[HISTORY: Adopted by the Township Council of the Township
of Hamilton as Ch. 10 of the 1994 Code of Ordinances; amended in its
entirety at time of adoption of Code (see Ch. 1, General Provisions,
Art. II). Subsequent amendments noted where applicable.]
The purpose of this chapter is to provide standards and regulations
for various types of intrusion, burglar, fire, smoke and other emergency
alarm devices, whether it is a dial alarm or a local alarm.
[Amended 12-15-2020 by Ord. No. 20-057]
The provisions of this chapter shall apply to any person who
operates, maintains or owns any dial alarm, local alarm or direct
line hookup alarm to any alarm company, answering service or police
alarm board which is designed to summon the police, Division of Fire
or other municipal agency to any location in response to any type
of alarm signal.
For the purposes of this chapter, the following words shall
have the following meanings:
A type of device using telephone lines to transmit an alarm
directly through the police switchboard.
Any alarm that goes directly to any answering service.
Any alarm actuated by inadvertence, negligence, unintentional
act or accident by a resident or some other person authorized to be
in the house or building, or any alarm that is transmitted to the
Police Division which, when checked, shows no evidence in the house
or other alarmed building of any intruder having gained entry or having
attempted to gain entry, or no intruder inside the house or building.
These alarms shall be deemed to be a malfunction of the alarm device,
and such malfunction is also determined to be a false alarm.
Any alarm or device which, when activated, produces a visual
or noise signal and which is not connected by telephone line to the
police switchboard.
A two-way radio network which connects an alarm system to
the central monitoring station without wires.
Alarm devices which automatically use a pretaped or prerecorded
verbal message or other type of message which alerts the Police Division
of the Township that an emergency exists or that its services are
needed through the use of these systems, and which automatically dial
any telephone number to obtain such services, are hereby prohibited.
A.
Persons having either a dial or local alarm device shall be required
to leave with the Police Division the name of a person or persons
(with regular and cell phone numbers) who can be reached in case of
malfunction of the equipment in order that the device can be temporarily
disconnected.
B.
Persons having alarm devices which are being tested or repaired shall
notify the Police Division before tests or repairs commence and after
completion so as to avoid the possibility of activating a false alarm.
C.
If access to the premises cannot otherwise be gained within a thirty-minute
period, then, at any time thereafter, any police officer may enter
any premises in order to deactivate any such alarm by forced entry,
if no other means are readily available, and in such event neither
the Chief of Police nor any police officer, nor the Police Division,
nor the Township, nor any of its representatives, shall be responsible
to the property owner or any other person in interest for any damage
which may result from the forced entry, provided that the means of
said forced entry are reasonable and consistent with the purpose of
this provision.
D.
All alarms must have an automatic reset device with a five-to-ten
automatic shutoff and reset feature.
A.
Knowledge of false alarm; investigation. In any case of a false alarm,
any person having knowledge thereof shall immediately notify the Police
Division in the fastest possible manner. The Chief of Police shall
cause an investigation to be made of all false alarms and keep a record
of such alarms on file.
B.
Exception to charge. If any alarm comes in and the officer on duty
deems it to be caused by any storm, hurricane or severe weather condition,
power failure or power restoration or any type of line malfunction,
between the home, alarm receiving company or Police Division, or any
other similar occurrence, the alarm shall be noted but not charged
against the homeowner or business as a false alarm.
For false alarms, the Township prescribes the following penalties:
A.
For the first through fifth false alarm in any given calendar year,
a warning shall be issued.
B.
For the sixth and seventh false alarm in the same calendar year,
a fine of $25 shall be paid to the Township.
C.
For the eighth and any subsequent false alarms in the same calendar
year, a fine of $50 shall be paid to the Township.
D.
After the eighth false alarm in any given calendar year, the Township
reserves the right to require the disconnection of the device for
a limited time or permanently.
The provisions of this chapter shall not apply to the general
alerting alarms that may be used by fire companies, ambulance squads
or civil defense agencies to summon response of their members. The
provisions of this chapter shall not apply to alarm systems that are
affixed to motor vehicles.
The provisions contained in this chapter shall apply equally
to those alarm systems that were placed in service prior to or subsequent
to the effective date of this chapter.
The Township shall not be liable for any defects in operation
of any automatic dial alarms and alarm devices, or for any failure
or neglect to respond appropriately upon receipt of an alarm from
such a source, or for the failure or neglect of any person in connection
with the installation and operation of equipment, the transmission
of alarm signals or prerecorded alarm messages or the relaying of
such signals and messages, and, in the event that the Township finds
it necessary to disconnect any alarm for any reason, the Township
shall incur no liability by such action.
