For the purposes of this chapter, the following definitions
shall apply:
“Alarm administrator”
means a person or persons designated by the police chief
to administer the provisions of this chapter and/or the rules and
regulations adopted pursuant to this chapter.
“Alarm business”
means any person who is engaged in the sale, providing, maintaining,
leasing, servicing, repairing, altering, replacing, removing, or installing
an alarm system in an alarm site.
“Alarm dispatch request”
means a notification to a law enforcement agency that an
alarm, either manual or automatic, has been activated at a particular
alarm site.
“Alarm permit”
means authorization granted by the alarm administrator to
an alarm user to operate an alarm system.
“Alarm site”
means a single fixed premises or location served by an alarm
system(s). Each unit, if served by a separate alarm system in a multi-unit
building or complex, shall be considered a separate alarm site.
“Alarm system”
means a device or series of devices, including, which emit
or transmit a remote or local audible, visual or electronic signal
indicating an alarm condition and intended to summon law enforcement
response, including local alarm systems. Alarm system does not include
an alarm installed in a vehicle or on someone’s person or unless
the vehicle or the personal alarm is permanently located at a site.
“Alarm user”
means any sole proprietorship, business entity, firm, association,
partnership, or corporation that has contracted for monitoring, repair,
installation or maintenance service from an alarm business or monitoring
company for an alarm system, or that owns or operates an alarm system
which is not monitored, maintained or repaired under contract.
“Automatic voice dialer”
means any electrical, electronic, mechanical, or other device
capable of being programmed to send a prerecorded voice message, when
activated, over a telephone line, radio or other communication system,
to a law enforcement, public safety or emergency services agency requesting
dispatch.
“Cancellation”
means the process where response is terminated when a monitoring
company (designated by the alarm user) for the alarm site notifies
the responding law enforcement agency that there is not an existing
situation at the alarm site requiring law enforcement agency response
after an alarm dispatch request.
“Conversion”
means the transaction or process by which one alarm business
or monitoring company begins the servicing and/or monitoring of a
previously unmonitored alarm system or an alarm system previously
serviced and/or monitored by another alarm company.
“Enhanced call verification” or a “two-call
verification”
means making two or more telephone calls, first to the premises
where the alarm system is located and the second and more calls to
an alternate phone number (cellular phone number, pager, etc..), if
necessary, to verify the veracity of an alarm signal, before requesting
a police response to the premises. The purpose of enhanced call verification
is to reduce the number of false alarms.
“False alarm”
means an alarm dispatch request to a law enforcement agency,
when the responding law enforcement officer finds no evidence of a
criminal offense or attempted criminal offense after having completed
a timely investigation of the alarm site.
“Holdup alarm (robbery)”
means a silent alarm signal generated by the manual activation
of a device intended to signal a robbery in progress.
“License”
means a license issued by the state of California to an alarm
business and monitoring company to sell, install, monitor, repair,
or replace alarm systems.
“Local alarm system”
means any alarm system, which is not monitored, that annunciates
an alarm only at the alarm site.
“Monitoring”
means the process by which a monitoring company receives
signals from an alarm system and relays an alarm dispatch request
to the municipality for the purpose of summoning law enforcement to
the alarm site.
“Panic alarm”
means an audible alarm system signal generated by the manual
activation of a device intended to signal a life threatening or emergency
situation requiring law enforcement response.
“Person”
means an individual, corporation, partnership, association,
organization or similar entity.
“Responder”
means an individual capable of reaching the alarm site within
thirty minutes and having access to the alarm site, the code to the
alarm system and the authority to approve repairs to the alarm system.
“SIA control panel standard CP-01”
means the ANSI – American National Standard Institute
approved security industry association – SIA CP-01 control panel
standard, as may be updated from time to time, that details recommended
design features for security system control panels and their associated
arming and disarming devices to reduce the incidence of false alarms.
