This article shall be known and may be cited
as "Whitehall Township Police and Fire Emergency Alarm Ordinance."
The following definitions shall apply in the
interpretation and enforcement of this article:
ALARM
Any siren, bell, horn or other device which is attached to
the interior or exterior of a structure and emits a warning signal
audible outside the structure or transmits a prerecorded voice alarm
or other signal and is designed to attract attention, or transmits
a message to an Emergency Communication Center, whether that of Whitehall
Township or otherwise, when activated by a criminal act or other emergency
requiring police or firemen to respond.
ALARM REGISTRATION
Documentation pertaining to any alarm system, other than
a residential sensory device, 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
in order 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 Whitehall Township Police of Fire Chief.
AUTOMATIC PROTECTION DEVICE
An electrically operated instrument composed of sensory apparatus
and related hardware which automatically transmits a prerecorded voice
alarm or other similar message over telephone line, by direct or indirect
connection to an Emergency Communication Center, upon receipt of a
stimulus from sensory apparatus that has detected a physical force
or other stimulus inherently characteristic of a fire or intrusion.
EMERGENCY COMMUNICATION CENTER
A protection system or group of such systems, operated privately
for customers or publicly by a person, firm, corporation or governmental
entity which maintains, supervises or accepts recorded messages from
automatic protection devices at a central station having operators
that have the duty to take appropriate action upon receipt of a signal
or message.
FALSE ALARMS
Any alarm or signal activated by an automatic protection
device, or any other kind of direct or indirect signal given to an
Emergency Communication Center, 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.
INSTALLER
Any company, corporation or individual which has contracted
to engage or engaged in the act of installing fire, intrusion, water
alarm or medical systems, where the system is designed to require
a response from any emergency service.
KEY
To use a telephone line and equipment for transmitting a
message either directly or indirectly by an automatic protection device.
RESIDENTIAL SENSORY 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.
TOWNSHIP
The Township of Whitehall, County of Lehigh, Pennsylvania.
Alarms installed in the Township that are keyed
to an assigned truck line in the Lehigh County Emergency Communication
Center or alarms installed in the Township that provide communication
with the Whitehall Township Communications Center, with or without
an intermediary, shall meet the following requirements:
A. No more than two calls shall be made to the Lehigh
County Emergency Communication Center as a result of a single 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 actuated 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 extremes
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 of premises in which an automatic
protection device is installed 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 where someone
can be reached to deactivate the system.
Each installer who sells or leases an automatic
protection device in the Township after the effective date of this
article which is keyed to an Emergency Communication Center or intermediary
shall furnish to the owner or lessee: 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.
When messages evidencing failure to comply with
the operational requirements set forth in any section of this article
are received by the Whitehall Township or Lehigh County Emergency
Communications Center, the automatic protection device sending such
message shall be disconnected in order to relieve the particular emergency
service from responding to false alarms.
Fees for installation permits and registration
are as set forth in the Whitehall Township Fee Schedule, as amended
from time to time.