The purpose of this chapter is to set forth regulations governing
burglary, robbery, fire or medical alarm systems, businesses and agents
within the City, to require permits and fees therefor and to establish
fines for violation thereof.
For the purpose of this chapter, certain words and phrases shall
be construed as herein set forth, unless it is apparent from the context
that a different meaning is intended:
ALARM
A communication to a public safety agency, indicating that
a crime, fire or other emergency situation warranting immediate action
by the public safety agency has occurred or is occurring.
ALARM AGENT/TECHNICIAN
Any person who is employed by an alarm business, either directly
or indirectly, whose duties include any of the following: selling,
maintaining, leasing, servicing, repairing, altering, replacing, removing
or installing on or in any building, structure or facility any alarm
system.
ALARM SUPPLIER
The business by any individual, partnership, corporation
or other entity of selling, leasing, maintaining, servicing, repairing,
altering, replacing, moving or installing any alarm system or causing
any alarm system to be sold, leased, maintained, serviced, repaired,
altered, replaced, moved or installed in or on any building, structure
or facility, or who respond to or monitor such alarm systems. Exemption:
the provisions of this chapter do not include a business which engages
in the manufacture or sale of an alarm system unless such business
services, installs, monitors or responds to alarm systems.
ALARM SYSTEM
Any assembly or equipment — mechanical, electrical
or battery-operated — arranged to signal the occurrence of a
police, fire, hazard or medical emergency requiring urgent attention
and to which police or fire units are expected to respond. Exceptions:
(1) manual fire alarm pull stations are not regulated by this chapter;
and (2) residential smoke detectors that do not transmit an alarm
signal off premises are not regulated by this chapter. Devices which
are not designated or used to register alarms that are audible, visible
or perceptible outside of the protected building, structure or facility
are not included within this definition. An alarm system includes
all of the necessary equipment designed and installed for the detection
of burglary, robbery, fire, need for medical assistance or other hazard
in a single building, structure or facility or for alerting others
of the commission of an unlawful act within a building, structure
or facility, or both.
ANSWERING SERVICE
A service whereby trained employees, in attendance at all
times, receiving prerecorded voice messages from automatic dialing
devices reporting an emergency at a stated location, where such employees
have the duty to relay immediately, by live voice, any such emergency
message over a trunk line to the communications center of the police
or fire agency. They shall include monitoring systems maintained by
the alarm industry or alarm business.
AUDIBLE ALARM
Any device, bell, horn or siren which is attached to the
interior or exterior of a building, structure or facility and emits
a warning signal audible outside the building, structure or facility
and is designed to attract attention when activated by a criminal
act or other emergency requiring police agency or fire agency response.
AUTOMATIC DIALING DEVICE
A device which is interconnected to a telephone line and
is programmed to transmit a signal by a voice or coded message that
indicates that an emergency condition exists and the need for an emergency
response is required.
CHIEF OF POLICE
The appointed head of the City of DuBois Police Department
or his designated representative.
EMERGENCY
A police, fire, hazard or medical emergency.
FALSE ALARM
A.
An alarm activated in the absence of an emergency, whether willfully
or by inadvertence, negligence or unintentional act, including the
malfunction of the alarm system; the intentional activation of a holdup
alarm for other than a holdup in progress; the intentional activation
of a burglary alarm for other than a burglary; the intentional activation
of a medical alarm for other than a medical emergency; or the intentional
activation of a fire alarm for other than a fire hazard to which the
police or fire agency responds. Exceptions are: an alarm caused by
the testing or repairing of telephone or electrical lines or equipment
outside the premises; acts of God, such as earthquake, flood, windstorm,
thunder or lightning; an attempted illegal entry of which there is
visible evidence; a crime in progress; or, in the case of an emergency
medical alarm, an actual medical emergency requiring police, fire
and/or medical personnel.
B.
A false alarm shall be considered to have been caused by an
act of God when it happens by the direct, immediate and exclusive
operation of the forces of nature, uncontrolled or uninfluenced by
the power of man and without human intervention, and includes, but
shall not be limited to, false alarms caused by wind, snow, storm,
lightning, flood and power failure.
KEY
To use a telephone line and equipment for transmitting a
message, either directly or indirectly, by an automatic dialing device.
