Editor's Note: Prior ordinance history: Ordinance Nos.: 83-24, 85-5, 90-35, 91-3, 93-25, 2005-37, 2012-23.
[Ord. No. 2015-23 § 2]
The mayor and council hereby finds and declares as follows:
(a) 
The owners and occupants of numerous residential and commercial properties in the municipality of Princeton have installed and maintain alarm systems on their properties for emergencies such as burglary and fire.
(b) 
The occurrence of false alarm activations has a severe impact on the resources of Princeton and its police and fire departments.
(c) 
It is in the public interest to impose reasonable requirements and standards in connection with the registration of alarm systems in Princeton.
[Ord. No. 2015-23 § 2]
This chapter is intended to:
(a) 
Register all alarm systems in the municipality with the Princeton police department.
(b) 
Ensure that Princeton and its police and fire departments have information necessary to assist the same while responding to alarm system activations.
(c) 
Encourage the proper maintenance of alarm systems.
(d) 
Reduce the occurrence of false alarm system activations and impact that the same has on Princeton and its police and fire departments.
[Ord. No. 2015-23 § 2]
Except as otherwise provided in this section and in section 2A-8 below, the provisions of this chapter shall apply to any person who installs, has installed, operates, maintains or owns any alarm system designed to summon the Princeton police or fire department, or other municipal agency to any location in response to any type of alarm signal.
The provisions of this chapter are not intended to govern alarm businesses which install, service and maintain alarm systems and are licensed under N.J.S.A. 45:5A-1 et seq.
[Ord. No. 2015-23 § 2]
As used in this chapter, the following terms shall have the following meaning:
(a) 
ALARM DEVICE- Shall refer to any type of alarm-activating equipment which provides warning of fire, smoke, carbon monoxide, burglary, intrusion or like peril.
(b) 
ALARM SYSTEM - Shall refer to interconnected alarm devices and components, including systems interconnected with radio frequency signals, which emits an audible, visual or electronic signal indicating an alarm condition and providing a warning of fire, smoke, carbon monoxide, flood, burglary, intrusion or like peril.
(c) 
ALARM USER - Shall refer to any person in control of any building, structure or facility wherein an alarm device or system is maintained.
(d) 
FALSE ALARM - Shall refer to any signal from an alarm system eliciting a response by Princeton police or firefighters or other municipal officials when a situation requiring a response by police or firefighters or other municipal officials does not in fact exist, including but not limited to alarm system malfunctions or when the cause of an alarm system activation cannot readily be determined (but excluding an alarm signal caused by violent conditions of nature or other extraordinary circumstances not reasonably subject to control by the alarm user).
(e) 
INDEPENDENT DEVICE - Shall refer to one or more smoke and/or carbon monoxide detectors installed within a structure for the purpose of alerting only the occupants thereof, where installed, of smoke, fire or carbon monoxide, and which is not monitored by a person or company for the purpose of notifying the Princeton police or fire departments.
[Ord. No. 2015-23 § 2]
No person shall install, operate or maintain any alarm system unless the alarm system has been registered with the Princeton police department. Registration shall take place every two years by completing and filing the registration form supplied by the police department along with the requisite filing fee established by section 2-118 of the Code.
The registration form and fee shall be filed between January 1 and January 31 on the first year of each two-year term, and shall be effective until December 31 of the second year of the two-year term, except, if a person installs an alarm system any time after January 1 of the first year of the two-year term, said system shall be registered within 30 days of said installation. The first two-year term shall commence on January 1, 2016; alarm users shall have until January 31, 2016 to register for the first term.
An alarm system shall be deemed registered at such time as a fully executed registration form and fee are filed with the police department. Among the information to be provided on the registration form is the following:
(a) 
The name, address, telephone number of the owner of the property upon which the alarm system is installed;
(b) 
The name and telephone number of the installer of the system;
(c) 
The type of system;
(d) 
A list of names, addresses and telephone numbers of the person(s) to be contacted in the event of an alarm or in an emergency situation determined by the police department; and
(e) 
The names, addresses and telephone numbers of the person(s) maintaining or monitoring the alarm system.
If following annual registration or renewal of said registration there is any material change in the information previously submitted with respect to any alarm system, it shall be the duty of the user of the alarm system, within 10 days of such material change, to file a supplemental or revised registration containing accurate, current information. The sale of a property with an alarm system shall be deemed a material change and the name, address and telephone number of the new owner shall be filed with the police department.
