The Board of Trustees of the Village of Warwick
hereby finds that standards and controls regarding intrusion, fire,
holdup and other emergency signal devices or protective services and
the businesses and persons dealing in such devices or protective services
are necessary to safeguard the public health, safety and welfare and
that such standards and controls will afford greater emergency protection
to the public; will expedite emergency communication and response;
will facilitate coordination of emergency procedures and identification
of persons and devices engaged in providing such procedures; will
minimize false alarms and other misleading or confusing signals or
procedures; will reduce access to police, fire and emergency procedures
and facilities to persons of poor moral character; and will encourage
the use of reliable systems and personnel to facilitate emergency
services available to the public. This chapter is intended to serve
the foregoing purposes by prohibiting the sale, leasing, use, installation,
repair or maintenance of any police, fire or medical emergency alarm
device or protective service in the Village of Warwick except in conformity
with the provisions of this chapter and rules and regulations promulgated
hereunder.
For the purpose of this chapter, the following
words and phrases shall have the meanings respectively ascribed to
them by this section:
ALARM DEVICE: POLICE, FIRE AND MEDICAL EMERGENCY
Any device which, when activated by a criminal act, fire
or other emergency, transmits a prerecorded message or other signal
by telephone, radio, central alarm station or audible or visible signal
designed to cause any person within audible or visual range to notify
the Police Department or Fire Department, requiring their respective
emergency response.
ALARM LICENSE
The written authorization of the Village of Warwick granted
to any person to engage in the business of installing and/or servicing
police, fire or medical emergency alarm devices in the Village of
Warwick pursuant to the provisions of the Code of the Village of Warwick.
ALARM LICENSEE
Any person, business, firm, corporation or other commercial
entity which is in the business of owning, operating, maintaining,
installing, leasing or selling a police, fire or medical emergency
alarm device or devices, which person, business, firm, corporation
or other commercial entity is, as owner, operator, provider of maintenance
service, installer, lessor or seller of said device, devices or system
of devices, licensed pursuant to the requirement of the Code of the
Village of Warwick.
ALARM PERMIT
The written authorization of the license authority granted
to any person, business, firm, corporation or other entity to install,
maintain or cause to be installed or maintained in his place of residence
or business any police, fire or medical emergency alarm devices.
AUTOMATIC DIAL ALARM
Any police, fire or emergency medical alarm device which
is a telephone device or telephone attachment that automatically or
electronically transmits a signal to preselected telephone lines connected
to a central alarm station or police headquarters and reproduces a
prerecorded message to report a criminal act or other emergency requiring
police, fire or medical emergency response.
CENTRAL ALARM STATION
Any facility operated by a private firm that owns or leases
a system of police, fire or medical emergency alarm devices, which
facility is manned by operators who receive, record or validate alarm
signals to the Police Department or Fire Department when appropriate.
DIRECT CONNECTION
Any alarm device which transmits a signal or impulse over
a leased telephone line to the alarm indicator panel at police headquarters.
FALSE ALARM
Any signal actuated by a police, fire or medical emergency
alarm device, devices or system of police, fire or medical emergency
alarm devices which is not the result of natural disaster, act of
God, a criminal act, fire or other emergency, resulting in police,
fire or other emergency services response. The term "false alarm"
shall include human error and equipment malfunction causing the alarm
to be activated and which results in police or fire response.
PUBLIC NUISANCE
Anything which annoys, injures or endangers the comfort,
repose, health or safety of a considerable number of persons of any
community or neighborhood.
SMOKE AND/OR HEAT DETECTOR
Any device which, when activated by fire or smoke or other
emergency, is designed to alert only the occupants of the building
in which the smoke and/or heat detectors are installed of said emergency.
It shall be a violation of this chapter for
any automatic dial alarm to be directly connected to the emergency
telephone line of the Police Department. Any such automatic dial alarm
may be connected to a central alarm station or other answering service
for notification to the appropriate service. Existing systems in violation
of this section shall have 90 days from the effective date of this
chapter to convert or make the necessary changes in compliance thereof.
It shall be a violation of this chapter for
any police, fire or medical emergency alarm device to be connected
to the Police Department. Any such police, fire or medical emergency
device may be connected to a central alarm station or other answering
service for notification to the appropriate service.
All alarm systems shall be equipped with a device
which will give an indication, prior to alarm system activation, which
warns the alarm user of an open circuit.
No person shall install, cause to be installed,
maintain or cause to be maintained in a structure, building or establishment
in the Village of Warwick, an external audible police, fire or medical
emergency alarm device which does not also contain an automatic cutoff
system or feature automatically cutting off the source of power to
the alarm sounding device after it has sounded for a period of not
longer than 15 minutes.
It shall be the obligation of any alarm permit
holder to provide the Police Department and/or licensing agency with
a minimum of two persons to be contacted with the authority to enter
the permit holder's premises for the purpose of securing and restoring
said alarm system, when necessary.
All applications for alarm permits shall be
submitted to the licensing authority on a form to be supplied by the
licensing authority. Said application shall include a description
of the police, fire or medical emergency alarm device, devices or
system of police, fire or medical emergency alarm devices installed,
maintained or to be installed and such other information as shall
be required by the licensing authority.
All permit holders of holdup, panic, medic alert,
smoke and fire alarm devices shall be required to provide written
authorization to the Police Department to forcibly enter the premises
for the purpose of verifying the validity of the emergency condition.
The fee for an alarm permit shall be as set forth in Chapter
63, Fees. Such amount may be increased by resolution of the Village Board after public hearing thereon.
[Amended 12-16-1991 by L.L. No. 11-1991]
Under no circumstances shall the cost of any
police, fire or medical emergency alarm device, devices or system
of police, fire or medical emergency alarm devices, and the maintenance
of the same, be charged to the Village of Warwick, the Town of Warwick
Police Department or the Fire Department. The owner or lessee of such
police, fire or medical emergency alarm devices shall be solely responsible
for the service of his or her police, fire or medical emergency alarm
devices and/or correcting any malfunction of the same that may occur.
The licensing authority is hereby authorized
to grant revocable alarm permits, pursuant to rules and regulations
promulgated by the Village of Warwick or its duly authorized representative.
All police, fire and medical emergency alarm
permit fees and false alarm charges shall be collected by the licensing
authority.
It shall be the duty of the licensing authority
to maintain a record of alarm permits issued and to make a monthly
report of the same to the Chief of Police.
In order to implement the orderly institution
of all the requirements of this chapter, the owners or lessees of
any police, fire or medical emergency alarm device, devices or system
of police, fire or medical emergency alarm devices currently in use
and required under the provisions of this chapter to obtain an alarm
permit shall obtain said alarm permit no later than 60 days from the
effective date of this chapter. Any police, fire or medical emergency
alarm devices currently in use, which would be prohibited under the
provisions of this chapter, must be removed no later than 120 days
from the effective date of this chapter.
Except as otherwise provided for herein, any
person, business, firm, corporation or other entity who does not pay
any fee or charge established in this chapter or who violates any
provisions of this chapter shall be subject to a fine not in excess
of $250 or imprisonment for 15 days, or both, for each offense. A
separate offense shall be deemed committed upon each day during which
a violation occurs or is committed.