This chapter shall be known and may be cited as the "Alarms
Systems Law."
False burglar and fire alarms emanating from automated devices
require that police and other emergency services respond to the false
alarm, exposing them to unnecessary hazards and risks, wasting taxpayer
funds and depriving other citizens, who may need emergency services,
of those services. This chapter is intended to remedy this waste by
regulating alarm systems and reducing the number of false alarms.
This chapter is also consistent with the Alarm Systems Law enforced
by the Orangetown Police Department in other portions of the Town
of Orangetown.
Excluded from the provisions of this chapter is any alarm device
installed in or on a motor vehicle. Also excluded from the provisions
of this chapter is any device designed to alert the occupants of any
building of an emergency condition therein and which does not produce
any audible or visual external signal or internal signal perceptible
from outside the building in question.
In the event that an alarm user permit has been suspended or
revoked, the alarm user may have the user permit reinstated by forwarding
to the Police Department, in writing, verification that the conditions
causing such false alarms have been repaired, corrected or otherwise
eliminated. Reinstatement shall not affect the false alarm count charged
to any alarm user permit during each calendar year.
A cancellation code will be available through the Police Department
for every alarm user permit. The code will allow the alarm user the
ability to abort any alarm activation. Alarm signals that are promptly
and properly aborted by the code will not be charged against the alarm
user permit as a false alarm.
Each alarm system within the Village must be equipped as follows
before an alarm user permit can be issued:
A. The alarm system shall contain an automatic audible signal cut-off
device so that the maximum time any alarm shall cause an externally
audible signal to be emanated does not exceed 30 minutes per activation.
B. The alarm system shall be equipped with a standby power source sufficient
to maintain the system in a state of readiness for at least six hours
in the event of a power failure.
C. Automatic dialer devices, upon a single stimulus, shall not exceed
two separate calls to the Police Department, and no such call shall
exceed one minute in duration. There must be at least a two-minute
interval between calls, with the second call clearly identified as
such.
D. The contents of any recorded message to be transmitted to the Police
Department must be intelligible and in a format approved by the Chief
of Police as appropriate for the type of emergency being reported.
E. Automatic dialer devices shall be connected to the Police Department
only via telephone numbers designated by the Chief of Police for this
purpose.
Within 120 days of the effective date of this chapter, every
alarm user shall obtain an alarm user permit and bring every alarm
system into compliance with the requirements of this chapter.
The Police Department of the Town of Orangetown shall be the
agency responsible for the enforcement and administration of this
chapter.
In addition to the suspension or revocation of a license or
permit, a violation of this chapter may subject the violator to the
following fines and penalties:
A. Alarm users.
(1) Operating or maintaining an alarm system without an alarm user permit:
a fine of not less than $25 nor more than $100.
(2) Operating or maintaining an alarm system after an alarm user permit
has been suspended or revoked; not less than $50 nor more than $100.
B. A violation of any other section of this chapter for which no penalty
has been prescribed may subject the violator to a fine of not more
than $100.