[HISTORY: Adopted by the Township Committee
of the Township of Franklin 4-2-1992 by Ord. No. 92-13 (Ch. 42 of the 1988
Code). Amendments noted where applicable.]
The Township Committee of this Township does
hereby find and declare that:
A.
The occupants of numerous residential and commercial
establishments have found it desirable to make provision for the installation
upon their premises of alarm systems for emergencies such as burglary
and fire.
B.
There have been a substantial number of false alarms
associated with the alarm systems which have been installed within
the Township. The number of false alarms has resulted in a situation
that, if not remedied, will affect the general health, safety and
welfare of the community and inhibit the response of the police and
fire personnel in a true emergency and will lead to an unnecessary
drain upon the manpower, time, space, facilities and finances of the
Township, its police, volunteer fire departments and first aid squads
and the deterioration of quality of service to persons subscribing
to alarms system services and inequities among the alarm businesses
operating in the Township.
C.
The public interest, therefore, requires the enactment
of rules, regulations, standards and procedures to regulate and control
the alarm systems installed in the Township.
The purpose of this chapter is to establish
regulations concerning the operation and maintenance of certain alarm
systems within the Township and to provide penalties for violations
of any of the provisions set forth therein.
For the purpose of this chapter, the following
definitions shall apply:
Any business, including the person operating such business,
which engages in the activity of altering, installing, leasing, maintaining,
repairing, replacing, selling, servicing or responding to an alarm
generated by an alarm system or which causes any of these activities
to take place. Excluded from this definition, however, are businesses
which manufacture, distribute or sell alarm systems which are sold
at retail over-the-counter and where no servicing of the alarm system
at its place of installation is provided.
Any type of alarm-actuating equipment or device or assemblage
of equipment or devices, which provides warning of intrusion, fire,
smoke, burglary, flood or like perils, including telephone alarms
and local alarms, but excluding exempt alarms.
A person in control of a building, structure or facility
wherein an alarm system is maintained.
The Chief of Police of the Police Department of the Township.
The Hunterdon County dispatch center, responsible for dispatching
police, fire and rescue in the event of any type of emergency where
a request is made for assistance, including any telephone number regularly
answered by the Hunterdon County dispatch center.
Equipment or a device designed to signal the presence of
an emergency or hazard requiring urgent attention, which is either
solely connected to a registered motor vehicle or designed to signal
solely within a building or series of buildings and which does not
emit signals, visible or audible, to persons outside such building
or buildings. All medical emergency alarms are exempt from the provisions
of this chapter.
Any alarm or signal or an alarm actuated by inadvertence,
negligence or an intentional or unintentional act of a person, domestic
animal and/or household pet, other than an intruder, and including
alarms caused by mechanical failure, malfunction or improper installation
of the alarm system and related equipment. It shall further include
improper adjustment (sensitivity) to suppress false indications due
to short flashes of light, wind, noises, rattling or vibrations of
doors or other forces.
Any alarm system, including an audible alarm, which, when
activated, produces a signal not connected to an alarm console and
not dialing a telephone number, including but not limited to business
burglar alarms, actuating bells or other sound-generating devices
and/or light-emitting devices providing warning of intrusion or other
peril.
Any natural person, partnership, corporation, association
or other legal entity.
An alarm system which uses the public access telephone lines
to dial and transmit a recorded or mechanical alarm to the communications
center or a police or fire switchboard or telephone.
The Township of Franklin, in the County of Hunterdon, State
of New Jersey.
[Amended 10-31-2006 by Ord. No. 2006-12]
A.
No person shall install, operate or maintain or cause
to be installed, operated or maintained an alarm system within the
Township without first receiving a permit from the Township Police
Department as herein provided.
B.
All alarm systems installed, operated or maintained
in the Township shall conform to the requirements of this chapter.
This requirement shall apply to alarm systems already installed, operated
or maintained on the effective date of this chapter (being the date
of the publication of notice of the final passage of this chapter)
as well as to those subsequently installed, operated or maintained
or upon a change of ownership of the premises upon which the system
is installed.
A.
Applications for permits shall be on a form prescribed
by the Chief of Police of the Township. Included in the information
to be provided in such application shall be the following:
(1)
The name, address and telephone number of the owner
or tenant or occupier of the property, if other than the owner, upon
which the alarm system is installed.
(2)
The name, address and telephone number of the installer
of the system.
(3)
The type of system.
(4)
A list of the names, addresses and telephone numbers
of the person(s) to be contacted in the event of an alarm or an emergency
situation determined by the police.
