[HISTORY: Adopted by the Borough Council of the Borough of Hillsdale
12-27-1973 as Ord. No. 73-14 (Ch. 16A of the Revised Ordinances of 1972).
Amendments noted where applicable.]
The Borough Council does hereby find and declare that:
A.
The occupants of numerous residential, commercial and
industrial establishments in the Borough of Hillsdale have found it desirable
to make provision for the installation upon their premises, at their own cost
and expense, of alarm systems for emergencies such as burglary, intrusion,
fire, smoke, flood and like perils.
B.
There is a growing number of private enterprises that
have embarked upon the business of selling or leasing such alarm systems,
entering into contract with such occupants for the installation, operation
and maintenance of such alarm systems, and providing, either individually
or in concert with other private business enterprises similarly engaged, for
the connection of the individual alarm systems so installed by them to an
alarm device or devices installed in Police Headquarters in the Borough of
Hillsdale.
C.
The proliferation of the number of private enterprises
engaged in the alarm business, each with its own system and equipment, has
resulted in conditions that, if not remedied, will lead to an unnecessary
drain on the manpower, time, space, facilities and finances of the Borough
of Hillsdale and its public safety departments and agencies, a deterioration
of the quality of service to persons subscribing to alarm services and inequities
among the various private enterprises engaged in the alarm business in the
Borough of Hillsdale.
D.
The public interest, therefore, requires the enactment
of rules, regulations, standards and procedures to regulate and control the
private alarm business in the Borough of Hillsdale to the end that:
(1)
The municipal departments and agencies charged with the
protection of public safety may efficiently and economically coordinate their
functions with the various alarm services to which the public of the Borough
of Hillsdale may subscribe.
(2)
The quality of the alarm services rendered to the public
may be improved and maintained at a high level.
(3)
The private alarm enterprises retained by occupants of
buildings in the Borough of Hillsdale may perform their services on a basis
of standards and requirements that are fairly, equitably and impartially applicable
to all such enterprises.
As used in this chapter, the hereinafter defined words and phrases shall, subject to the provisions of Chapter 1, General Provisions, of the Code of the Borough of Hillsdale, have the following meanings:
Any mechanism designed to actuate the alarm console.
The installation in one (1) or more buildings of one (1) or more
alarm devices or local alarms for the express purpose of giving visual or
audible warning, or both, of an emergency such as burglary, intrusion, fire,
smoke, flood or like perils.
An alarm device that employs an automatic dialing system precoded
to connect with a special telephone in Police Headquarters rather than to
the alarm console.
The actuation of an alarm system by causes other than those to which
the alarm system was designed or intended to respond.
Any mechanism that constitutes, in whole or in part, an alarm system
that is not connected with and is not designed to actuate the alarm console.[2]
A.
No dial alarm shall be permitted unless it shall first
have been:
B.
All dial alarms shall be coded to dial a special separate
number which shall be provided by the Chief Law Enforcement Officer. No dial
alarm shall be coded to dial the number of the general police switchboard
of the Borough of Hillsdale.
C.
All dial alarms shall be coded as well to notify a relative,
neighbor or other third party who shall be named in the registration required
by this chapter and who will respond within fifteen (15) minutes of notification.
D.
All dial alarms shall be capable of being disconnected
by the owner to permit a call to the police switchboard in the event that
a false alarm occurs.
E.
The owner of each dial alarm system shall pay to the Borough of Hillsdale an annual fee as provided in Chapter 138, Fees, to cover the cost of registration and testing, and to amortize the cost of the special telephone line or lines required in Police Headquarters, along with ancillary tape devices necessitated by these systems.
F.
Owners of dial alarms shall be governed by the false
alarm procedures and penalties set forth in this chapter.
G.
If any dial alarm shall hereafter be found to be dialing the general Police Headquarters number rather than the special telephone number reserved for dial alarms, the occupant of the building or other person in whose name the telephone is listed shall be sent a notice, in writing, by the Chief Law Enforcement Officer requiring compliance with the terms of this chapter. If the occupant or telephone subscriber shall fail within thirty (30) days after receipt of said notice to comply, he or she shall be liable to a penalty as provided in Chapter 226, Penalties.
H.
The contents of any recorded message from a dial alarm
must be intelligible and in a format approved by the Chief Law Enforcement
Officer. No such message shall be transmitted more than three (3) times as
a result of a single stimulus of the mechanism. Messages shall not exceed
fifteen (15) seconds, and the time gap between delivery shall be approximately
ten (10) seconds.
I.
The sensory mechanism of dial alarms shall be adjusted
so as to suppress false indications and not to be actuated by impulses due
to pressure changes in water pipes, short flashes of light, wind, noises,
rattling or vibration of doors or windows or other forces unrelated to general
alarms.
J.
All components of dial alarms shall be maintained by
the owner in good repair. When evidence exists that there has been failure
to comply with the operational requirements of this chapter, the Chief Law
Enforcement Officer is then authorized to demand that such device be disconnected
until such time as compliance with such requirements is reestablished.
No person shall install, operate or maintain any alarm system unless
the alarm system has been registered with the Chief Law Enforcement Officer
as follows:
A.
Alarm system connected to alarm console. The alarm system
of each permittee shall be deemed registered at such time as the permit therefor
is issued.
B.
Dial alarm system. Am alarm system employing the dial
alarm shall be deemed registered when the annual dial alarm fee is remitted
to the Borough and the system has been approved by the Chief Law Enforcement
Officer.
C.
Local alarm system.
(1)
A local alarm system shall be deemed registered when
the occupant of the building in which it is installed shall have filed with
the Chief Law Enforcement Officer a registration form, which shall include,
among other data, the location of the device, the name of the installer of
said device, the type of device, provisions relating to false alarms and testing
procedures, a list of persons to be contacted in the event of an alarm and
other information as may be required by the Chief.
(2)
No further or renewed registration shall be required
for a local alarm system unless and until there has occurred any material
change in the information previously submitted with respect to such local
alarm system. It shall be the duty of the occupant of a building served by
a local alarm system, within ten (10) days after a change in information previously
submitted to the Borough shall have occurred, to file a supplemental or revised
registration containing accurate current information with respect to the data
required by the registration form.
(3)
No charge shall be made for the filing of any local alarm
registration or any amended, revised or supplemental local alarm registration.
In the case of a false alarm, the Chief Law Enforcement Officer shall cause an investigation to be made and keep a record of said alarm on file. For the first and second false alarm in any given calendar year, a warning shall be issued; for the third or subsequent false alarm in the same calendar year, a penalty as provided in Chapter 226, Penalties, shall be paid to the Borough of Hillsdale.
Each owner or lessee of an alarm system shall be responsible on a twenty-four-hour-per-day
basis for service to equipment owned or lease by him or her. Malfunctioning
equipment shall be disconnected until repaired.
Whenever, under the provisions of this chapter, the Chief Law Enforcement
Officer or any authorized representative he or she may have designated is
empowered to make a decision with respect to the installation, operation and
maintenance of any alarm equipment, or with respect to the issuance or denial
of any application relating thereto, any person aggrieved by said decision
may, within ten (10) days following said decision, file a written appeal therefrom
with the Borough Clerk and with the Chief Law Enforcement Officer, whereupon
the Borough Council shall promptly conduct a hearing and affirm, modify or
reverse the decision appealed from.
The Chief Law Enforcement Officer may from time to time promulgate rules
and regulations supplementing this chapter in order to provide for recordkeeping
and efficient management of said system; provided, however, that the said
rules and regulations, or any revisions thereof, shall not take effect until
first approved by resolution of the Borough Council.[2]
