[HISTORY: Adopted by the Town Meeting of the Town of Plainville 6-6-2011 ATM by Art. 26. Amendments noted where applicable.]
GENERAL REFERENCES
Enforcement — See Ch. 277.
For the purpose of this bylaw, the following words and their derivations shall be given the meanings contained herein.
ALARM SYSTEM
An assembly of equipment and devices, such as a solid state unit that plugs directly into a 110-volt AC line, designed to signal the presence of a hazard at the premises where installed and requiring the immediate attention and response of public safety personnel.
ALARM USER or USER
The person on whose premises an alarm system is maintained within the Town of Plainville, except for motor vehicle alarm systems.
AUTOMATIC DIALING DEVICE
A system that automatically sends over regular telephone lines, by direct connection or otherwise, a prerecorded voice message or coded signal indicating the existence of an emergency situation that the system is designed to detect.
CENTRAL STATION
An office to which remote alarm and supervisory signaling devices are connected, where operators supervise circuits or where guards are maintained continuously to investigate signals.
COMMUNICATIONS CONSOLE or ALARM COMMUNICATIONS CONSOLE
The instrumentation on the alarm console at the receiving terminal of a signal line which, through both visual and audible signals, indicates activation of an alarm system at a particular location or which indicates line trouble.
DIRECT CONNECT
An alarm system which has the capability of transmitting system signals and receiving them at the Plainville Police and Fire Communications Center.
FALSE ALARM
The activation of an alarm system through mechanical failure, malfunction, improper installation or negligence of the user or of his or her employees or agents. Excluded from this definition are activations of alarms by power outage, hurricanes, tornadoes, earthquakes or malfunction of telephone lines.
INTERCONNECT
To connect an alarm system to a voice grade telephone line either directly or through a mechanical device that utilizes a standard telephone to transmit an emergency message upon activation.
POLICE
The Town of Plainville Police Department or any authorized agent thereof.
POLICE CHIEF
The Chief of Police of the Town of Plainville or his designee.
PUBLIC NUISANCE
Anything which annoys, injures or endangers the comfort, repose, health or safety of any person(s) or of any community or neighborhood.
SELECTMEN
The Board of Selectmen of the Town of Plainville or any authorized agent thereof.
TOWN
The Town of Plainville, Massachusetts.
A. 
It shall be unlawful to install an alarm system that is keyed to or automatically activates the telephone lines controlled by or listed to the Plainville Police Department without approval of the Police Chief after the effective date of this bylaw.
B. 
No person or business shall have an alarm system that notifies the Police Department by means of a dedicated or nondedicated telephone line, recorded device or other means without approval of the Police Chief after the effective date of this bylaw.
No person or business shall have an alarm system that is connected to or automatically activates the Police Department by means of dedicated enhanced 9-1-1 line or truck.
A. 
All alarms must be authorized by the Police Chief prior to being connected to the Police Department and must accompany a written alarm application furnished by the Police Department.
B. 
In accordance with normal practices in effect within the Town, the Police Chief shall have the authority to request bids or proposals from alarm companies in order to furnish at no cost to the Town an alarm communications console and the necessary telephone lines which are compatible to the receipt of alarm signals. Each of the bids shall set forth the annual fee which is to be paid by the user or the alarm company that installs customer premises equipment, such fee to be paid to the alarm company that services the alarm communications console, except that no such fee shall be assessed to the municipality for any alarms or connections to the console from properties owned by the municipality. Such services shall be set forth in a contract between the alarm user(s) and the alarm company. Any alarm user may contract with any alarm company of their choosing for the sale, installation, maintenance and/or servicing of the alarm system to be installed on their premises. The alarm user or the alarm company contracting for servicing with the alarm user's alarm system shall be responsible for obtaining the leased telephone lines between the alarm user's premises and the alarm-receiving equipment at the Police Department and for furnishing the appropriate interface equipment, if required, in order to provide an input signal which is compatible with the receiving equipment used to operate the alarm communications console.
Within one year of the effective date of this bylaw, all automatic dialing devices or alarm systems interconnected to any telephone numbers or direct connected at the Police Department shall be disconnected therefrom. The user of each such device shall be responsible for having such device disconnected, except that the alarm system(s) may be reinstalled in accordance with §§ 204-1, 204-2, 204-3 and 204-4 above.
A. 
Every alarm user shall submit to the Police Chief and the alarm company who maintains the system at the Police Department the names and telephone numbers of at least two persons who can be reached at any time day or night and who are authorized to respond to an emergency signal transmitted by the user's alarm system and who can open the premises wherein the alarm system is installed. Such names and phone numbers must be kept current by the alarm user and the alarm company.
B. 
All alarm systems directly connected to the police station shall be equipped with a test device which will give a ten-second delay, or longer, prior to alarm system activation in order to warn the alarm user of an open alarm circuit.
C. 
Any alarm signal emitting a continuous and uninterrupted audible signal for more than 30 minutes which cannot be shut off or curtailed due to the absence or unavailability of the user or those persons designated under Subsection A of this section and which disturbs the peace, comfort or repose of the community or neighborhood shall constitute a public nuisance. The Police Department may take appropriate measures to silence the alarm and quell the disturbance and shall bear no liability for so doing.
D. 
A user of an alarm system within the Town who has recorded three false alarms within a calendar year may be subject to a fine of no more than $50 for each occurrence in excess of three.
E. 
No alarm system designed to transmit emergency signals or messages to the Police Department shall be worked on, tested or demonstrated without first obtaining approval from the Police Chief or his designee. Any such unauthorized test shall constitute a false alarm. Nothing in this section shall prohibit the testing of any alarm that is not directly or indirectly to the police station.
The Police Chief may promulgate such rules as may be necessary for the implementation of this bylaw.