[Code 1969, § 2.1-1; Ord. No. 782, § 1, 10-7-2003]
ALARM BUSINESS
The business by an individual, partnership, corporation or other entity of selling, leasing, maintaining, servicing, repairing, altering, replacing, moving, installing or monitoring an alarm system in an alarm site.
ALARM DISPATCH REQUEST
A notification to the police by the alarm business that an alarm, either manual or automatic, has been activated at a particular alarm site.
ALARM SITE
A single premises or location served by an alarm system or systems. Each tenancy, if served by a separate alarm system in a multi-tenant building or complex, shall be considered a separate alarm site.
ALARM SYSTEM
Any assembly of equipment, mechanical or electrical, device or series of devices, including, but not limited to, systems interconnected with wire or radio frequency signals, which are designed to discourage crime, by emitting or transmitting a remote or local audible, visual or electronic signal indicating an alarm condition. Alarm system does not include:
(1) 
An alarm installed on a vehicle unless the vehicle is permanently located at site; or
(2) 
An alarm designed to alert only the inhabitants of a premises that does not have a sounding device which can be heard on the exterior of the alarm site.
ALARM USER
Any person, firm, partnership, corporation, association or other entity who uses an alarm system at an alarm site.
FALSE ALARM
An alarm signal eliciting a police response when a situation requiring an immediate response does not in fact exist, such as when no breach of security has been attempted or committed. An alarm will not be considered a false alarm if it is determined that the alarm was caused by:
(1) 
Natural or manmade catastrophe, or an act of God. Such events include tornadoes, floods, earthquakes or other similar violent conditions.
(2) 
The test of a local alarm system by a licensed alarm business agent or employee who is present at the premises servicing, repairing or installing the alarm, provided the alarm business agent or employee provides advance notice to the Butler police department of its servicing, repairing or installing activities.
FALSE ALARM DISPATCH
An alarm dispatch request to the police department, when the responding officer finds no evidence of a criminal offense or attempted criminal offense after having completed an investigation of the alarm site. An alarm dispatch request which is canceled by the alarm business or the alarm user prior to the time the responding officer reaches the alarm site shall not be considered a false alarm dispatch.
HOLDUP ALARM
A silent alarm signal generated by the manual activation of a device intended to signal a robbery in progress.
MONITORING
The process by which an alarm business receives signals from an alarm system and relays an alarm dispatch request to the police for the purpose of summoning police response to the alarm site.
TELEPHONIC ALARM SYSTEM
Any mechanism, equipment or device which is designed to operate automatically through the use of public telephone facilities to transmit a message or warning to another location.
VERIFY
An attempt by the alarm business or its representative to contact the alarm site by telephonic or other electronic means, whether or not actual contact with a person is made, before requesting a police dispatch.
[1]
Editor's Note: Ord. No. 1015, adopted 4-19-2016, repealed §§ 3-2 — 3-4, which pertained to telephonic alarm systems and derived from Code 1969, §§ 2.1-2, 2.1-3, as amended.
[Ord. No. 782, § 1, 10-7-2003]
(a) 
An alarm user shall:
(1) 
Maintain the premises and the alarm system in a manner that will minimize or eliminate false alarm dispatches; and
(2) 
Make every reasonable effort to respond or cause a representative to respond to the alarm system's location within one hour to deactivate a malfunctioning alarm system, to provide access to the premises, or to provide security for the premises; and
(3) 
Not manually activate an alarm for any reason other than an occurrence of an event that the alarm system was intended to report; and
(4) 
Adjust the mechanism or cause the mechanism to be adjusted so that an alarm signal audible on the exterior of an alarm site will sound for no longer than 15 minutes after being activated; and
(5) 
Maintain at each alarm site a set of written operating instructions for each alarm system.
[1]
Editor's Note: Ord. No. 1015, adopted 4-19-2016, repealed §§ 3-6 — 3-8, which pertained to revocation, suspension or loss of an alarm permit, appeals and reinstatement of permit and permit fee and derived from Ord. No. 782, adopted 10-7-2003.
[Ord. No. 782, § 1, 10-7-2003]
(a) 
Any person maintaining an alarm system in violation of this chapter, upon conviction, shall be punished by a fine of not more than $100.
(b) 
Any person convicted on a first charge of a false alarm dispatch shall be punished by a fine of not more than $100.
(c) 
A second conviction on a charge of a false alarm dispatch within a twelve-month period shall be punished by a fine of not more that $200.
(d) 
A third conviction within a twelve-month period on a charge of a false alarm dispatch shall be punished by a fine of not more than $300.