[HISTORY: Adopted by the Mayor and Council of the Borough of Old
Tappan 5-26-1975 as Sec. 4-9 of the 1975 Code, as amended through Ord. No.
561-95. Subsequent amendments noted where applicable.]
GENERAL REFERENCES
Licensing — See Ch. 158.
The terms as used herein are defined as follows:
Any device or series of devices or mechanisms, or alarms, whose purpose
is the giving of visual, audible or electronic warning, or combination thereof,
beyond the property on which the alarm system is located, of an emergency,
such as burglary, intrusion, fire, smoke, or like perils.
A pre-recorded alarm device which uses the public telephone facility
to transmit a message to a designated telephone line number in the borough
police headquarters or a centralized police desk.
A transmitted signal, message or warning which is stimulated or activated
by causes other than burglary, intrusion, fire, smoke or like perils.
Any person, business or other entity holding a permit to operate
an alarm system.
Any person, business or other entity wishing to install an alarm system
or dial alarm within the borough shall make application to the Chief of Police
for a permit. The Chief of Police shall issue a permit upon receipt of an
application form providing the following information:
A person, business or other entity who shall install, operate or maintain
an alarm system or dial alarm, or any person who shall purchase, lease or
acquire a business or residence in which an alarm system or dial alarm is
operating, is required to register the alarm system or dial alarm with the
Chief of Police as follows:
A.Â
The alarm system of each permittee shall be deemed registered
at such time as the permit therefor is issued.
B.Â
In successive years following the issuance of a permit,
an alarm system or dial alarm shall be deemed registered when the annual fee
is remitted to the borough.
C.Â
Alarm systems or dial alarms installed prior to the adoption
of this chapter must be registered with the Chief of Police within 30 days
of the effective date of this chapter.
A.Â
Special number. All dial alarms shall be coded to dial
a special unlisted telephone number which shall be provided by the Chief of
Police. No dial alarm shall be coded to dial the public telephone number of
the Police Department.
B.Â
Additional fee. The owner of each dial alarm system shall pay to the borough an additional annual fee as provided in § 82-6 to cover the cost of registration and testing and to amortize the special unlisted telephone line or lines required and any ancillary tape devices necessitated by these systems.
C.Â
Compliance; penalties. If any person has a dial alarm
in existence at the time of the adoption of this chapter, he shall have 30
days in which to reprogram the equipment to comply with the terms of this
chapter and in which to pay the annual fee. Any person failing to comply herewith
shall be liable to penalty upon conviction in the Municipal Court in an amount
not greater than $100. If any dial alarm shall hereafter be found to be dialing
the publicly listed telephone number for police headquarters, rather than
the unlisted number reserved for dial alarms, the permittee shall be sent
a notice, in writing, by the Chief of Police requiring compliance with the
terms of this chapter. If the permittee shall fail within 30 days after receipt
of such notice to comply, he shall be liable for a penalty, upon conviction
in the Municipal Court, in an amount of not less than $50 nor more than $100.
[Amended 9-7-2004 by Ord. No. 859-04]
D.Â
Maintenance. All components of dial alarms shall be maintained
by the permittee in a sound manner. If the permittee fails to comply with
the operational requirements of this chapter, the Chief of Police shall notify
the permittee that such device be disconnected until such time as compliance
with such requirements is established, and the permittee shall discontinue
the same.
[Amended 9-7-2004 by Ord. No. 859-04; 12-19-2005
by Ord. No. 901-05]
A.Â
In the event of a false alarm, the Chief of Police, Fire
Chief or Fire Marshal shall cause an investigation to be made and keep a record
of such false alarms on file. For the first alarm at a given location in any
calendar year, a warning shall be issued to the permittee. For the second
such false alarm in the same calendar year, there shall be a penalty of $50.
For the third such false alarm in the same calendar year, there shall be a
penalty of $100. For the fourth and each subsequent false alarm in the same
calendar year, there shall be a penalty of $200.
B.Â
If the investigation of the Chief of Police, Fire Chief
or Fire Marshal discloses continued failure of the permittee to take remedial
steps after the fifth false alarm in the same calendar year, the Borough shall
revoke the permit and require disconnection of the alarm system or dial alarm.
[Amended 5-17-2004 by Ord. No. 850-04]
Each applicant for a permit shall pay a fee of $20 annually. Said permit
fee shall be payable by January 1 of each year to the Borough of Old Tappan.
The permit fee is for the purpose of defraying additional expenses incurred
as the result of private alarm systems.
For any and all violations of this chapter, not otherwise specifically
provided for herein, upon conviction in a court of competent jurisdiction,
a convicted offender shall be liable for a penalty of not less than $100,
nor more than $500, or imprisonment for up to 90 days in the county jail,
or both. Each violation of this chapter shall be considered a separate offense.
