[HISTORY: Adopted by the Township Council of the Township
of Livingston 4-22-2013 by Ord. No. 10-2013.[1] Amendments noted where applicable.]
[1]
Editor's Note: This ordinance also repealed former Ch.
57, Alarm Systems, adopted by Ord. No. 3-1980 (§§ 22-29
to 22-40 of the 1979 Revised General Ordinances), as amended.
A.
The purpose of this chapter is to encourage alarm users and alarm
companies to properly use and maintain the operational effectiveness
of alarm systems in order to improve the reliability of alarm systems
and reduce or eliminate false alarms.
B.
This chapter governs alarm systems intended to summon law enforcement
response, and requires registration, establishes fees, provides for
penalties for violations, and establishes a system of administration.
The provisions of this chapter shall apply to any person who operates, maintains or owns any alarm device designed to summon the police to any location in response to an alarm signal. Any person having a premises protected by an alarm device shall still be responsible for the registration thereof in accordance with § 57-4.
As used in this chapter, the following terms shall have the
meanings indicated:
Any type of alarm system actuating equipment in an alarm
panel providing warning of intrusion or fire.
Any alarm device or combination of devices installed for
one or more buildings.
A private company which customers subscribe to for alarm
installation and/or monitoring services to residential and commercial
structures.
Authorization granted by the Chief of Police to an alarm
user to operate an alarm system.
A single, fixed premises or location served by an alarm system
or systems. Each unit, if served by a separate alarm system in a multiunit
building or complex, shall be considered a separate alarm site.
A device or series of devices, including, but not limited
to, hardwired systems and systems interconnected with a radio frequency
method such as cellular or private radio signals, which emit or transmit
a remote or local audible, visual or electronic signal indicating
an alarm condition and intended to summon law enforcement response,
including local alarm systems. "Alarm system" does not include an
alarm installed in a vehicle or on someone's person.
Any person, who (which) has contracted for monitoring, repair,
installation or maintenance service from an alarm installation company
or monitoring company for an alarm system, or who (which) owns or
operates an alarm system which is not monitored, maintained or repaired
under contract.
Any alarm actuated by inadvertence, negligence, unintentional
or intentional act of someone other than an intruder or by fire, including
alarms caused by malfunctioning of the alarm device or other relevant
equipment; whereby police or fire is dispatched to the alarm site
and finds no evidence of an actual or attempted criminal offense or
real fire threat.
Any alarm system, which is not monitored, that annunciates
an alarm only at the alarm site.
Any individual, partnership, corporation, association, organization
or similar entity.
An individual capable of reaching and having access to the
alarm site, the code to the alarm system, and the authority to approve
repairs to the alarm system.
A.
Any person which owns or operates an alarm device, alarm system or
a local alarm system (each to guard against intrusion or fire, but
excluding self-contained smoke detectors with an indoor audible signal)
shall make application for the continuance thereof, in writing, to
the Chief of Police, which application shall contain the location
of the device, the name of the installer of said device, the name
of the monitoring company, the type of device, provisions relating
to false alarms and testing procedures, a list of responders to be
contacted in the event of an alarm and other information as may be
required by the Chief of Police.
B.
All alarm systems shall be registered annually with an initial registration
fee of $35, and re-registration fee of $10.
C.
No alarm user shall operate, or cause to be operated, an alarm system
at its alarm site without a valid alarm registration. A separate alarm
registration is required for each alarm site.
D.
Any false statement of a material fact made by an applicant for the
purpose of obtaining an alarm registration shall be sufficient cause
for refusal to issue a registration.
E.
An alarm registration cannot be transferred to another person or
alarm site. An alarm user shall inform the Chief of Police of any
change that alters any of the information listed on the alarm registration
application within five business days of such change.
F.
All fines and fees owed by an applicant must be paid before an alarm
registration may be issued or renewed.
G.
Every registration is due on or before December 1 for the following
calendar year and shall expire on December 31.
H.
Failure to register an alarm system pursuant to this section shall
result in a fine of $100 for each alarm site.
A.
B.
An alarm user shall adjust the mechanism or cause the mechanism to
be adjusted so that an alarm signal audible on the exterior of an
alarm site will sound for no longer than 15 minutes after being activated.
C.
An alarm user shall not use automatic voice dialers.
D.
