[HISTORY: Adopted by the Borough Council of the Borough of Eatontown 8-27-1986 by Ord. No. 8-86. Amendments noted where applicable.]
As used in this chapter, the following terms shall have the meanings indicated:
ALARM PANEL
That component installed in the console at police headquarters containing alarm indicators and designations.
ALARM SYSTEM
Any device, such as a bell, siren, whistle, horn, gong or Klaxson, employed to call attention to or provide warning of intrusion by any person or by fire, smoke, flood or other peril, whether the same provides a visual or audio response, alarm or warning, if such warning is capable of being heard or received at any point beyond the interior walls of the house, apartment, office, store, industrial building or other structure in or on which the alarm system has been placed.
BUSINESS
Any and all forms of mercantile, commercial or industrial activity, including activities carried on in a professional building not part of a residence.
DIAL ALARM
That type of automatic telephone dialing service using the telephone system to transmit an alarm of intrusion, fire, smoke, flood or other peril to the Police Department or any third party.
FALSE ALARM
The activation of an alarm system by causes other than those to which the alarm system was designed or intended to respond. Activation by a storm or other unusual atmospheric condition shall not be deemed a "false alarm."
LOCAL ALARM
Any alarm device which, when actuated, produces an audible signal to give a warning of intrusion, fire, smoke, flood or other peril.
PERSON
Any individual, person, firm, association, partnership, corporation, joint venture, society, club, trustee, trust or incorporated activity.
REGISTRANT
Any person owning, operating, leasing or maintaining an alarm system within the scope of this chapter who has been issued a registration certificate to operate and maintain such alarm system.
The provisions of this chapter shall apply to any person who owns, operates, leases or maintains any alarm system situated in the Borough of Eatontown if the alarm system has an audible signaling device or a device which requires a response by the Police Department, Fire Department, First Aid Squad or other Borough agency. The provisions of this chapter shall in no way prohibit service by private source to persons within or without the Borough, so long as such activity is not in violation of this chapter, and provided further that any person owning, operating, leasing or maintaining a premises protected by an alarm system shall be responsible for the registration thereof in accordance with this chapter.
A. 
All components of an alarm system shall be maintained in good repair and shall operate in a proper manner.
B. 
When evidence exists that there has been a failure to comply with the maintenance and operation requirements of this chapter, the Police Department shall then be authorized to demand that residential fire alarms and burglar alarms be disconnected until such time as compliance with the provisions of this chapter has been established. The Police Department shall have the right to disconnect any residential and burglar alarms malfunctioning until such time as the malfunction has been corrected and the alarm system is operating in accordance with the provisions of this chapter.
The Police Department shall have the authority to promulgate written rules and regulations and incorporate recommendations proposed by the Fire Department, First Aid Squad or other Borough agencies, subject to approval by a resolution adopted by the Mayor and Council of the Borough of Eatontown, which rules and regulations shall supplement this chapter and provide for recordkeeping and the efficient operation and management of alarm systems in the Borough of Eatontown.
A. 
In the event that an alarm user sustains a false alarm at a single site, the Fire Official shall send a violation notice to the alarm user or proprietor advising that all subsequent false alarms shall be a violation of this code subject to an administrative citation, infraction citation, and/or excessive false alarm fine. Multiple false alarms during a twenty-four-hour period will be considered one false alarm for the purposes of this section. An alarm user, at a single site, will receive one free false alarm per year. If the alarm user changes (e.g., sale of business or residence) the new alarm user will receive one free false alarm during the current year.
[Amended 5-25-2022 by Ord. No. 09-2022]
(1) 
If it becomes necessary to issue a citation or assess an excessive false alarm fine, the Fire Official shall serve upon the user in person or send a penalty notice to the alarm user by mail. The notice shall include:
(a) 
The date, time and location of the false alarm.
(b) 
The amount of the fine.
(c) 
An explanation of the appeal process.