Control panels built and tested to this standard by underwriters laboratory
(UL), or other nationally recognized testing organizations, will be
marked to state: “Design evaluated in accordance with SIA CP-01
control panel standard features for false alarm reduction.”
“Takeover”
means the transaction or process by which an alarm user takes
over control of an existing alarm system, which was previously controlled
by another alarm user.
“Verify”
means an attempt by the monitoring company, or its representative,
to contact the alarm site and/or alarm user by telephone and/or other
electronic means, whether or not actual contact with a person is made,
to determine whether an alarm signal is valid before requesting law
enforcement dispatch, in an attempt to avoid an unnecessary alarm
dispatch request. For the purpose of this chapter, telephone verification
shall require, at a minimum, a second call be made to a different
number if the first attempt fails to reach an alarm user who can properly
identify themselves to determine whether an alarm signal is valid
before requesting law enforcement dispatch.
(Ord. 1406 § 1, 2009)
An alarm permit shall expire at the end of the calendar year.
Any alarm permit obtained after the first quarter of the calendar
year will be charged a prorated permit fee.
An alarm permit must be renewed annually. It is the responsibility of the alarm user to renew the permit before the expiration date. Failure to renew will be classified as use of a non-registered alarm system and citations and penalties shall be assessed without waiver. Failure to renew an alarm permit will subject an alarm user to citations and penalties, including penalties provided in Section
6.60.090 of this chapter.
The police department personnel are not required to respond
to an activated alarm and may not respond for reasons including, but
not limited to, the following:
(a) The alarm monitoring company did not utilize enhanced call verification or “two-call verification” procedures as described in Section
6.60.020 of this code prior to requesting a police response to the protected business. This will not include hold up, robbery or panic type alarms.
(b) Police
personnel determine there is insufficient evidence or cause to believe
a crime, attempted crime, or emergency situation exists at the protected
business.
(c) There
is insufficient personnel to respond to the alarm. Even if an alarm
is verified, exigent circumstances may arise that prevent the police
department from responding to verified alarm activations due to the
lack of availability of resources.
(Ord. 1406 § 1, 2009)
The alarm administrator will provide written notice to an alarm
user after the fifth false alarm that law enforcement response may
be suspended after the tenth false alarm, excluding holdup and panic
alarms. The written notice shall also contain a description of the
appeals procedure available to the alarm user.
The alarm administrator will notify the alarm user and the alarm
business or monitoring company in writing after alarm response has
been suspended, except to holdup and panic alarms. This notice of
suspension will also include the amount of the fine for each false
alarm and a description of the appeals procedure available to the
alarm user and the alarm business or monitoring company.
(Ord. 1406 § 1, 2009)
Enforcement of this chapter may be by civil action as provided
in this chapter.
(Ord. 1406 § 1, 2009)
In the interest of public safety, all information contained
in and gathered through the alarm permit applications and applications
for appeals shall be held in confidence by all employees or representatives
of the municipality and by any third-party administrator or employees
of a third-party administrator with access to such information.
(Ord. 1406 § 1, 2009)
The provisions of this chapter are adopted as an exercise of
the city’s police power to promote the public health, safety,
and welfare and are not intended to protect individuals or otherwise
establish or create a “special relationship” with any
particular class or group of persons who will or may be affected by
the provisions of this chapter. This chapter neither creates nor imposes
any duty to protect on the part of the city nor any of its departments,
divisions, officials, agents, or employees. The obligation of complying
with the requirements of this chapter and the consequences for failing
to do so is placed solely upon the parties responsible for owning,
operating, monitoring, or maintaining alarm systems within the city.
By applying for an alarm permit, the alarm user acknowledges
that law enforcement response may be influenced by factors such as,
but not limited to: the availability of police units, priority of
calls, weather conditions, traffic conditions, emergency conditions,
staffing levels, inability to contact business responsible and prior
response history.
(Ord. 1406 § 1, 2009)