[HISTORY: Adopted by the Board of Trustees of the Village
of Freeport 8-9-2010 by L.L. No. 2-2010.[1] Amendments noted where applicable.]
GENERAL REFERENCES
Security systems — See Ch. 73.
Peace and good order — See Ch. 55.
[1]
Editor's Note: This local law also repealed former Ch.
72, Alarm Systems, adopted 3-8-1993 by L.L. No. 1-1993.
A.
The
unregulated transmission of automatic alarm systems to police headquarters
in the Village has, from time to time, resulted in the overtaxing
of facilities and in the impairment of the ability of the Police and
Fire Departments of the Village to respond to true emergencies. Additionally,
the continued and unnecessarily prolonged emission of sound from audible
alarm systems to the surrounding community and the difficulties and
delays encountered in silencing such systems have disturbed the rest
and repose of residents of the Village and have caused police, fire,
and other Village personnel to spend excessive amounts of time both
in the investigation of those alarms and in the attempted silencing
of them, thereby preventing the devotion of such time to the protection
and general welfare of the inhabitants of the Village.
B.
It
is necessary to the general welfare, peace and repose of the Village
to protect its residents through the establishment of controls of
various types of fire, intrusion, holdup, and other emergency signals
from fire and police alarm devices which require Fire Department or
Police Department response, investigation or safeguarding of property
at the location of an event reported by a signal transmitted by telephone
or radio or otherwise relayed to the Police Department or the Fire
Department by an alarm device requiring investigation or other action
by any person acting in response to a signal activated by any alarm
device.
C.
The purpose and intent of this chapter is to decrease the number
of emergency service requests for dispatch or response attributable
to false alarms and to improve the availability of police, fire, and
other personnel for the handling of emergency situations. It is hereby
declared that the noise emanating from audible alarms which continue
to sound either without the existence of an emergency situation or
after the emergency situation has ended constitutes a public nuisance.
As used in this chapter, the following terms shall have the
meanings indicated:
Any transmission to a privately operated central alarm station;
or any device which transmits without human initiative an alert to
the Village of Freeport police, fire, or any emergency service that
an emergency exists or that a dispatch or response is requested at
a particular premises, location not a premises, or a vehicle at a
public road. "Alarm system" shall also mean any alarm device which
automatically emits an audible, visual or other response upon the
occurrence of any hazard or emergency and is intended to alert persons
outside the building to the existence of said hazard or emergency.
"Alarm system" shall not include personal panic medical alarms or
any alarm triggered by the failure of a human physiological system.
Any person that installs, repairs, maintains or in any manner
makes operable an alarm system. A qualified fire alarm technician
shall be an alarm system installer for purposes of this chapter.
That portion of an alarm system designed for a particular
type of detection, such as intrusion detection, fire detection, fire
suppression, flooding, hazardous gas detection, vehicular crash detection,
and any other type detection. Detection types shall be determined
by the type of hazard monitored and not by the technology used by
the sensor.
Any person or entity that contracts with a central alarm
station, controls an alarm system or is in control of a premises that
is protected by an alarm system. "Alarm user" shall also include any
person or entity that installs an alarm system after the effective
date of this chapter who has not filed a permit application for said
installation or has not completed the requirements for issuance of
a valid permit within 30 days of said installation.
For each emergency service the commanding officer at the
alarm location or a member of the emergency service at the alarm location
empowered by a command officer of the responding service to determine
the cause of the alarm for reporting purposes and including for the
determination of a false alarm.
Any facility connected to a fire, police or other emergency
service alarm system, which facility is manned by operators who receive,
record or validate alarm signals and relay information about such
validated signals to the Police, Fire Department, or other emergency
service.
An alarm system that allows for the simultaneous monitoring
by a Village emergency service or that, upon notification from a central
alarm station or from the alarm user, allows the emergency service
to view images or data related to the alarm notification collected
from the alarm system's sensors or cameras in use at the protected
location.
A discretionary decision whether to direct police, fire,
or other emergency units to a location where there has been a request,
made by whatever means, for police assistance or investigation, fire
control, ambulatory service, or hazardous material containment or
control. A recall or cancellation of the alert or message prior to
the arrival of the first responder shall not be a dispatch for the
purposes of this chapter.
Any telephone number designated by the Village as a telephone
number through which members of the public may report an emergency
or request public assistance.
