[HISTORY: Adopted by the Township Committee of the Township of Cinnaminson
as indicated in article histories. Amendments noted where applicable.]
[Adopted 3-17-1999 by Ord. No. 1999-1
(Sec. 2.04 of the 1995 Code)]
It shall be the responsibility of all businesses, establishments, corporations,
partnerships, entities, firms, concerns, or other groups that maintain alarm
systems within the Township of Cinnaminson, to provide current information
to the Cinnaminson Township Police Department, which information shall consist
of the names and telephone numbers of responsible persons who may be contacted
to respond in case of emergency or who are authorized to provide service to
the alarm system. Such persons are to be available for calls on a twenty-four-hour
basis. This information is to be filed with the Police Department when the
alarm system is initially placed into service for new systems installed after
the passage of this article, or within 30 days of the effective date of this
article, for systems existing prior to the effective date of this article,
and is to be revised immediately whenever changes to such information is necessary.
A.
It shall be the responsibility of all businesses, persons,
or entities who have alarm systems in businesses, multifamily dwellings, and
other nonresidential units within the Township of Cinnaminson to prevent the
transmission of false alarms.
B.
A false alarm is hereby determined to be a violation
of the provisions of this article and shall subject the property owner to
fines and penalties as hereinafter provided.
D.
In the event that the number of false alarms from a single
location shall exceed the maximum permissible number of false alarms the owner
of the alarm system shall be subject to fines and penalties as hereinafter
provided.
E.
Any business, establishment, partnership, entity, firm,
concern corporation or other group which installs or maintains any alarm equipment
or system within the Township of Cinnaminson, shall provide, on a monthly
basis, a report of all subscribers and the number of actual and false alarms
received by that monitoring equipment. Such reports will be forwarded to the
Police Department of the Township of Cinnaminson for the purpose of assisting
in the determination of excessive false alarms.
The Chief of Police of the Township of Cinnaminson is required to maintain
reasonable records of number of false alarms within the aforementioned period(s).
For first occurrence violations, the Chief shall provide notification of payment
due. A subscriber will have 30 days in which to make a full payment.
The original cost and cost of maintenance of the system shall be on
the business, establishment, corporation, partnership, entity, firm, concern,
or other group owning the burglar or fire alarm systems.
Each present user and any future applicant for such service shall execute
and deliver to the Township of Cinnaminson an agreement releasing and saving
harmless the Township from any responsibility if any such alarm fails to operate,
or if a call is not answered promptly by the Police Department due to insufficiency
of personnel on duty at the time such alarm is received.
A.
The provisions contained herein shall apply equally to
those alarm systems that were placed in service prior to or subsequent to
the effective date of this article.
B.
The provisions of this article shall not apply to the
general alerting alarms that may be used by fire companies, ambulance squads
or civil defense agencies to summon response of their members.
The provisions of this article shall not apply to alarm systems that are affixed
to motor vehicles.
A.
Any person violating any provisions of this article shall,
upon conviction, be punishable as provided for herein.
B.
Fines for false alarms.
(1)
No more than maximum. Any person or entity whose alarm
system(s) generates no more than the maximum permissible false alarms shall
not be subject to fine or penalty.
(2)
First offense. Any person or entity whose alarm system(s)
generates more than the maximum permissible false alarms may, upon the receipt
of a violation notice, plead guilty by affidavit and pay a fine of $100 per
false alarm, which, upon such guilty plea, may be paid through the Violations
Bureau of the Municipal Court.
(3)
Subsequent offenses. Any person or entity whose alarm
system(s) generates more than the maximum permissible false alarms and who
has been previously cited and pleas or is found guilty under this article
shall be scheduled for court. Any business, establishment, partnership, entity,
firm, corporation, concern or other group that is found guilty of violating
any of the provisions of this section shall be subject to a fine of no less
than $250 per violation or not more than $1,000 for the total offenses presented.
