[HISTORY: Adopted by the City Council of the City of Fond
du Lac 6-23-1993 by Ord. No. 2679 as §§ 9.12 and 9.30
of the 1993 Code. Amendments noted where applicable.]
This chapter is enacted to provide minimum standards and regulations
applicable to burglar and holdup alarm systems, alarm businesses and
alarm users. Both society in general and public safety in particular
will be aided by providing a useful and usable system of private security
which properly balances quick response by police with minimization
of police time spent on alarms which are false or otherwise not the
intended function of private security systems.
Within this chapter, the following terms, phrases and words
and their derivations have the meaning given herein:
Any business in which the owners or employees engage in the
activity of altering, installing, leasing, maintaining or repairing,
replacing, selling or servicing alarm systems.
An assembly of equipment and devices or a single device,
such as a solid state unit which plugs directly into a 110 volt AC
line or otherwise receives electrical energy, arranged to signal the
presence of a hazard requiring urgent attention and to which police
are expected to respond. In this chapter, the term shall include,
but not be limited to, the terms "automatic holdup alarm system,"
"burglar alarm system," "holdup alarm system" and "manual holdup alarm
system" as those terms are hereafter defined. Excluded from this definition
and from the coverage of this chapter are alarm systems used to alert
or signal persons within the premises in which the alarm system is
located of an attempted unauthorized intrusion or holdup attempt.
If a system employs an audible signal emitting sounds or a flashing
light or beacon designed to signal persons outside the premises, the
system shall be within the definition of "alarm system" and shall
be subject to this chapter.[1]
A telephone answering service providing among its services
the receiving on a continuous basis through trained employees of emergency
signals from alarm systems and immediately relaying the message by
live voice to the communication center of the Police Department.
An alarm system which automatically sends over regular telephone
lines, by direct connection or otherwise, a prerecorded voice message
or coded signal indicating the existence of the emergency situation
that the alarm system is designed to detect.
An alarm system in which the signal transmission is initiated
by the action of the robber.
An alarm system signaling an entry or attempted entry into
the area protected by the system.
The activation of an alarm system through mechanical failure,
malfunction, improper installation or the negligence of the owner
or lessee of an alarm system or of his employees or agents or other
undetermined causes.
An alarm system signaling a robbery or attempted robbery.
An alarm system in which the signal transmission is initiated
by the direct action of the person attacked or by an observer of the
attack.
The Chief of the Police Department of the City or his or
her designated representative.
A person who buys, leases or otherwise obtains an alarm system
and thereafter contracts with or hires an alarm business to either
monitor or service the alarm device or both.[2]
The Police Chief shall promulgate such rules as may be necessary
for the implementation of this chapter. These rules shall require
approval of the City Manager and shall be open to inspection by the
public.
A.
No person shall interconnect any automatic dialing device to a Police
Department primary trunkline and no person shall permit such devices
to remain interconnected from any property owned or controlled by
that person. Such devices may be interconnected to a modified central
station or an answering service. Relaying messages so received to
the Police Department shall only be done person to person on the telephone
line designated by the Police Chief. The Police Chief may approve
a direct line installation between a modified central station or an
answering service and the Police Department, with full costs to be
borne by the intermediate service.
B.
The alarm user will provide the Police Department with the names
and telephone numbers of at least two other persons who can be reached
at any time, day or night, and who are authorized to respond to an
emergency signal transmitted by the automatic dialing device and who
can open the premises wherein the device is installed. If either of
these people cannot be contacted or if they refuse to cooperate with
police officials, they shall be subject to a forfeiture under the
penalty section of this chapter.
A.
No alarm system designed to transmit emergency messages directly
to the Police Department shall be tested or demonstrated without first
notifying the Police Department dispatcher.
B.
No alarm system relayed through intermediate services to the Police
Department will be tested to determine police response without first
notifying the police dispatcher.
When an alarm business service to its subscribers is disrupted
for any reason by the alarm business or the alarm business becomes
aware of such disruption, it shall promptly notify its subscribers
by telephone that protection is no longer being provided. If, however,
the alarm business has written instructions from its subscriber not
to make such notification by telephone during certain hours, the alarm
business may comply with such instructions.
A.
There is hereby imposed a fee for each police response to any alarm
resulting from the activation of an alarm system, except when the
police find that an unauthorized person is on the premises or was
seen on the premises immediately before the alarm was activated or
that there is fresh evidence of a forceful entry or attempted forceful
entry. Such fee shall be set by resolution of the City Council.
[Amended 12-11-2002 by Ord. No. 3132[1]]
B.
The fee is imposed whether the Police Department receives the alarm
by direct connection or through any intermediary, such as an answering
service or modified central station. No fee is imposed by this chapter
when the choice is made to notify the Police Department directly by
person of any situation. The fee imposed by this chapter is imposed
solely when the choice is made to employ an alarm system. If the Police
Chief is notified of the date of the installation of a new alarm system,
the fee imposed by this chapter is waived for a ninety-day period
beginning with the date of installation.
The Police Chief is authorized to require that the owner or
lessee of any alarm system directly connected to the Department shall
disconnect such device until it is working in a manner as will not
produce a high frequency of false alarms. The Police Chief may require
disconnection if 10 false alarms are received in any twelve-month
period. The Police Chief may, after giving notice to the subscriber,
order disconnection of the system for noncooperation of the subscriber
or for violations of this chapter.
Except as otherwise specifically provided, any person who shall violate any provision of this chapter shall be subject to a penalty as provided in § 1-4 of this Code.