(5)
The name, address and twenty-four-hour telephone numbers
of the persons or company maintaining the alarm system.
B.
Permits shall be issued by the Chief of Police or
other person authorized by him as his designee.
C.
No permit shall be issued unless the alarm system
involved meets and the applicant so demonstrates the standards set
forth in this chapter.
D.
For all alarm systems, a one-time fee, as established by Chapter A140, Fees, as established by Chapter 182, Fees, of the Code of the Township of Franklin, shall be paid. For existing systems, the fee shall be paid to the Chief of Police by August 3, and for all new systems at the time of the application for the permit.
[Amended 4-18-2002 by Ord. No. 2002-03]
E.
Upon change of ownership of the premises upon which
the alarm system is installed, the new owner shall apply for a new
permit as provided above.
[Amended 10-31-2006 by Ord. No. 2006-12]
All alarm systems installed shall meet the following
standards:
A.
The alarm system shall be equipped with separate distinguishing
signals or messages, as reasonably required by the Chief of Police,
to the end that the appropriate authorities, upon receipt of a signal
or message, may immediately ascertain the nature and cause of the
emergency.
B.
Telephone alarms shall be designed, installed or maintained
to call only the number or numbers designated for that purpose by
the Chief of Police and shall be equipped so that the message will
be repeated at least once, but no more than three times. The contents
of a telephone alarm message shall be clear and intelligible and in
the format provided by the Chief of Police. No such message shall
exceed 30 seconds in length.
C.
All alarm systems capable of emitting audible signals
shall be equipped with an operating device which will automatically,
by mechanical, electrical or other means, shut off such audible signal
after a maximum of 15 minutes of continuous sound audible beyond the
boundaries of the premises in which the alarm system is located.
D.
All telephone alarms shall be capable of being disconnected
to allow a call to the Township police headquarters or the communications
center in the event of a false alarm.
E.
No police, fire or other public department or official
shall be responsible in any way for the resetting or maintenance of
any alarm system.
F.
The sensory mechanism of the alarm system shall be
adjusted so as to suppress false indications and not be actuated by
impulses due to short flashes of light, wind, noises, rattling or
vibrations of doors or other forces unrelated to genuine alarms.
G.
Permits for local alarm systems shall not be issued
with respect to buildings which are not owner-occupied, prior to receipt
by the Chief of Police of satisfactory proof that the occupant of
the building has been notified of the existence of such alarm system
or of the intent to install such alarm system and of the provisions
of this chapter.
H.
Any alarm system which requires for its operation
electricity supplied by a public utility may be equipped with a battery
rendering it operable in the event of a power outage if so desired
by the property owner. Such a battery backup shall be required for
any alarm system which will trigger itself automatically in the event
of a power outage.
I.
No alarm business or person owning, using or possessing
an alarm system shall cause or permit the giving of repeated false
alarms, for test purpose or otherwise, whether intentional, accidental
or otherwise. Owners/operators of such alarm systems shall be governed
by the false alarm procedure and penalties set forth in this chapter.
J.
The permittee is responsible for whatever changes
are required by any alarm company making installation of any alarm
system and, in addition thereto, such connection and maintenance charges
as are required by the alarm company.
A.
It shall be the responsibility of all persons maintaining
an alarm system within the Township to leave with the Police Department
the name of a person or persons who can be reached in case of an emergency
or malfunction of the alarm system in order that the system can be
temporarily disconnected (though there is no obligation of the Township
to disconnect an alarm system).
B.
A person owning property in the Township in which
an alarm system is maintained shall notify the Chief of Police of
the sale or change in tenancy of such property together with the name(s)
of the new owners and/or tenants of such property. An alarm business
having knowledge of such a sale of change in tenancy shall also notify
the Chief of Police of such sale or change in tenancy, together with
such name(s).
C.
All information submitted in compliance with this
chapter shall be held in the strictest confidence and shall be deemed
a record exempt from public disclosure pursuant to state statute.
Any violations of confidentiality shall be deemed a violation of this
chapter.
[Amended 10-31-2006 by Ord. No. 2006-12]
A.
In the case of a false alarm, any person having knowledge
thereof shall immediately notify the Township Police Department. In
the case of false alarms, the Chief of Police shall cause an investigation
to be made and shall keep a record of the false alarms on file.
B.
A violation of this chapter shall exist when an alarm system emits or causes a false alarm. A two-month grace period shall be observed after the installation of any new alarm, during which time any false alarms will not be considered. The penalties in Chapter 1, Article I, General Penalty, shall apply for false alarms emitted or caused by any alarm system subject to control by the same alarm user.
