[HISTORY: Adopted by the Board of Commissioners of the Township of Bethlehem 10-13-1986 by Ord. No. 11-86 (Ch. 13, Part 4, of the 1988 Code). Amendments noted where applicable.]
The following definitions shall apply in the interpretation and enforcement of this chapter:
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, when activated by a criminal act or other emergency requiring police, fireman, or emergency medical personnel 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 alarm 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 Bethlehem Township Police Department.
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 and/or signal over telephone line, by direct or indirect connection to an emergency communication center, upon receipt of a 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 and/or signals 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 ALARM
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 a 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, etc., where the system is designed to require a response from an emergency service.
RESIDENTIAL SENSORY DEVICE
A device attached to the interior or a residential structure which is not tied to an emergency communication center not intended to be audible on the exterior of the structure to which it is attached.
TOWNSHIP
The Township of Bethlehem, County of Northampton, Pennsylvania.
Within 90 days from the effective date of this chapter, every owner/lessee of an alarm shall register same with the Police Department. Such registration shall, but not necessarily be limited to, the following information:
A. 
The name, residence, and telephone number of the owner or lessee.
B. 
The address where the device is installed and the telephone number of that address.
C. 
The names, addresses and telephone numbers of at least two persons who are authorized to respond to an alarm and gain access to the address where the device is installed.
D. 
The name, address and phone number of the company which installed the alarm.
[Amended 8-15-1988 by Ord. No. 8-88]
Responses to alarms given off by audible alarms and automatic protection devices involve the time of and the danger to members of the Township Police Department and Fire Department and Emergency Medical Services, 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, shall be paid to the Township by the user, whether owner or lessee, or 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 Township shall have the right to waive payment of the service fee for any false alarm which is caused by weather conditions or malfunctions in the operation of the electrical system of Pennsylvania Power and Light Company/Metropolitan Edison Company.
[Amended 8-15-1988 by Ord. No. 8-88]
Any person who violates any provision of this chapter shall be guilty of a summary offense and shall, upon conviction thereof, be sentenced to pay a fine of not more than $300, together with cost of prosecution, and in default of payment of any part thereof, to undergo imprisonment for a period of not more than 90 days.