[HISTORY: Adopted by the Borough Council of the Borough of Mountain
Lakes 6-23-1980 as Sec. 4-4 of the 1980 Code; amended by Ord. No. 4-96. Subsequent
amendments noted where applicable.]
GENERAL REFERENCES
Noise — See Ch. 160.
As used in this chapter, the following terms shall have the meanings
indicated:
The business by an individual, partnership, corporation or other
entity of selling, leasing, maintaining, servicing, repairing, altering, replacing,
moving, monitoring or installing any alarm system or causing any alarm system
to be sold, leased, maintained, serviced, repaired, altered, replaced, moved,
installed or monitored in or on any building, structure or other facility.
Any assembly of equipment, mechanical, electrical or battery operated,
arranged to signal the occurrence of a police, fire, hazard or medical emergency
requiring immediate attention and to which police or fire units are expected
to respond.
A service whereby trained employees, in attendance at all times,
receive prerecorded voice messages from automatic dialing devices reporting
an emergency at a stated location, where such employees have the duty to relay
immediately by live voice any such emergency message over a telephone line
to the communications room/dispatch desk of the Borough Fire Department and
Department of Police.
Any natural person or legal entity who or which has an alarm system
and who or which desires the system to be monitored by the Borough.
A device which is interconnected to a telephone line and is programmed
to transmit a signal by a voice-coded message that indicates that an emergency
condition exists and an emergency response is required.
A protective system or group of such systems operated privately for
customers which accepts recorded messages from automatic dialing devices at
a central station having operators and guards in attendance at all times who
have the duty to take appropriate action upon receipt of a signal or message,
including the relaying of messages to the Borough's communication room/dispatch
desk.
An alarm activated in the absence of an emergency, whether willfully
or by inadvertence, negligence or an unintentional act, including the malfunction
of the alarm system, to which the Mountain Lakes Department of Police responds.
The definition excludes alarms caused by malfunctions of the Mountain Lakes
Department of Police receiving equipment if such alarm is directly connected
to the alarm board; testing or repairing of telephone or electrical lines
or equipment outside the premises; earthquakes, windstorms, thunder and lightning;
an attempted illegal entry of which there is visible evidence; a crime in
progress; or, in the case of an emergency medical alarm, an actual medical
emergency requiring police, fire and/or medical personnel.
Multiple alarms received by the Department of Police before the system
can be deactivated within a reasonable period of time shall be considered
a single alarm.
The definition of "false alarm" also includes the intentional activation
of a holdup alarm for other than a holdup in progress, the intentional activation
of a burglary alarm for other than a burglary, the activation of a medical
alarm for other than a medical emergency or the intentional activation of
a fire alarm for other than a fire or hazard.
A central station or answering service as herein defined.
To use a telephone line and equipment for transmitting a message
either directly or indirectly by an automatic dialing device.
The monitoring of any alarm system by the Borough.
Owners or users of audible alarms must equip such audible alarms with
a timing mechanism that will disengage the audible alarm after a maximum of
15 minutes.
The Chief of Police must approve all automatic dialing devices that
will transmit recorded messages directly to the Borough's communications room/dispatch
desk.
A.
Within 30 days from the effective date of this chapter,
every alarm supplier who has installed or will be installing an alarm system
in the Borough shall furnish to the Department of Police the following information:
(1)
The name, address and telephone number of the owner or
user of the alarm system.
(2)
The name, address and telephone number(s) of any person
or firm who or which is authorized to respond to an emergency and gain access
to the address where the device is installed.
(3)
The name and telephone number of any other person or
supplier who is responsible for maintenance and repair of the system.
(4)
The type of system, i.e., holdup, burglary, fire, panic
or medical emergency.
B.
Users of alarm system devices whose devices were installed prior to the effective date of this chapter shall, within 30 days after such enactment, supply the Mountain Lakes Department of Police with the information specified in Subsection A above.
C.
All information furnished pursuant to this chapter shall
be kept confidential and shall be for the authorized use of the Department
of Police.
A.
Any person who has an alarm system and who desires the
system to be monitored by the Borough shall make written application for monitoring
service to the Chief of Police. If a connection to the communications room/dispatch
desk is available and monitoring service can accordingly be provided, the
Chief of Police shall so notify the applicant. Thereafter, upon connection
of the applicant's system to the communications room/dispatch desk, all costs
of which shall be paid and discharged by the applicant, and upon payment of
the service fee hereinafter provided for, monitoring service shall be provided
to the applicant.
