For the purposes of this chapter, the following definitions shall apply:
"Alarm agent"
means any person who is self-employed or employed either directly or indirectly by an alarm business whose duties include any of the following: selling, maintaining, leasing, servicing, repairing, altering, replacing, moving, or installing an alarm system in or on any building, place or premises.
"Alarm business"
means any person, firm, or corporation conducting or engaged in the business of selling, leasing, maintaining, servicing, repairing, altering, replacing, moving, installing or monitoring an alarm system in or on any building, place or premises.
"Alarm system"
means any device designed for the detection of an unauthorized entry on premises or for alerting others to the commission of an unlawful act or to an emergency situation not limited to fire, natural gas leak, or medical emergencies, which device, when actuated, emits a sound or transmits a signal to indicate that such situation exists.
"Alarm user"
means any person using an alarm system at such person's residence or place of business.
"Audible alarm"
means a device designed to detect the unauthorized entry on or attempted entry into a premises or structure, alert others to the commission of an unlawful act, alert others to a fire or emergency situation not limited to fire, natural gas leak, or medical emergencies, and which, when actuated, generates an audible sound on the premises.
"Business license officer"
means the person duly designated to act as such for the city as set forth in Chapter 5.02 of this code.
"City"
means the city of Moreno Valley.
"City manager"
means the city manager of the city or designee.
"Extraordinary public safety services"
means those services necessarily and reasonably incurred by the city in the protection of the public's health, safety and welfare and in the protection of property which said services are in addition to police services the city would normally provide without a special charge and which have arisen because of activities or events voluntarily selected by the owner, occupier or manager of a premises.
"False alarm"
means the activation of an alarm system when an emergency situation does not exist; provided, however, that activation of alarms by natural disaster will not be considered false alarms.
"Fire chief"
means the fire chief of the city or designee.
"Person"
means any individual, partnership, corporation, unincorporated association, or other entity.
"Police chief"
means the chief of police of the city or designee.
"Responsible party"
means any person or persons in charge of the premises or location and the person or persons responsible for the event or incident. If any of those persons are minors, the parent or guardians of such minor(s) shall be the responsible party.
(Ord. 899 § 2, 2015)
Notwithstanding the provisions within the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) 72, the California Fire Code (CFC) or applicable security industry standards, the purpose of this chapter is to set forth regulations governing the use of alarm systems, provide for service fees for excessive responses necessitated by false alarms, and to provide for cost recovery by service fees for violations of provisions of this chapter. Nothing herein should be construed to limit or discourage the legitimate use of fire, burglar or other alarms.
(Ord. 899 § 2, 2015)
Alarm systems which are not properly installed, maintained, or operated create a nuisance to the peace and safety of the community. Said alarm systems also cause excessive and unnecessary use of police and fire services in responding to assumed emergencies.
(Ord. 899 § 2, 2015)
All alarm systems and appurtenant equipment installed and used within the city shall meet or exceed industry standards and those standards which may hereafter be established by the city council. The police chief or fire chief may inspect any and all alarm systems installed in the city.
(Ord. 899 § 2, 2015)
It is unlawful and a violation of this code for any person to engage in business or accept employment within the city to install, maintain, alter, sell on premises, monitor, or service alarm systems or respond to alarm systems, unless such person holds all state and local licenses, listings, certifications or permits which may be required for such business or employment.
A. 
Every alarm business that has a central monitoring system to monitor police or fire alarm systems located within the city shall maintain on file a current listing of all such alarm systems, along with the address and telephone number of the individual or individuals from whom entry to the protected premises may be obtained, and shall include the following information:
1. 
The name address, and telephone number of the property owner, if other than the alarm user.
2. 
The name of the alarm user and his or her business address and telephone number and residential address and telephone number.
3. 
The name of at least one other person responsible to respond to the alarm site and his or her business address and telephone number.
B. 
All alarm businesses shall ensure that an on-site inspection of the operating systems for the alarm system shall occur when requested by the police chief or designee. The records of these inspections shall be made available to the police chief or designee upon request.
C. 
The alarm business shall provide written and oral instructions to each of its alarm users in the proper use and operation of their alarm systems. Such instructions will specifically include all instructions necessary to turn the alarm system on and off and to prevent false alarms.
D. 
Upon the effective date of the ordinance codified in this chapter, the alarm companies shall, on new installations or equipment replacements, use only alarm control panel(s) which meets Security Industry Association (SIA) Control Panel Standard CP-01 for security alarm systems and/or Underwriters Laboratory (UL) and State Fire Marshal (SFM) listed panels and devices for fire alarm systems.
E. 
An alarm business shall not use automatic voice dialers which call 911 or the police department.
F. 
