The purpose of this article is to regulate and control the installation, operation and maintenance of private alarm systems within the Borough in order to insure that the quality of alarm services rendered to the public will be maintained at a high level and to alleviate conditions otherwise leading to an unnecessary drain on the manpower of the Police and Fire Departments of the Borough of Hightstown.
As used in this article, the following terms shall have the meanings indicated:
ALARM BUSINESS
Any business operated by a person, partnership, corporation, etc., for profit, which engages in the activity of altering, installing, leasing, maintaining, repairing, replacing, selling, servicing, or responding to a fire or burglar alarm system, or which causes any of these activities to take place. Excluded from this definition, however, are retail establishments that sell alarm systems over the counter.
ALARM DEVICE
Any type of alarm-activating equipment which provides warning of burglary, intrusion, fire, flood or like peril causing potential for harm to life or property.
ALARM SYSTEM
The installation in a building or structure of one or more alarm devices for the express purpose of giving visual, audible and/or electronic warning of an emergency such as burglary, intrusion, fire, flood or like peril.
ALARM USER
Any person, partnership, association, corporation, company or organization of any kind of control of any building, structure or facility wherein an alarm device is operated.
FALSE ALARM
An alarm signal eliciting a response by police or firefighters or other public officials when a situation requiring a response by police or firefighters or other public officials does not in fact exist (but excluding an alarm signal caused by violent conditions of nature, such as, but not limited to, lightning, tornadoes, hurricanes, or other extraordinary circumstances not reasonably subject to control by the alarm business or alarm user).
INDEPENDENT SMOKE, FIRE, OR CO DETECTOR
A device giving an audible alarm indicating smoke, fire or carbon monoxide within a structure and not connected to an alarm system or to any external warning device.
A. 
No person shall install or operate any alarm system unless the alarm system has been registered with the Police Department. An alarm system shall be deemed registered at such time as a registration form supplied by the police department is completed as to all information requested therein and is returned to the Police Department, receipt of which is acknowledged in writing. Among the information to be provided on the registration form is the following:
(1) 
The name, address, telephone number of the owner or manager of the property upon which the alarm system is installed;
(2) 
A list of the 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, Fire Department, or Fire Official;
(3) 
The name, address and telephone number of the installer of the system;
(4) 
The type of system;
(5) 
The names, addresses and telephone numbers of the persons or company maintaining the alarm system.
B. 
No further renewal registration shall be required unless and until there has occurred any material change in the information previously submitted with respect to any alarm system; in which event 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. A one-time fee in the amount of $25 shall accompany each registration form. All pre-existing alarm systems shall comply with requirements of this section within 90 days of the date of the final adoption of this article.
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 backup system shall be required for any alarm system that will trigger itself automatically in the event of a power fluctuation, surge, or outage.
C. 
All burglar alarm systems must be provided with a device that will automatically shut off the alarm after 10 minutes of activation.
D. 
All burglar alarm systems 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 designated to prevent accidental activation of the system. The fifteen-second signal, if utilized, shall be audible only within the structure and not externally.
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 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 burglary 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 Police Department of it.
G. 
The resetting of any transmitted fire alarm shall be done in the presence of the Fire Department. In no case shall an alarm be reset prior to the Fire Department's authorization. In case of burglary alarms, the police shall not be responsible for resetting the alarm system.
H. 
No alarm business or person owning, using or possessing an alarm system shall cause or permit the occurrence of repeated false alarms, whether intentional, accidental or otherwise.
I. 
An alarm business having knowledge of conditions described in Subsection H above shall be responsible for notifying the Police Department when one of its customers using or possessing an alarm system sells his or her property. The alarm business 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.
All information submitted in compliance with this article 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 article.
The provisions of this article shall not apply to any alarm system installed on property occupied by any borough, county, state or federal government agency or office, or to an independent smoke/fire/CO detector as defined in § 3-18-2, nor to any medical alert system.
A. 
Any person who fails to register an alarm system as required by the provisions of this article shall be subject to a minimum fine of $50 and a maximum fine as outlined in § 1-5-1 of the Revised General Ordinances of the Borough of Hightstown.
B. 
Any person who installs an alarm system not in compliance with this article shall be subject to a minimum fine of $50 and a maximum fine as outlined in § 1-5-1 of the Revised General Ordinances of the Borough of Hightstown. Additionally, said owner or user may be required to remove such an alarm system, unless it is a required system as determined by the Construction Official.
C. 
Non-Fire Alarm Systems. Any owner or user of an alarm system (other than a fire alarm system) which experiences more than four false alarms within any calendar year shall be required to modify or improve said system in such a way as to prevent accidental activation. The owner or user of said system shall be subject to a minimum fine of $100 for each false alarm after four within any calendar year. Any owner or user of an alarm system (other than a fire alarm system) which experiences more than 12 false alarms within any calendar year shall be required to disconnect said alarm system for a period of 90 days unless said system is required by law, provide a statement from those that service the alarm system that the malfunction has been corrected, and, in addition, shall be assessed a fine of $1,000.
D. 
Fire Alarm Systems. Any owner or user of a fire alarm system which experiences more than three false alarms within any calendar year shall be required by the Fire Official to modify or improve said system in such a way as to prevent accidental activation and may be subject to penalty by the Fire Official in accordance with the Uniform Fire Code (N.J.A.C. 5:18-2.1 et. Seq.). Prior to modifying any required system, the owner shall submit a construction permit application accompanied by two sets of drawings showing the design and nature of the proposed modifications.
E. 
Any owner or user of an alarm system other than a fire alarm system shall be notified in writing within 48 hours by the Borough Police Department once three false alarms have occurred with the system within the twelve-month period noted in Subsection B above.
F. 
In the event that a fire alarm system is reset without prior authorization from the Fire Department in violation of § 3-18-4G herein, the owner or user of said system shall be subject to a minimum fine of $250 for each resetting occurrence.