[HISTORY: Adopted by the Township Committee of the Township
of Bordentown as Ch. 8.08 of the 2003 Municipal Code. Amendments noted
where applicable.]
The Township does find and declare that:
A.
The occupants of numerous residential
and commercial establishments in the Township have found it desirable
to make provision for the installation upon their premises of alarm
systems for emergencies such as burglary.
B.
There have been a substantial
number of false alarms associated with the alarm systems which have
been installed within the Township so that the number of false alarms
has resulted in a situation that, if not remedied, will lead to an
unnecessary drain upon the manpower, time, space, facilities and finances
of the Township and its Police Department, and to the deterioration
of the quality of service to persons subscribing to alarm system services
and inequities among the alarm businesses operating in the Township.
C.
The public interest, therefore,
requires the enactment of rules, regulations, standards and procedures
to regulate and control the alarm business in the Township.
This chapter has as its purpose the regulating and control of
the installation, operation and maintenance of private alarm systems
as defined herein within the Township in order to ensure 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, time, space, facilities and finances
of the Township and its Police Department.
The provisions of this chapter shall apply to any alarm business or alarm user, as defined herein, and to any person who owns or controls any building, structure or facility wherein an alarm device or alarm system is to be installed and maintained, subject to exceptions set forth in § 170-8.
As used in this chapter, the following terms shall have the
meanings indicated:
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 which sell alarm systems over the
counter and do not service same.
Any type of alarm-activating equipment which provides warning
of burglary, intrusion, flood or like peril. Excluded are devices
which provide warning exclusively of fire.
The installation in one or more buildings of one or more
alarm devices for the express purpose of giving visual and/or audible
warning of an emergency such as burglary, intrusion, flood or like
peril.
Any person, firm, partnership, association, corporation,
company or organization of any kind in control of any building, structure
or facility wherein an alarm device or alarm system is maintained.
An alarm signal eliciting a response by police when a situation
requiring a response by police does not in fact exist (but excluding
an alarm signal caused by violent conditions of nature or other extraordinary
circumstances not reasonably subject to control by the alarm business
or alarm user).
A.
No person
shall install, operate or maintain 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. Among the information to be provided on the registration
form is the following:
(1)
The
name, address, telephone number of the owner of the property upon
which the alarm system is installed;
(2)
The
name of the installer of the system;
(3)
The
type of system;
(4)
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;
(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.
C.
A one-time fee as set forth in Chapter 260, Fee Schedule, shall accompany each registration form.
D.
All preexisting
alarm systems shall comply with the requirements of this section by
August 1, 1989.
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 alarm system must be provided
with a device which will shut off the alarm after 15 minutes of activation.
D.
Every alarm system 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 audible
signal, if utilized, shall be audible only within the structure and
not externally.
E.
No alarm system shall be connected
directly or indirectly to the Police Department without the express
written consent of the Chief of Police.
F.
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 for the purpose of playing a recorded message
to report any emergency.
G.
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 Police Department
of same.
H.
No police, fire or other public
department or official shall be responsible in any way for the resetting
or maintenance of any alarm system.
I.
No alarm business or person owning,
using or possessing an alarm system shall cause or permit the giving
of repeated false alarms, whether intentional, accidental or otherwise.
J.
Any alarm business or person owning,
using or possessing an alarm system who may want to know about a response
to any alarm by the 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.
K.
An alarm business having knowledge
of same shall be responsible for notifying the Police Department when
one of its customers possessing an alarm system sells the customer's
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.
L.
A homeowner possessing or using
an alarm system shall also be responsible for notifying the Police
Department of the sale of the homeowner's 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.
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.
The provisions of this chapter shall not apply to any alarm
system or alarm device installed on property occupied by any Township,
county or state or federal government agency or office, nor to a fire
alarm system or alarm device.
A.
Any person who fails to register
an alarm system as required by this chapter is subject to a $50 fine.
B.
Any owner or user of an alarm
system which experiences more than three false alarms within any one-year
period shall be required to modify or improve said alarm system with
a retrofit which will incorporate into said system a mandatory audible
fifteen-second signal which shall be designed to prevent accidental
activation of the system, and shall also be subject to a $50 fine
for each false alarm after three up to six. Any owner or user of an
alarm system which experiences more than six false alarms within any
one-year period shall be subject to a fine of $100 for each false
alarm for the remainder of the one-year period or for 90 days, whichever
is greater; provided that any false alarms which occur during the
60 days after an alarm system is installed shall not be subject to
this subsection.
C.
Any alarm user who installs an
alarm system not in compliance with this chapter is subject to a fine
of $50 and, in addition, may be required to repair or remove such
alarm system.
Any person who intentionally causes the giving of a false alarm
shall be in violation of this chapter and subject to a penalty of
not less than $200 nor more than $500 for each such offense.