After completion of the installation of an alarm system, an alarm business employee shall review with the alarm user the customer false alarm prevention checklist established by the alarm company's policy.
G. 
The alarm business shall not make an alarm dispatch request of a law enforcement agency in response to a burglar alarm signal, excluding panic, duress and holdup signals, during the first seven days following an alarm system installation. The police chief or designee may grant an alarm user's request for an exemption from this waiting period based upon a determination that special circumstances substantiate the need for the exemption. This provision does not apply to fire alarm monitoring systems.
H. 
An alarm business shall:
1. 
Attempt to verify every burglar alarm signal prior to requesting a police dispatch by making at least two phone calls to the responsible party or parties (enhanced call verification). This procedure does not apply to fire, duress or hold-up signals;
2. 
Communicate alarm dispatch requests to the Moreno Valley dispatch in a manner and form determined by NFPA 72 for fire alarms and/or by the police chief for security alarms or respective designee;
3. 
Communicate alarm response cancellations to the Moreno Valley police dispatch and/or fire department within three minutes of request for dispatch and prior to the officer arriving on-scene;
4. 
Ensure that all alarm users of alarm systems equipped with fire, duress, hold-up or panic alarm(s) are given adequate training as to the proper use of the fire, duress, hold-up or panic alarm(s).
a. 
Alarm system training should be provided to every alarm user and/or additional training provided in situations where the alarm user has established a high incident rate of false alarms resulting from unintentional or accidental activation;
5. 
Communicate any available information (type of alarm, zone, north, south, front, back, floor, etc.) about the location on all alarm signals related to the alarm dispatch request;
6. 
Communicate type of alarm activation (silent or audible, interior or perimeter);
7. 
After an alarm dispatch request, promptly advise the Moreno Valley police dispatch and/or fire department if the monitoring company knows that the alarm user or the responder is on the way to the alarm site;
8. 
Attempt to contact the alarm user or responder within 24 hours via mail, fax, telephone or other electronic means when an alarm dispatch request is made; and
9. 
Upon the effective date of the ordinance codified in this chapter alarm businesses must maintain for a period of at least one year from the date of the alarm dispatch request, records relating to alarm dispatch requests.
a. 
Records must include:
i. 
Name, address and telephone number of the alarm user,
ii. 
Alarm system zone(s) activated,
iii. 
Time of alarm dispatch request, and
iv. 
Evidence of an attempt to verify;
b. 
The police and/or fire chief or designee may request copies of such records for individually named alarm users;
c. 
If the request is made within 60 days of an alarm dispatch request, the monitoring company shall furnish requested records within three business days of receiving the request;
d. 
If the records are requested between 60 days to one year after an alarm dispatch request, the alarm company shall furnish the requested records within 30 days of receiving the request.
I. 
An alarm business that purchases alarm system accounts from another person shall notify the fire chief or designee of such purchase and provide details as may be reasonably requested by the fire chief or designee.
J. 
Each alarm business must designate one individual as the alarm response manager (ARM) for the company who will manage alarm related issues and act as the point of contact for the police and/or fire chief or designee. The appointed individual must be knowledgeable of the general provisions of this chapter, as well as have the knowledge and authority to deal with false alarm issues and respond to requests from the police and/or fire chief or designee. The name, phone number, and email address of the designated ARM must be provided to the police and/or fire chief or designee.
(Ord. 899 § 2, 2015)
It is unlawful and a violation of this code for any person to engage within the city in the activities of an alarm agent without first obtaining a business license from the city and registering and filing a copy of such person's state-issued identification card with the business license officer.
(Ord. 899 § 2, 2015)
A. 
Approval by Underwriters Laboratories. No alarm system shall be installed or used which has not been approved by Underwriters Laboratories or equivalent rating institution. Equivalency shall be determined by the chief building official and/or fire marshal of the city whose decision shall be final.
B. 
Automatic Deactivation. Every audible alarm system used for security purposes shall be so designed as to automatically shut off the sound not more than 10 minutes after the alarm has started to sound. This provision shall not apply to fire alarms systems required by the CFC or NFPA 72.
C. 
Automatic Dialing Prohibited. No alarm system shall be equipped with automatic dialing or recorded message to the Moreno Valley police department, the Moreno Valley police department dispatching center, the Riverside County sheriff dispatching center, the Moreno Valley fire department or the Moreno Valley fire department dispatching center.
D. 
Battery Backup System. No alarm system shall be installed or used at any time which is not equipped with a ready-to-function battery-operated backup system.
E. 
Notification. An alarm user shall give or cause notice to be given to the Moreno Valley police department or the Moreno Valley fire department prior to any service, test, repair, maintenance, alteration or installation of an alarm system which might produce a false alarm. The alarm user and/or contractor shall contact their monitoring company to place the system in test mode. When a contractor fails to place an alarm in test mode during maintenance, repair, etc. the contractor shall be responsible for the false alarm fee.
