For the purposes of this Article, the following words or phrases
shall have the meanings respectively ascribed to them by this Section:
ALARM BUSINESS
Any individual, partnership, corporation or other entity
in which the owners or employees engage in the activity of altering,
selling, installing, leasing, maintaining, repairing, replacing, servicing
or responding in any manner to alarm systems.
ALARM SYSTEM
Any assembly of equipment and devices or a single device
such as a solid state unit which uses electrical energy to signal
the presence of a hazard requiring urgent attention and to which Police
or firemen are expected to respond. In this Article, the term "alarm system" shall include, but not be limited to, the
terms "automatic holdup alarm systems", "burglar
alarm systems", "holdup alarm systems" and "manual holdup alarm systems" as those terms are hereinafter
defined. This definition shall also include non-manually operated
fire alarm systems.
ANSWERING SERVICE
Any telephone answering service providing among its services
the service of receiving on a continuous basis through trained employees
emergency signals from alarm systems and thereafter immediately relaying
the message by live voice to the communication center of the Police
Department.
AUTOMATIC ANSWERING DEVICE
Any 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.
BURGLAR ALARM SYSTEM
Any alarm system signaling an entry or attempted entry into
the area protected by the system.
FALSE ALARM
Any activation of an alarm system through mechanical failure,
malfunction, improper installation, without an unlawful entry or other
condition which the alarm is designed to detect or through the negligent
or intentional acts of the owner or lessee of an alarm system or of
his/her employees or agents or other causes.
MANUAL HOLDUP ALARM SYSTEM
Any alarm system in which the signal transmission is initiated
by the direct action of the person attacked or by an observer of the
attack.
SUBSCRIBER
Any person who buys or leases or otherwise obtains an alarm
signaling system or contracts with or hires an alarm business to monitor
or service the alarm device.
No person shall interconnect any automatic dialing device to
a Police or Fire Department primary trunk line 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
received to the Police or Fire Departments shall only be done person
to person on a 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 to the Police or Fire Departments
with full costs to be borne by the person or business operating the
station or service.
The subscriber shall provide the Police Department with the
name and telephone number of the alarm business with whom the subscriber
has contracted to respond to an emergency signal transmitted by the
automatic alarm device. If the subscriber has not contracted with
an alarm business to respond, the subscriber shall provide the Police
Department with the names and telephone numbers of at least two (2)
other persons who have agreed in writing to respond to an emergency
signal transmitted by the automatic alarm device, who can be reached
at any time of the day or night, who are authorized to respond to
an emergency signal and who can open the premises where the device
is installed. If any such person refuses to cooperate with the Police
Department, such refusal shall be a violation of this Section. If
any such person withdraws his/her agreement to cooperate, the subscriber
will at once furnish another person who has consented and meets the
qualifications set forth in this Section.
No alarm system designed to transmit emergency messages directly
to the Police or Fire Department shall be (1) tested or demonstrated
without first notifying the Police or Fire Department dispatcher,
or (2) connected to the Police or Fire Department without express
written consent of the Chief of the appropriate department. No direct
connection of any alarm system designed to monitor an environmental
condition shall be permitted.
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 the Police Department
by telephone that protection is no longer being provided.
Each alarm business which installs or services an alarm system
shall clearly instruct the subscriber in the proper use and operation
of the alarm system, as frequently as necessary, especially in those
factors which can cause false alarms.