The purpose of this chapter is to alleviate conditions which lead to an unnecessary drain on the manpower, time, space, facilities and finances of the Borough of Flemington and its police and fire departments and the deterioration of the quality of services to persons subscribing to alarm services.
The provisions of this chapter shall apply to any person, other than the Borough of Flemington, who operates, maintains or owns any alarm device designed to summon the police or fire departments to any location in response to any type of alarm signal. The terms of this chapter shall also apply to alarm companies providing services to other companies within or without the borough if the purpose of the furnishing of such services is to summon the police or fire departments to any location in response to any type of alarm signal.
As used in this chapter, the following terms shall have the meanings indicated:
ALARM DEVICE
Shall mean any type of alarm-actuating equipment which provides warning of fire, burglary, intrusion, flood or like peril.
ALARM PANEL
Shall mean that component installed in the console in police or fire station headquarters containing alarm indications and designation.
ALARM SYSTEM
Shall mean the installation in one or more buildings of one or more alarm devices for the express purpose of giving visual or audible warning, or both, of an emergency such as fire, burglary, intrusion, flood or like perils.
FALSE ALARM
Shall mean the activation of an alarm system by causes other than those to which the alarm system was designed or intended to respond. False alarms will not include activations caused by power or phone line interruptions, where such interruptions have been reported to the police.
a. 
All components of alarm systems, alarm devices, dial alarms and local alarms shall be maintained by the owners or users thereof in good repair. When evidence exists that there has been a failure by such owners or users to properly maintain the alarm devices, the police chief is authorized to demand that such devices be disconnected until such time as appropriate repairs and/or modifications are made.
b. 
When evidence exists that an alarm company, and not the user, is responsible for the maintenance of an alarm system, alarm device, dial alarm or local alarm and said alarm company has failed to properly maintain such system, device or alarm after reasonable requests by the user, such alarm company shall be subject to provisions of subsection 23-5.2, paragraph a, b and d.
c. 
When evidence exists that an independent contractor, sub-contractor or employee of the user, and not the user, is responsible for false alarms by reason of negligent disregard of warnings indicating an alarmed area, such independent contractor, sub-contractor or employee shall be subject to the provisions of subsection 23-5.2, paragraph a, b and d.
d. 
All local alarms shall be equipped with a time relay or battery to limit the sounding of alarms to 30 minutes or less.
e. 
All dial alarms shall be coded to dial a number, which shall be provided by the chief of police.
f. 
All dial alarms shall be capable of being disconnected by the owner to permit a call to the police switchboard in the event that a false alarm occurs.
g. 
The contents of any recorded message from a dial alarm must be intelligible and in a format approved by the chief of police. No such message shall be transmitted more than three times as a result of a single stimulus of the mechanism. Messages shall not exceed 15 seconds and the time gap between delivery shall be approximately ten seconds.
h. 
The sensory mechanism of dial alarms shall be adjusted so as to suppress false indications and not be actuated by impulses due to pressure changes in water pipes, short flashes of light, wind, noise, rattling or vibration of doors or windows or other forces unrelated to general alarms.
i. 
A dial alarm must provide an automatic line seizure feature in the event that this line is busy with an incoming or outgoing call.
In the case of false alarms which summon the police department to investigate, the police chief shall cause an investigation to be made and shall keep a record of such false alarms on file.
In any six month period the following penalties shall apply:
a. 
For the first false alarm, a warning shall be issued.
b. 
For the second and subsequent false alarm, a fine of not less than $50.00 and not more than $100.00 shall be imposed.
c. 
In the event of a third or subsequent false alarm, an investigation shall be conducted by the police department. Where the investigation of the police department discloses continued abusive or negligent operation or maintenance of an alarm device and a disregard for the taking of remedial steps to avoid false alarms, the police chief may require disconnection of the device for a limited or permanent period; provided, however, that the owner or the user of the device shall be given adequate notice of the intended disconnection and shall have an opportunity within 14 days of said notice to show cause before the police chief of the Borough of Flemington why such action should not be taken. The determination of the police chief in such matters shall be based upon the effect on the general public health, safety and welfare of the continued use of the alarm device in question.
d. 
In the event that an alarm company, independent contractor, subcontractor or employee of the user is responsible for the third or subsequent false alarm, a fine not to exceed $100.00 may be imposed for every such false alarm.
e. 
In the event that any person subject to the provisions of this chapter is directed by the chief of police to disconnect an alarm system or correct defects in an alarm system and fails to comply with such directive within seven days of same, such person shall be subject to a fine not to exceed $100.00 for each false alarm received after the expiration of the seven-day period and until such time as the system is disconnected or the defects are corrected.
Any individual intentionally, willfully or maliciously destroying or injuring any of the posts, alarm boxes or other alarm apparatus owned by the Borough of Flemington or intentionally, willfully or maliciously interfering with the operation of same or any part thereof or who hinders or impedes any of the operations intended to be accomplished thereby shall, upon conviction thereof, be imprisoned in the county jail for a term not exceeding 90 days or shall forfeit and pay a fine not exceeding $500.00, or both. In default of any fine imposed hereunder, any person convicted of a violation of this chapter may, in the discretion of the municipal judge, be imprisoned in the county jail for a term not exceeding 90 days.