subsequent false alarms in the same calendar
year, a mandatory court appearance will be required, with a minimum
fine of $200 and a maximum fine of $500. Multiple false alarms within
any given twelve-hour period shall be considered as one alarm. In
the event that three false alarms are given within any twelve-hour
period, the Fire Chief or his designee shall have the right to order
the alarm system to be deactivated; in the event the said system is
not deactivated after the aforesaid order, each false alarm thereafter
shall be treated as a separate false alarm for the purposes of this
section.
(d)
In the event of a false alarm in a commercial or industrial
establishment that either fails to have a functioning lock box at
its location with the appropriate key at the Police Station or no
designated party arrives at the false alarm location within 30 minutes
of notification to respond to that location, the permittee shall be
fined a minimum of $50 and a maximum of $200 for each violation.
(3)
Rule-making authority. The Chief of Police may, from time to time,
promulgate rules and regulations supplementing this article in order
to provide for recordkeeping and efficient management of such system,
provided that the Borough Council must first approve such rules or
any changes thereto.