NONRESIDENT PERMITTEE
A nonresident household or business located outside the corporate
limits of the City of DuBois, which has met all the obligations and
requirements of this chapter and has been issued a permit hereunder.
PERMIT
Written authorization granted to an applicant by the City
upon payment of the required fee.
PERMITTEE
Any person who shall be granted a permit as provided in this
chapter and his agents and representatives.
PERSON
An individual, corporation, partnership, incorporated association
or similar entity.
PROFESSIONAL ALARM LICENSE
Legal document authorizing a person the right to sell, install
and service an alarm system within the City of DuBois.
RESIDENT PERMITTEE
A resident household or business of the City of DuBois, which
has met all the obligations and requirements of this chapter and has
been issued a permit hereunder.
SUBSCRIBER
Any person who purchases, leases, contracts for or otherwise
obtains an alarm system or contracts for the servicing or maintenance
of an alarm system from an alarm business.
Every alarm supplier selling, leasing or furnishing to any user,
or a user who privately installs an alarm system which is located
on premises within the City, shall:
A. Be permitted to install only equipment that is listed by Underwriters'
Laboratories, Incorporated, as being electrically safe. Wiring for
the alarm system must conform with all applicable municipal codes.
B. Be required to cause each alarm system installed to be provided with
standby battery power, which shall automatically and immediately take
over in the event of a power failure without initiating an alarm except
for a trouble signal.
C. Be required to install equipment in such a way as to neutralize electrical
surges on the alarm system.
D. Be required to deactivate any alarm system within a reasonable period
of time when multiple false alarms are received.
E. The sensory mechanism used in connection with an alarm device must
be adjusted to suppress false indications of fire or intrusion, so
that the alarm device will not be activated by impulses due to transient
pressure change in water pipes, short flashes of light, wind noises
(such as the rattling or vibrating of doors or windows), vehicular
noise adjacent to the premises or other forces unrelated to genuine
alarm situations.
F. Application for a permit for the installation of an alarm system
and subsequent installation of such a system pursuant to a permit
issued or the continuance of the use of any alarm system already installed
at the effective date of this chapter shall constitute consent by
the owner or lessee thereof and authorization for the inspection of
any such installation and/or operation by the Police Chief or his
representative.
G. All such entries upon the premises where an alarm system is installed,
and all such inspections of the installation and operation of alarm
systems, shall be at reasonable times and upon reasonable notice,
except in emergency situations.
H. Each alarm business, alarm agent or permittee shall display to the
Police Chief, when requested, the record of inspection or repair of
an installed alarm system.
I. Each permittee shall maintain each alarm system in good working order,
providing the necessary service to prevent false alarms, to prevent
malfunctions endangering persons or property, and to prevent other
malfunctions.
J. Each permittee shall cause each alarm system to be inspected regularly
by a representative of the company with a service contract or other
person qualified to inspect and service such equipment, at least once
every six months. Inspections shall be complete enough to detect any
likely malfunctions and may include testing of the equipment. No alarm
system, however, shall be tested with a resulting transmission of
the alarm to the public safety communications center of the City unless
the City is so notified in advance. The person making the inspection
shall provide a written report to the permittee, and the report shall
be kept on hand for 12 months, subject to being shown to any representative
of the Police Department of the City when requested during business
hours.
Administration and enforcement of this chapter shall be a function
of the code administration agency and the police agency and shall
include the following:
A. Authority to accept or reject a permit application or revoke a permit
because of a misrepresentation or false statement contained in any
application for a permit, failure to correct any deficiencies in equipment
or operation of an alarm device connected to the central receiving
station after due notice, or not meeting other conditions and specifications
of this chapter.
B. Authority to order the disconnection of an alarm device to the central
receiving station for a violation of this chapter or failure to pay
any of the appropriate fees.
Any applicant or permit holder shall have a right of appeal
under this chapter. An appeal may be taken when the City empowered
to make a decision regarding an installation, operation or maintenance
of an alarm device for which a permit has been requested and is denied,
or upon which a permit has been issued and a revocation of said permit
has occurred. Such an appeal, when filed, shall be in writing and
filed within 10 days following such decision. The appeal shall be
filed with the City Council making the decision. The City Council
shall promptly conduct a hearing to affirm, modify or reverse the
decision appealed from. The decision of the City Council shall be
final.