The Police Department, Fire Department, ambulance/emergency
medical service operated by the Village or the Village Office of Emergency
Management, or any emergency service that is not operated by the Village
but is requested to respond within the Village and does so respond.
Any dispatch or response at which an authorized responder
for the responding emergency service has determined is not the result
of a fire, holdup, robbery or other crime or emergency pursuant to
the criteria promulgated by the emergency service for the determination
of causes for reporting purposes or according to the criteria set
out in this chapter.
Any member of the emergency service arriving at the requested
alarm location as the result of a dispatch or response, for each service
dispatched or responding.
A UL-listed box, size and style approved by the Fire Official,
that meets the requirements and uses the same security key code adopted
by the Fire Department.
The Mayor of the Village, who shall exercise supervision
over the conduct of the Police Department, Fire Department, and any
Village emergency service.
Any alarm system monitored by a central alarm station.
A false alarm determined to be caused by mechanical failure,
malfunction, improper installation, lack of proper maintenance or
any other cause which in the judgment of the authorized responder
requires a repair of the device or reinstallation of any portion of
the alarm system.
Any person accumulating three or more convictions of violations
of this chapter based upon separate violation dates over an eighteen-month
period.
An individual, corporation, partnership, joint venture, association,
company, trust, unincorporated organization or other entity, and shall
include any other person that has a substantial interest in or effectively
controls such person, as well as the individual officers, directors,
general partners, trustees, or other individuals in control of the
activities of each such person.
That portion of a structure where there is a unity of control
by the alarm user over the alarm system.
Any person who inspects, installs, repairs, or performs maintenance
on fire alarm systems or the fire detection portion of an alarm system.
This person shall be any one of the following:
Either a dispatch or any answer to an alert or message from
an alarm system or from a central alarm station which results in the
deployment of police, fire, ambulatory service, or hazardous material
containment or control services to the location requested. A recall
or cancellation of the alert or message prior to the arrival of the
first responder shall not be a response for the purposes of this chapter.
A Fire Department connection (FDC) plug and cap approved
for use in the Village by the Fire Department utilizing two-and-one-half-inch
National Standard thread pattern.
A padlock approved by the Fire Department that utilizes the
approved key code utilized by the Fire Department.
The Incorporated Village of Freeport.
A.
Permits required; duration; renewals; time frame for compliance.
(1)
It shall be unlawful and a violation of this chapter for an alarm
user to operate or maintain in operable condition an alarm system
protecting a premises within the Village without first obtaining a
valid alarm system permit issued by the Village Clerk. An alarm system
is in operable condition if it is capable of sending an alarm signal
or transmission, or creating a visual or audio alert. All alarm systems
shall be monitored by a central alarm station unless this requirement
is expressly waived by the emergency service approving the permit.
(2)
A separate permit is required for each premises protected by an alarm
system, said permit to have a duration of three years. A subpermit
pursuant to this section is required for each additional subsystem
except that multiple detection subsystems may be combined under the
same permit to the extent each subsystem is controlled by the same
alarm user and located at the same address or within the same vehicle.
Mobile or vehicular-based alarm systems shall not require a permit.
(3)
A permit shall expire three years from the date of issuance and may
be renewed for additional three-year periods by the submission of
a renewal application and payment of permit renewal fees as required
by this chapter. Subpermits may be issued at any time for up to three
years, but the duration may not extend beyond the expiration date
of the permit.
(4)
Alarm systems operating previous to the effective date of this chapter
must be in compliance with the provisions of this chapter, excepting
the rapid entry requirements, within four months of said effective
date.
B.
It shall be unlawful for an alarm system installer to install an
alarm system protecting a premises within the Village prior to filing
a completed permit application with the Village Clerk on behalf of
the alarm user unless the installer has confirmed that the user already
holds a permit for the type of alarm system or subsystem to be installed.
Notwithstanding the provisions of this section, the alarm user, not
the alarm system installer, shall be deemed the permit applicant and
permit holder for all purposes. An alarm permit may not be transferred
or assigned to another person without the filing of a new permit application.
C.
No alarm system permit shall be issued unless approved by the commanding
officer of the emergency service whose dispatch or response may be
requested by the alarm system or central station. Each emergency service
shall designate the information to be collected on the permit application
as is reasonably necessary to carry out the intent and purpose of
this chapter, and the Village Clerk, in consultation with and with
the approval of the Village Attorney, shall include such on the alarm
permit application. The Village Clerk shall have authority to determine
the document handling and storage procedures for all alarm systems
permits.