(2) 
Payment of the false alarm fee must be received within 14 calendar days from the date of delivery as listed on the certified mail return receipt.
(3) 
Penalties for false alarms transmitted from a multifamily residential complex, business, commercial, or industrial premises shall be as follows:
Number of Alarms Within a Calendar Year
Penalties
1st and 2nd
Warning only
3rd
Up to $500
4th or more
Up to $1,000
B. 
Where the investigation of the Police Department discloses a continued disregard by the owner for taking remedial steps for avoiding false alarms or for continued failure to maintain or operate an alarm system, the Police Department shall have the right to require disconnection of the alarm system for a limited or permanent time, giving the owner an opportunity to show cause to the Police Department why such action should not be taken. A person aggrieved by the decision of the Police Department shall have the right to appeal said decision to the Mayor and Council within 10 days of the decision.
C. 
Any unauthorized equipment pertaining to an alarm system may be ordered to be disconnected by the Police Department for noncompliance with this chapter. Any placing, installing or maintaining unauthorized equipment or failing to file a required registration application or amendment thereto shall be a violation of this chapter and shall be subject to a fine not to exceed $50, which shall be paid to the Borough. Each and every day that such equipment is installed or maintained shall be considered a separate violation. Any person placing, installing or maintaining any alarm system shall be deemed as having consented to inspection of the premises on which said alarm system is installed or maintained at reasonable hours by the Police Department.
D. 
Any act of God (i.e., flood, hurricane, earthquake, etc.) which affects the operation and performance of an approved alarm system shall, after such determination by the Police Department, not subject to the owner, operator, leasee or maintainer to any fine or penalty as herein prescribed by this chapter.
In the case of false alarms which summon the Fire Department or Police Department to investigate, the Police Chief shall cause an investigation to be made and shall keep a record of such false alarms in what the investigation revealed on file in his office.
A. 
No burglar or intrusion alarm system shall be installed without prior approval of the type of alarm by the Police Chief or his designee on the basis of a submission to him of specifications of said alarm system. This section shall not prohibit the installation of alarms complying with any regulation promulgated by any authorized state agencies or by the BOCA Code, but said specifications must be registered and approved by the Police Chief in accordance with this chapter.
B. 
No fire or smoke alarm system audible outside the protected premises or connected to any device that would automatically summon aid from the municipality may be installed without prior approval of the Fire Chief via the Fire Prevention Bureau, Building Department and in accordance with the BOCA Building Code or other appropriate agency in the case of site plan approval, building permit or certificate of occupancy as the case may be. This section should not prohibit the installation of those devices approved by a duly constituted state agency but said device shall be approved as set forth in this chapter prior to said installation.
A. 
All alarm systems installed under this chapter shall provide a secondary battery-powered backup system which shall automatically take over operation of said device in case of public power failure.
B. 
All auto-telephone activating alarm systems shall be coded to dial a number provided by the Chief of Police.
C. 
All auto-telephone activating alarm systems shall be capable of being disconnected by the owner or user to permit a call to the police switchboard in the event of a false alarm occurring.
D. 
The contents of any recorded messages from an auto-telephone activating alarm system 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 signal stimulus of the mechanism. Messages shall not exceed 15 seconds, and the time gap between delivery shall approximate 10 seconds.
[Amended 5-25-2022 by Ord. No. 09-2022]
Any person violating any of the provisions of this chapter shall, upon conviction, be subject to penalties set forth in § 78-6 of this chapter, with the discretion of the Judge and the Municipal Court, or for violations whose penalties are not specifically set forth, to a fine not to exceed $2,000 or by imprisonment in the county jail for a term not to exceed 90 days.
Nothing in this chapter shall subject the Police Department or Fire Department or any member thereof or any other municipal agency or employee responding to the summons of an alarm device to liability for damages caused by the use of reasonable force made necessary to force entry or to dismantle an alarm device which fails to shut off as required.