[HISTORY: Adopted by the Borough Council of the Borough of Coopersburg 7-28-1987
by Ord. No. 418 (Ch. 13, Part 1 of the 1996 Code). Amendments
noted where applicable.]
Unless the context specifically and clearly indicates otherwise, the
meaning of terms and phrases used in this chapter shall be as follows:
All documentation pertaining to an alarm system which identifies
the owner or lessee of the system, the address of the property which is protected
by the system, the identity of individuals authorized to respond to the alarm
and to gain access to the property and deactivate the system, the identity
of the firm or individual who installed the system and can provide emergency
repair service and any other data required by the Borough of Coopersburg Police
Department.
Any siren, bell, horn or other device which is attached to a structure
and when activated emits a warning signal audible outside of the structure
and/or transmits an alarm or message to an emergency communication center
or police station requiring police or firemen to respond.
Any electronically operated instrument composed of a sensory apparatus
and related hardware which automatically transmits an alarm or other similar
message upon receipt of a stimulus from sensory apparatus that has detected
a physical force or other stimulus inherently characteristic of a fire or
intrusion over a telephone line to an emergency communication center.
The Borough of Coopersburg, Lehigh County, Pennsylvania.
A protection system or group of systems operated privately for customers
or publicly by a person, firm, corporation or government entity which maintains,
supervises or accepts recorded messages from automatic protection devices
at a central station having operators who are required to take appropriate
action upon receipt of a signal or message.
Any alarm or signal activated by an automatic protection device,
or any warning signal audible outside of the structure to which it is attached,
or any signal given from a residential sensory device to which police or firemen
respond which is not the result of weather extremes, burglary, fire, robbery
or similar emergency.
Any company, corporation or individual which has engaged in installing
fire, intrusion, or water alarms, where the alarm system is designed to require
a response from an emergency service such as police or fire service.
To use a telephone line and equipment for transmitting a message
from an automatic protection device.
A device attached to the interior of a residential structure which
is not tied to an emergency communication center nor intended to be audible
on the exterior of the structure to which it is attached.
A.
Within 60 days from the effective date of this chapter,
every owner/lessee of an alarm system, other than a residential sensory device,
shall register said alarm with the Police Department of the Borough of Coopersburg.
Such registration shall include, but not be limited to, the following information:
(1)
The name, residence and telephone number of the owner
or lessee of the alarm system.
(2)
The address in the Borough where the alarm device is
installed and the telephone number of that address.
(3)
The name, address and telephone number of at least two
persons other than the owner or lessee of the alarm system who are authorized
to respond to an alarm and gain access to the address where the device is
installed.
(4)
The name, address and telephone number of the installer.
B.
Within 90 days after enactment of this chapter, all owners
or lessees must equip their alarm systems, other than residential sensory
devices, with timing mechanisms that will disengage the alarm after a maximum
period of 30 minutes. Alarms, other than residential sensory device systems,
without such timing mechanisms shall be unlawful in the Borough of Coopersburg.
C.
Within 60 days of the effective date of this chapter,
all persons owning or operating existing or new automatic protection devices
that transmit messages directly to an emergency communication center shall
contact the Lehigh County Emergency Communication Center for the proper transmission
procedure.
D.
All information furnished pursuant to these sections
shall be kept confidential and shall be only for the use of the Borough of
Coopersburg, Borough of Coopersburg Police Department, and the Lehigh County
Emergency Communication Center.
All alarm systems installed in the Borough of Coopersburg that are keyed
to an assigned trunk line in the Lehigh County Emergency Communication Center
shall meet the following requirements:
A.
No more than two calls (for an event) shall be made to
the Lehigh County Emergency Communication Center as a result of a signal activation
of the automatic protection device.
B.
The sensory mechanism used in conjunction with an automatic
protection device must be adjusted to suppress false indications of fire or
intrusion so that the device will not be activated by impulses due to fleeting
pressure changes in water pipes, short flashes of light, the rattling or vibrating
of doors and windows, vibrations to the premises caused by the passing of
vehicles, weather or any other similar force not related to emergencies requiring
protection.
C.
All components comprising an automatic protection device
must be maintained by the owner or lessee in good repair to assure maximum
reliability of operation.
D.
Each owner or lessee shall be required to provide external
visible and legible identification of the installer on the protected structure
on or near the main entrance. (This identification shall include a twenty-four-hour
emergency telephone number and where someone can be reached to deactivate
the system.)
Each installer who sells or leases an automatic protection device in
the Borough of Coopersburg after the effective date of this chapter shall
furnish to the owner or lessee of the system the following: operating instructions,
a circuit diagram, a maintenance manual, and written information as to how
service may be obtained, including the telephone number of the installer or
agent responsible for service.
A.
Every installer of an automatic protection device in
the Borough of Coopersburg shall make service available to the owner or lessee
of the system, either directly or through an agent, within 24 hours of a request
by such owner or lessee for repair or service. Such service shall be made
available to such owner or lessee at his or her election and expense.
B.
The owner or lessee of an automatic protection device
shall be responsible for having any device rendering a false alarm disconnected
or repaired within eight hours of the commencement of the first such false
alarm.
When messages evidencing failure to comply with the operational requirements
set forth in any section of this chapter are received by the Lehigh County
Emergency Communication Center, the automatic protection device sending such
messages shall be disconnected in order to relieve the particular emergency
service from responding to false alarms. The Chief of Police is hereby authorized
to demand that the owner or lessee of the device, or his or her representative,
disconnect the device until it is made to comply with the operational requirements
hereof.
A.
Responses to alarms given off by audible alarms and automatic
protection devices involve the time of and danger to members of the Coopersburg
Police Department, and false alarms are therefore to be discouraged. If more
than three false alarms are given from any property in any given calendar
year, a service fee, as established from time to time by resolution of Borough
Council, shall be paid to the Borough of Coopersburg by the user, whether
owner or lessee, of the audible alarm or automatic protection device from
which the false alarm emanated for the fourth and each subsequent false alarm
in that calendar year. The Chief of Police of the Coopersburg Police Department
shall have the right to waive payment of the service fee for any false alarm
which is caused by weather conditions, malfunctions in the operation of the
electric system of Pennsylvania Power and Light Company, or which is the result
of other unusual circumstances.
[Amended 4-23-1996 by Ord. No. 509]
B.
Any person who fails to pay within 30 days or violates
any other provision of this chapter shall, upon conviction thereof, be sentenced
to pay a fine not exceeding $600 and costs and, in default of payment thereof,
shall be subject to imprisonment for a term not to exceed 30 days.
[Amended 4-23-1996 by Ord. No. 509]
C.
It is the intent of this chapter that at the end of every
calendar year the record of offenses for any owner, lessee or user of an automatic
protection device, alarm or residential sensory device shall go back to zero
and the next offense in the new calendar year shall be considered a first
offense regardless of the number of violations in the previous year.
D.
The provisions of this section shall be waived for a
period of 30 days from the date the Borough receives written notice of the
initial installation of an alarm system or automatic protection device to
permit the owner and installer to remedy any initial problems with the system.
[Amended 4-23-1996 by Ord. No. 509]
The Council of the Borough of Coopersburg may establish by resolution,
from time to time, reasonable registration fees for installations permitted
hereunder.