B.
The application, if approved, will be valid for the same
period that the applicant shall reside/locate the business upon the premises
where the alarm system is installed.
C.
The application shall contain the address of the property,
the name of the residence or business, the name of the owner, tenant or agent
responsible for the property, the alarm supplier or other entity responsible
for maintaining the system, the type of alarm (burglary, panic, holdup, fire
or medical), how the alarm signal will be received by the communications room/dispatch
desk (tape, central station, etc.), at least three alternate emergency telephone
numbers of persons to be contacted to secure the property and any additional
information as is determined necessary by the Chief of Police.
D.
There shall be an annual service fee, per calendar year,
for the monitoring service, which shall be paid by each applicant to the Borough
Clerk. There shall be no proration of this annual fee for any reason, including
connection of an applicant's system to the communications room/dispatch desk
after commencement of the calendar year for which the charge is required,
provided that, if the connection is made after July 1, there shall be an adjustment
in the fee. All fees shall be as provided in § 111-3A.
A battery-powered audible alarm system whose sole purpose is to notify
the occupants at that location of an emergency situation shall be exempt from
the requirements of this chapter if all of the following conditions exist:
A.
The alarm is not connected to any mechanical or electrical
device that automatically notifies a person or agency outside of that location
that the alarm is activated.
B.
The audible alarm does not sound outside of the location
(no external speakers or annunciators).
C.
The internal signal emitted by the audible alarm does
not exceed 90 decibels.
D.
The internal alarm does not cause undue annoyance or
alarm to occupants of adjoining premises.
Every alarm supplier selling, leasing or furnishing to any user or a
user who privately installs an alarm system which is located on premises within
the Borough shall be required to:
A.
Cause each alarm system installed to be provided with
standby battery power which shall automatically and immediately take over
in the event of a power failure.
B.
Install equipment that will neutralize electrical surges.
C.
Deactivate any alarm system within 30 minutes of an alarm
being activated.
No person shall conduct any test or demonstration of any alarm system
without first notifying the shift supervisor of the Department of Police by
telephone or in person.
Alarm suppliers and installers shall furnish, at their own expense,
a copy of this chapter, operating instructions and a manual of operations
to owners, lessees or users of the alarm system being supplied at the time
of installation or at the time of change in owners, lessees or users of the
alarm system being supplied.
A.
For the purposes of defraying the costs to the Department
of Police for responding to false alarms, the owner, lessee or user of any
alarm system or persons using the services of an intermediary, users of audible
alarms and users of any other kind of direct or indirect connection with the
Borough's communications room/dispatch desk, except persons using the two-way
live voice communication by telephone, shall be subject to the following schedule
of penalties for false alarms:
[Amended 5-8-2000 by Ord.
No. 8-2000]
(1)
For the first and second alarm/activation per calendar
year: written warning.
(2)
For the third false alarm/activation per calendar year:
$50 per alarm.
(3)
For the fourth through fifth false alarm/activation per
calendar year: $100 per alarm.
(4)
For the sixth through 10th false alarm/activation per
calendar year: $200 per alarm.
(5)
For the 11th and subsequent false alarm/activation per
calendar year: $500 per alarm.
B.
Penalties imposed for false alarms shall be the responsibility
of the owner or user of the alarm system to pay. The owner or user will be
notified in writing by the Chief of Police, or his authorized representative,
of the date and time of the false alarm and will be invoiced for the false
alarm in accordance with the aforementioned schedule. The owner or user shall
be required to make payment within 30 days of the date of the written notification
and invoice. Failure to make payment within the specified time period will
result in a citation being filed with the Municipal Court.
C.
Any person found guilty of willful false activation of
an alarm system shall be liable for a fine up to $500, plus the cost of prosecution,
or imprisonment in the county jail for a term not to exceed 30 days, or both,
for each and every such activation.
A.
The Borough shall make no representations or warranties
as to the effectiveness of and shall not be responsible in any way for any
failure, delinquency or other defect in either the communications room/dispatch
desk equipment or the monitoring service provided.
B.
The Borough shall reserve the right and option to discontinue
the monitoring service to any or all applicants at any time for any reason.