[Ord. No. 2015-23 § 2]
(a) 
Each alarm system shall be installed utilizing discrete circuitry for multipurpose alarm systems to insure appropriate emergency response.
(b) 
Any alarm system which requires for its operation electricity supplied by a public utility may be equipped with a battery rendering it operable in the event of a power outage if so desired by the property owner. Such a battery back-up system shall only be required for any alarm system which will trigger itself automatically in the event of a power outage.
(c) 
Every burglar and fire alarm system not fitted with an external key switch shall be equipped with a time delay of at least 15 seconds which may include an audible signal of the same length of time, said time delay to be designed to prevent accidental activation of the system. The 15-second signal, if utilized, shall be audible only within the structure and not externally.
(d) 
No alarm system may be connected directly to the Princeton police department.
(e) 
No person shall install, cause to be installed, or permit to be installed, any alarm device, by whatever name known, which automatically selects a telephone line dedicated to the Princeton police department or fire department for the purpose of playing a recorded message to report any emergency.
(f) 
In the event an alarm system, other than a fire or holdup alarm system, is tied into and/or serviced by a central station or answering service, upon activation of said alarm system, the central station or answering service shall verify the validity of the alarm prior to notifying the Princeton police department of same.
(g) 
No Princeton police or fire department personnel or other municipal agency or official shall be responsible in any way for the resetting or maintenance of any alarm system.
(h) 
No person owning, using or possessing an alarm system shall cause or permit the giving of repeated false alarms, whether intentional, accidental or otherwise.
(i) 
Any person owning, using or possessing an alarm system who may want to know about a response to any alarm by the Princeton police department shall contact the department. The police department will not contact automatically any such person or answering service to advise them concerning the result of the department's response to any alarm.
(j) 
A homeowner possessing or using an alarm system shall be responsible for notifying the police department of the sale of his or her property. The homeowner shall notify the police department as to the name of the new owner and whether or not the new owner is continuing with an alarm device or system within the property.
[Ord. No. 2015-23 § 2]
All information submitted in compliance with this chapter shall be held in the strictest confidence and shall be deemed a record exempt from public disclosure pursuant to state statute. Any violation of confidentiality shall be deemed a violation of this chapter.
[Ord. No. 2015-23 § 2]
The provisions of this chapter shall not apply to any alarm system installed on property occupied by any municipal, county or state or federal government agency or office, nor to an independent device as defined in section 2A-4 above. The provisions of this chapter shall also not apply to any alarm system installed on property occupied by any educational institution which is not designed to summon the Princeton police or fire departments or other municipal agency to any location in response to any type of alarm signal.
[Ord. No. 2015-23 § 2]
(a) 
Any person who violates the provisions of this chapter shall be subject to the penalties as provided in section 1-6 of this Code, including penalties for repeat offenders. Violations of this chapter shall include, but not be limited to, the failure to register or annually renew said registration or installation of an alarm system not in compliance with this chapter.
(b) 
Any owner or user of an alarm system which experiences more than one false alarm within any one-year period shall be in violation of this chapter. In addition, said owner or user may be required to modify or improve said system with a retrofit which will incorporate into said system a mandatory audible 15 second signal which shall be designed to prevent accidental activation of the system.
Any owner or user of an alarm system which experiences more than five false alarms within any one-year period shall, in addition to being subject to penalties as provided in section 1-6 of this Code (including the penalties for repeat offenders), implement a corrective action plan to modify or improve said system in order to prevent accidental activation of the system. The corrective action plan shall be submitted for review and approval to the police department and the fire department. After said departments approve the corrective actions plan, the owner or user of the alarm system shall implement said plan within 15 days of notification of approval.
Any owner or user of an alarm system which experiences more than 10 false alarms within any one-year period may, in addition to being subject to the penalties as provided in section 1-6 of this Code (including the penalties for repeat offenders), be required by the Princeton police department to provide a KNOX box for the building or buildings serviced by the alarm system. The cost of the KNOX box and the installation of same shall be the responsibility of the owner or the user of the alarm system. The fire marshal shall designate the location of the KNOX box on the building or buildings.
(c) 
Any owner or user of an alarm system shall be notified in writing by the Princeton police department once one false alarm has occurred with said system.
[Ord. No. 2015-23 § 2]
Any person who intentionally causes the giving of a false alarm shall be in violation of this chapter and subject to the penalties set forth in section 1-6 of this Code. Repeat offenders as that term is defined in section 1-6 shall be subject to the penalties set forth in section 1-6.