Township of Dennis, NJ Chapter 23 False Alarms

[HISTORY: Adopted by the Township Committee of the Township of Dennis 8-24-1992 as Ord. No. 92-236. Amended in its entirety 9-22-1997 by Ord. No. 97-13. Amended in entirety 9-6-2016 by Ord. No. 2016-05. Further amendments noted where applicable.]

§ 23-1 False alarms prohibited.

[Amended 9-6-2016 by Ord. No. 2016-05]

A. It is hereby declared to be unlawful for any person or entity to place a call to or otherwise communicate with the Dennis Township Emergency Dispatch or any duly constituted volunteer fire company or rescue squad situated within the confines of the Township of Dennis for purposes of eliciting a response from the State Police, fire company or rescue squad, as the case may be, in the absence of a bona fide police, fire and/or medical emergency. For purposes of this chapter, the term "response" shall be deemed to mean a personal appearance by a police officer, fire official or rescue squad official.

B. It is hereby declared to be unlawful for any person or entity to utilize the 911 service for purposes of eliciting a response from the Police Department, Fire Department or rescue squad, as the case may be, in the absence of a bona fide police, fire, and/or medical emergency.

§ 23-2 Personal appearance of owner or caller required.

[Amended 9-6-2016 by Ord. No. 2016-05]

Any owner or occupant of real property situated within the confines of the Township of Dennis who shall maintain a burglar alarm system, dialer system or any other security system which causes a call to be placed to the Dennis Township Emergency Dispatch, any volunteer fire company, or any rescue squad situate within the confines of the Township of Dennis or any person or entity who shall place a call to the Dennis Township Emergency Dispatch, any volunteer fire company, or any rescue squad for purposes of eliciting a response as set forth in Section 23-1 above shall appear personally or shall cause his, her or its designated representative to appear personally at the site of said real property within 30 minutes of the placing of any call seeking a response aforesaid and shall secure said premises upon arrival thereat.

§ 23-3 List of contact persons to be submitted.

[Amended 9-6-2016 by Ord. No. 2016-05]

Within 30 days of final passage of this chapter, each person or entity utilizing a burglar alarm system, dialer system or any other security system which causes a call to be placed to the Dennis Township Emergency Dispatch any volunteer fire company, or any rescue squad situate within the confines of the Township of Dennis shall file with the Dennis Township Emergency Dispatch a prioritized list reflecting the names, addresses and telephone numbers of three contact persons who may be called by the Dennis Township Emergency Dispatch to secure any premises which has generated an alarm call to the aforementioned Police Department, volunteer fire company and/or rescue squad.

§ 23-4 Violations and penalties.

[Amended 9-6-2016 by Ord. No. 2016-05]

A. Any person violating any of the provisions of this chapter shall be liable to one or more of the following: a fine of not less than $100 nor more than $1,000 or imprisonment for a term not to exceed 90 days or a period of community service not to exceed 90 days for every offense.

B. Any person convicted of improperly utilizing the 911 services as set forth above shall be subject to a fine of up to $200 for the first offense and up to $500 for the second offense and up to $500 for each subsequent offense. If the violation of this chapter is of a continuing nature, each day during which it continues shall constitute a separate offense for the purpose of this section.