D.
As a prerequisite to the issuance of a permit, an officer of the
central alarm station named in the permit application must provide
written consent to the Village Clerk confirming that the subject premises
is being monitored and agreeing to abide by the requirements of this
chapter or the regulations and rules promulgated by the Police and
Fire Departments pursuant to this chapter.
E.
Prohibition against false statements; notification of changes.
(1)
It shall be unlawful and a violation of this chapter to make any
material statement or provide materially false information on the
alarm system application. An alarm system installer filing on behalf
of an alarm user declaration based upon all information of which the
installer has any knowledge.
(2)
It shall be the continuing duty of the alarm user to notify the Clerk
of any change of material information relating to the permitted alarm
system. Failure to so notify the Clerk of a change in material information
within 10 days of the effective date of such change is unlawful and
a violation of this chapter.
(3)
The Village Clerk shall advise the affected emergency service of
any changes in the information contained in the permit application
on an ongoing basis and as said changes shall occur. The Village Clerk
is authorized to establish procedures for the collection of material
information from alarm users and the dissemination of said information
to the various emergency services. Said authorization shall extend
but not be limited to the establishment of shared files, including
electronic files, in a manner in which in the judgment of the Village
Clerk will best achieve the collection and dissemination of material
permit information.
A.
The Village Clerk may deny issuance of a permit or suspend an existing
alarm permit for any of the following reasons:
(1)
Upon a reasonable determination based upon any record of the Village
or any filing with the Clerk that indicates that the alarm user is
no longer in control of the alarm system.
(2)
Upon the failure to pay within the prescribed time any fee or civil
assessment authorized by this chapter.
(3)
Upon the notice from an emergency service that the alarm user has
failed to comply with an order to service or repair an alarm system.
(4)
Upon notice from the Clerk of the Village Court that the alarm user
has failed to pay a fine imposed by the Village Court as a sentence
for a condition for a violation of this chapter.
(5)
Upon discovery of a materially false statement on the alarm permit
application.
B.
Notice of suspension.
(1)
Upon suspension of an alarm permit, the Village Clerk shall cause
a notice of suspension to be served upon the alarm user at the address
of record or other address obtained by the Clerk from any public record
that the Clerk reasonably believes will provide actual notice.
(2)
Said notice of suspension shall state the reason for the suspension,
the indentity or the source of the records relied upon to make the
determination, the actions required to cure or reinstate the permit,
including the time allotted for compliance, and the consequences of
a failure to cure or reinstate the permit.
(3)
The alarm user shall have 10 business days from the date of the notice
of suspension to cure the reason(s) for the suspension.
C.
Revocation of permit.
(1)
It shall be unlawful and a violation of this chapter to operate an
alarm system with a revoked permit.
(2)
The Village Clerk may revoke an alarm system permit for any of the
following reasons:
(a)
There has been no compliance with the requirements set forth
in a notice of suspension served pursuant to this chapter.
(b)
Upon notification by a licensing authority with coordinate jurisdiction
over an alarm system or upon discovery by any means that the coordinate
licensor has revoked its license due to any nonfinancial reason.
(c)
Upon notification of conviction as a pernicious offender.
(3)
A revoked permit may be reissued if the alarm user:
D.
Hearing.
(1)
A person whose alarm permit application, whether for initial issuance
or renewal, has been denied or a person whose alarm permit has been
revoked in accordance with the provisions of this chapter may request
a hearing before a member of the Board of Trustees designated as the
hearing officer by the Mayor. A request for such a hearing shall be
made, in writing, to the Village Clerk, by a person whose alarm permit
application has been denied or whose alarm permit has been revoked,
not more than 30 days after notice of such denial or revocation has
been mailed by the Village Clerk to said applicant or permit holder.
Said hearing shall be conducted within 30 days of the filing of said
appeal, unless for good cause shown said hearing is adjourned or rescheduled,
either at the request of the person appealing or by the hearing officer
on its own motion. At the hearing, the person shall be heard in his
or her defense in person or by counsel and may offer evidence and
testimony on his or her behalf. The hearing officer may administer
oaths, take testimony, subpoena witnesses, and compel the production
of books, papers, records, and documents deemed pertinent to the hearing.