An alarm user shall not connect any alarm devices or systems to Police
headquarters.
E.
This section applies to all persons who have installed and/or monitor
their own alarm system.
The central station shall notify Police headquarters on a dedicated
alarm telephone line of an alarm activation. They will supply their
company information, operator name or number, type of alarm activation
and subscriber information when the call is placed. The central station
shall also be responsible for making initial notification to the subscriber
or subscriber designee.
A.
Local alarm systems having an audible alarm installed out of doors shall be designed to limit the operation of a bell or sound-producing instrument to a maximum of 15 minutes after activation. If the duration of an activated audible device of a local alarm system exceeds 15 minutes, the warnings and penalties provided by § 57-7C of this chapter shall apply as though a false alarm had been activated.
B.
In case of a false alarm, any person having knowledge thereof shall
immediately notify Police headquarters. In addition, in the case of
false alarms, the Chief of Police shall cause an investigation to
be made and keep a record of said alarms on file.
[Amended 6-24-2013 by Ord. No. 18-2013; 4-28-2014 by Ord. No.
5-2014]
C.
An alarm user shall be subject to fines, depending on the number
of false alarms within any calendar year.
[Added 4-28-2014 by Ord. No. 5-2014]
(1)
For the first false alarm in any given calendar year, a warning shall
be issued.
(2)
For the second false alarm a fine shall be paid to the Township in
the amount of $100.
(3)
For the third false alarm a fine shall be paid to the Township in
the amount of $150.
(4)
For the fourth false alarm a fine shall be paid to the Township in
the amount of $200.
(5)
For the fifth false alarm a fine shall be paid to the Township in
the amount of $250.
(6)
For the sixth and for each subsequent false alarm in the same calendar
year, the fine shall be increased by fifty-dollar increments, with
no cap on the amount of the fine and shall be paid to the Township.
(For example, sixth false alarm: $300 fine; seventh false alarm: $350
fine; eighth false alarm: $400 fine, etc.)
(7)
Buildings and other facilities owned by the Township of Livingston
are exempt from enforcement provisions and fines pertaining to false
alarms.
In the interest of public safety, all information contained
in and gathered through the alarm registration applications and records
relating to specific alarm activations shall be held in confidence
by all employees or representatives of the Township with access to
such information.
Alarm registration is not intended to, nor will it, create a
contract, duty or obligation, either expressed or implied, of response.
Any and all liability and consequential damage resulting from the
failure to respond to a notification is hereby disclaimed and governmental
immunity as provided by law is retained. By applying for an alarm
registration, the alarm user acknowledges that law enforcement response
may be influenced by factors such as the availability of police and/or
fire units, priority of calls, weather conditions, traffic conditions,
emergency conditions, staffing levels and prior response history.
It shall be a further condition precedent to the issuance of
an alarm registration that each permittee, alarm contractor and licensee
agree, in writing, to indemnify and save harmless the Township of
Livingston, its agents, servants and employees, including the members
of the Police Division of the Township, from and on account of any
and all damages arising from or as a result of any forced entry by
police personnel into unattended premises occurring during alarm response.
The Township Manager may from time to time promulgate rules
and regulations supplementing this chapter in order to provide for
recordkeeping and efficient management of said system.
A.
The High School and the Middle School shall each be allowed 10 false
alarms per calendar year, at no cost to the Board of Education.
B.
Each elementary school building and the Board of Education offices
shall be allowed five false alarms per calendar year, at no cost to
the Board of Education.
C.
After a particular school or the Board of Education offices have exceeded the number of no-cost false alarms permitted above, the Board of Education shall pay an administrative fee of $50 per false alarm for that facility. These provisions shall supersede the Chapter 48, Violations Bureau, schedule of fines. The Board of Education shall not be required to appear in Municipal Court to pay any fines assessed, and to the extent any dispute arises regarding a false alarm violation, the Board of Education and Township Council, or their designees, shall resolve the issue.
A.
The provisions of this chapter are severable. If a court determines
that a word, phrase, clause, sentence, paragraph, subsection, section,
or other provision is invalid or that the application of any part
of the provision to any person or circumstance is invalid, the remaining
provisions and the application of those provisions to other persons
or circumstances are not affected by that decision.
B.
Ordinances in conflict herewith are hereby repealed to the extent
of such conflict.