F. 
Prohibited Sound. No alarm system shall be installed or used which emits a sound similar to that of an emergency vehicle siren or a civil defense warning system.
G. 
Repairs. After each false alarm caused by a malfunction of the alarm system, the alarm user shall cause the alarm system to be adjusted or repaired as necessary to eliminate the malfunction before placing the alarm system back into operation.
(Ord. 899 § 2, 2015)
Every alarm system shall have a sign or notice posted on or near the audible device with the name and telephone number of at least two responsible parties or the company responsible for the maintenance of the system.
(Ord. 899 § 2, 2015)
Information furnished and secured pursuant to this chapter shall be confidential in character and shall not be subject to public inspection and shall be kept so that the contents thereof shall not be known except to persons charged with the administration of this chapter.
(Ord. 899 § 2, 2015)
To defray the cost to the city for responding to false alarms, alarm users shall satisfy such assessment as may be established by resolution of the city council for all false alarms. The assessment shall be satisfied by the alarm owner within 15 days after receipt of the invoice from the city finance department. The invoice will be mailed to the responsible party, after the appropriate department has given notice to the finance department of the assessment for the extraordinary services and the grounds therefor. The amount of assessment shall be deemed a debt to the city. An action may be commenced in the name of the city in any court of competent jurisdiction for the amount of any delinquent fees.
The police/fire department will notify the alarm owner by leaving a notice at the alarm site. If an alarm owner fails to remit the fees within 15 days from the date of the service of notice upon him or her, which shall be the date of mailing of the invoice, if notice is not accomplished in person, a penalty of 25% of the amount of the fee set forth in the notice shall be imposed, but not less than five dollars. When imposed, the penalty shall become part of the fee herein required to be paid. In addition to such penalty, the alarm owner shall pay to the city all reasonable costs of collecting such overdue and unpaid fees, including attorney's fees and court costs, and interest at the rate of one and one-half percent per month (18% per annum) on all assessments and penalties from the date the assessment was due.
(Ord. 899 § 2, 2015)
Alarm users shall pay to the city reasonable costs, as determined and assessed by the police chief or fire chief, for expenses incurred in securing premises where a burglar alarm or fire alarm has been activated, whether or not the activation is a false alarm. The assessment shall be satisfied by the alarm user within 15 days after the appropriate chief has given the alarm user notice of the assessment and the grounds therefor. This section shall apply only to instances where the alarm user has failed to reasonably respond to notification that an alarm has been activated on premises owned or under the control of the alarm user and when the city has to incur more than nominal expenses in securing the premises.
(Ord. 899 § 2, 2015)
Non-payment of fees/assessments for false alarms, and repeated number of false alarms from the same location, hence said location constitutes a nuisance, will be considered a violation of this chapter. Every person who fails to comply with an order made pursuant to this chapter is guilty of a violation of this chapter and, upon conviction thereof shall be punished in accordance with the provisions of Sections 1.01.200 through 1.01.230 of this code.
(Ord. 899 § 2, 2015)
A. 
An alarm user who wants to appeal the validity of a false alarm determination by the police or fire department may appeal to the appropriate appeal officer or designee. The appeal must be in writing and must be requested within 10 days of the alarm user having received a notice of the false alarm. The written appeal must contain sufficient information to determine the events surrounding the police/fire department's response. Failure to contest the determination in the required time period results in a conclusive presumption that the alarm was false.
B. 
The appropriate appeal officer or a designee will review the appeal and provide a decision based on the facts of the case. The appeal officer or a designee shall determine the validity of the false alarms and the appropriate appeal officer shall issue written findings. The reasons for waiving a false alarm notice shall not include, wind, power failure, loose animals, system malfunctions, errors committed by the monitoring service, alarm user, or personnel errors.
C. 
No appeal will be granted without payment of unpaid fees, and other assessments for false alarms owed to the city, prior to filing of the request for an appeal process. If upon review of the appeal the appropriate appeal officer's or a designee's decision is in favor of the appellant, the money will be refunded to the appellant. The decision of the appropriate appeal officer or a designee on such matter shall be final and conclusive.
(Ord. 899 § 2, 2015)
If any section, subsection, sentence, clause or phrase of this chapter is for any reason, held to be invalid, unconstitutional, or unenforceable by a final determination of a court of competent jurisdiction, such determination shall not affect the validity of the remaining portions hereof. The city council hereby declares it would have enacted this chapter, and each section, subsection, sentence, clause and phrase thereof, irrespective of the fact than any one or more sections, subsections, sentences, clauses or phrases might be declared invalid or unenforceable.
(Ord. 899 § 2, 2015)