Within 30 days of the close of said hearing, the Board of Trustees
shall issue a determination either upholding in whole or in part,
modifying or overruling the determination of the Village Clerk in
denying or revoking said permit. If the Board of Trustees fails to
act within 30 days of the close of said hearing, the determination
of the hearing officer is deemed to be upheld by the Board of Trustees
and becomes the determination of the Board of Trustees. Said determination
shall be filed in the office of the Village Clerk and a, copy mailed
to the appellant by the Clerk. Said determination shall be deemed
final for purposes of appeal and judicial review pursuant to Article
78 of the Civil Practice Law and Rules.
E.
For any service as required by this chapter, service by first class
mail shall be sufficient service and shall be deemed served when the
same is deposited in a post office or an official depository under
the exclusive care and custody of the United States Postal Service
within New York State.
A.
The Board of Trustees, by resolution, shall adopt and from time to
time may amend a schedule of fees payable by an alarm user, including
fees on the occasion of application, revocation, suspension, renewal,
and subpermit fees and installing, operating or maintaining an alarm
system, or any transfer, assignment, renewal or reinstatement thereof.
B.
All departments, offices, agencies, and instrumentalities of the
United States and the State of New York, as well as all political
subdivisions of the State of New York, including school districts
and special districts, shall be exempt from the payment of the fees
adopted by the Board of Trustees.
A.
It shall be unlawful and a violation of this chapter for any person to intentionally, recklessly, negligently, carelessly or erroneously cause a false alarm. The permit holder, the owner or lessee of property having an alarm system on his or her premises, and any user of services or equipment furnished by the licensee under this chapter, each shall be responsible for any false alarms; but the permit holder of the alarm system shall be ultimately responsible for any insufficient or inadequate instructions to tenants, employees, agents, children or others concerned with or having access to the operation of the alarm system. A determination made by an authorized first responder pursuant to §§ 72-9 and 72-10 herein shall be presumptive evidence of a violation of this section.
B.
Fees.
(1)
A permit holder shall pay to the Village a fee for each and every
false alarm to which the Police or Fire Department responds and for
which said department has made a determination of a false alarm or
a nuisance false alarm for said response, counting from the date of
the most recent permit or renewal of permit; said fees are as per
Appendix A.[1]
[1]
Editor's Note: Said Appendix is on file in the Village
offices.
D.
It shall be unlawful and a violation of this chapter for any central
alarm station to send a residential intrusion alert to the Police
Department without first attempting a verification of the intrusion.
A.
The alarm user shall be responsible for any alert sent by a fire
alarm system.
B.
Notification of user; verification of alert; cancellation.
(1)
At the time of response, the authorized responder shall notify the
designated agent for the alarm system and shall require such person
to respond to the premises.
(2)
In the event the fire alarm system is central-alarm-station-monitored,
it is the responsibility of the central alarm system to notify the
alarm user or agent.
(3)
In the event the residential fire alarm system is central-alarm-station-monitored,
it is the responsibility of the alarm system installer to offer the
alarm user the option to verify the fire alert before dispatch.
(4)
In the event the residential fire alarm system is a monitored system,
it is the responsibility of the central alarm system to forward cancellation
of a fire alert to the fire department.
C.
The first responder shall serve the owner or authorized representative
with a fire alarm activation report.
A.
In
the event the activation of a fire alarm system is deemed by the enforcement
official to be a nuisance fire alarm, the alarm user shall be served
with a fire alarm activation report by the first responder or the
Village Clerk, indicating that the activation was deemed to be the
result of a nuisance fire alarm.
(1)
This shall require the alarm user to return a completed report of
service/repair to verify, to a reasonable satisfaction of the commanding
officer, that:
B.
The
police are authorized to disconnect or disable any alarm system, including
a vehicular alarm system that is emitting an audible alert which,
in the discretion of the desk officer, is causing an unjustified noise
disturbance or meets the criteria of a police false alarm. An audible
alarm sounding for more than 15 minutes measured from the time of
the sending of the alert signal may be deactivated by the first responder.
A false alarm violation shall be determined using a rebuttable
presumption that the following determinations made by the authorized
responder in the fire alarm activation report are correct:
A.
There is no evidence of a fire or that there are no conditions present
which create a substantial risk of fire warranting a response.
B.
That the alarm was likely caused by mechanical failure, improper
installation or other nuisance alarm and requires service or repair.
C.
That the alarm was caused by the improper use or preventable misuse
of a facility monitored by the alarm system.
