[HISTORY: Adopted by the Board of Trustees of the Village
of Whitesboro 11-3-2001 by L.L. No. 5-2001. Amendments noted where
applicable.]
This chapter shall be known as the "Alarm System Law of the
Village of Whitesboro."
It is the purpose of this chapter to protect and promote the
public health, safety and general welfare by eliminating avoidable
false fire and burglar alarms and thereby ensuring that fire and police
facilities and personnel will be available for actual emergencies.
False alarms unnecessarily drain resources and require emergency responses,
which contribute to increased accident rates and which delay responses
to real emergencies.
This chapter applies to all installed fire and burglar alarms
which are directly connected to a police or fire agency or to a private
agency which, in turn, makes a connection to a police or fire agency
or to no agency but merely sounds an alarm on the premises, each installed
alarm having the purpose of notifying police and/or fire agencies
or others that an emergency exists at the site of such installed alarm
requiring an immediate response from police or fire agency personnel
and equipment.
As used in this chapter, the following terms shall have the
following meanings:
Any alarm reported or received by a local police or fire
agency from an installed alarm which is caused by improper installation
of the system, by a mechanical failure or malfunction of the system
or is due to negligence on the part of the owner, user, custodian
or other person responsible for the installed alarm. A false alarm
does not include an alarm activated by a natural phenomenon such as
a tornado, earthquake, or the like, or by acts of third parties, which
are beyond the person responsible for the installed alarm.
Any mechanical or electrical device installed in a building
or on premises for the purpose of automatically notifying, directly
or indirectly, police and/or fire agencies or sounding an alarm when
a break-in or fire occurs and used for the purpose of summoning help
from police or fire agencies.
A.
Effective immediately, a permit is required for the installation
and/or operation of any installed alarm, which serves to alert, either
directly or indirectly, the Police and/or Fire Department. Permits
for those installed alarms which are now in operation must be obtained
within 90 days of the effective date of this chapter by the owner/lessee
of such premises.
B.
There will be no cost to the applicant for a permit. Permits will
be issued by the Village Clerk upon completion of an application providing
the following information:
(1)
Date of application.
(2)
Type of alarm.
(3)
Name, address, and telephone number of the owner/lessee responsible
for the alarm.
(4)
Address and extent of premises protected by the alarm.
(5)
Location of the alarm device enunciator panel(s).
(6)
Offices or agencies notified by the alarm.
(7)
Names, addresses and telephone numbers of persons to be contacted
in the event of an alarm, any time of the day or night, and who will
respond to the alarm and are authorized by the alarm user to enter
the premises.
(8)
Other information required by the Clerk.
C.
Applications received by the Village Clerk shall be deemed confidential
and shall not be disclosed except as provided by law.
A.
Any person who violates § 78-5 hereof, relating to the failure to obtain a permit for the installation and/or operation of an installed alarm, shall be deemed guilty of a violation and, upon conviction thereof, which violation shall be punishable by a fine of not less than $100 nor more than $250.
B.
The property owner and/or lessee of property to which an emergency
agency responds as a result of false alarm shall be deemed guilty
of a violation and, upon conviction thereof, shall be punishable by
a fine based upon the number of offenses occurring within 12 months
from the first offense, as follows:
C.
The intentional transmission of a false alarm shall further be punishable
under the provisions of the Penal Law of the State of New York.