A police false alarm violation shall be determined with the
benefit of a rebuttable presumption that the following determinations
made by the police authorized responder are correct:
A.
There is no evidence of a crime or other activity that would warrant
a call for immediate police assistance at the premises.
B.
No individual who was on or near the premises or who has viewed a
video communication from the premises called for a police dispatch
or verified a need for an immediate police response; and
C.
There is no evidence that violent conditions of nature or other extraordinary
circumstances beyond the control of the alarm user caused the activation
of the alarm.
A.
The Mayor is authorized to implement a rapid-entry system designed
to allow rapid entry by first responders to commercial and other nonresidential
establishments located within the Village, said rapid-entry system
as recommended by the emergency services of the Village.
B.
The owner or person in control of the following types of buildings
shall install and maintain a Fire Department repository unit of a
type approved by the Chief:
(1)
Any apartment building or other rental building containing four or
more residential living units and in which access to the building
or to common areas or mechanical or electrical rooms within the building
is denied through locked doors.
(2)
Any nonresidential building where a fire detection or suppression
system is monitored by an alarm company or has an external audible
alarm.
(3)
Any building or facility containing a quantity of hazardous materials
which would require compliance with Title III of SARA (Superfund Amendment
Reauthorization Act).
C.
Persons or entities who own existing buildings or structures which
are subject to the requirements of this chapter shall have one year
from the effective date of this chapter to comply with the requirements.
Persons or entities who construct buildings or structures which would
be subject to the requirements of this chapter shall comply with the
requirements at the time of construction.
A.
The owner or person in control of buildings or facilities described in § 72-11 required to have a Fire Department repository unit shall cause to be placed in such repository unit a key to the following areas:
(1)
Locked points of access in the exterior of the building or facility;
(2)
Locked points of access to common areas, such as hallways or utility
rooms, contained within such buildings or facilities;
(3)
Locked mechanical rooms;
(4)
Locked electrical rooms; and
(5)
All other locked areas, other than individual apartments or rented
rooms, as directed by the Chief.
B.
The owner or person in control of any building or facility described in § 72-11 required to have a Fire Department repository unit shall do the following:
(1)
Provide keys capable of access to such Fire Department repository
unit at all times to the Fire Department.
(2)
Maintain current information of hazardous materials stored in the
building or facility in the Fire Department repository unit or, if
the volume of material is too large to place in the repository unit,
shall file said information with the Chief.
The owner or person in control of any building or facility required
to have a Fire Department repository unit shall be present, himself
or through his agent, during access to such repository unit by the
Fire Department except when the Fire Department has responded to an
emergency at the property.
The Village assumes no liability for any of the following:
A.
Any defects in the operation of the repository unit, of any of the
keys contained within such repository unit or any information stored
within the repository unit or otherwise provided to the Village;
B.
The failure or neglect of any owner or person in control of a building
or facility required to have a repository unit to provide access to
the repository unit;
C.
The security of any property required to have a repository unit due
to access to the repository unit by any person.
D.
No affirmative duty to respond to a call for assistance and no special
relationship or specific duty is created between an alarm user and
the Village or an emergency service thereof by the issuance of a permit
or the payment of a fee for alarm monitoring.
E.
In the event that an alarm system emitting an audible, visual or other similar response shall fail to be deactivated within the time limitation specified in § 72-8B hereinabove, the Village shall have the right to take such action as may be reasonably necessary in order to disconnect any such alarm without incurring any liability of a civil or criminal nature therefor.
The following permit fees shall apply:
A.
A violation of any of the provisions of this chapter shall constitute
a violation as said term is defined by the Penal Law of the State
of New York and be punishable as such by a fine not to exceed $2,000,
imprisonment for a term not to exceed 15 days, or by both such fine
and imprisonment. Each day's (twenty-four-hour period) continued
violation of this chapter shall constitute a separate and distinct
additional violation. A pernicious offender is subject to a minimum
fine of $250 for any violation occurring during the relevant eighteen-month
period, including any violation used to establish pernicious offender
status.
B.
A violation of any of the provisions of this chapter shall also be
subject to a civil penalty as set forth herein:
If any section, subsection, sentence, clause, or phrase of this
chapter is for any reason held to be invalid or unconstitutional by
the decision of any court of competent jurisdiction, such decision
shall not affect the validity of the remaining portions of this chapter.
