The city council finds and declares that:
A. The
vast majority of alarms to which the police department responds are
false alarms, which are reported to the police by alarm companies.
B. Most
false alarms are the result of improper maintenance or improper or
careless use of an alarm system.
C. The
public and police officers are subjected to needless danger when the
officers are called to respond to false alarms.
D. Officers
responding to false alarms are not available to carry out other police
duties.
E. In the
interest of using limited police resources most effectively and efficiently,
the number of false alarms can and must be reduced.
F. The
purpose of this chapter is to reduce the dangers and inefficiencies
associated with false alarms and to encourage alarm companies and
property owners to maintain the operational reliability, proper use
of alarm systems, and to reduce or eliminate false alarm dispatch
requests.
G. This
chapter governs systems intended to summon a police response, establishes
fees, penalty, establishes a system of administration, sets conditions
for the suspension of a police response and establishes a public education
and training program.
(Ord. 2045 § 2, 2020)
For purposes of this chapter, the following terms shall have
the following meanings:
"Alarm administrator"
means the person or persons designated by the police department
to administer the provisions of this chapter.
"Alarm agreement"
means the legal contract or agreement by and between the
alarm installation company and/or monitoring company and the alarm
user.
"Alarm dispatch request"
means a notification to the police department that an alarm,
either manual or automatic, has been activated at a particular alarm
site.
"Alarm installation company"
means a person in the business of selling, providing, maintaining,
servicing, repairing, altering, replacing, moving or installing an
alarm system at an alarm site for compensation, and includes individuals
or firms that install and service alarm systems used in a private
business or proprietary facility.
"Alarm registration"
means a registration and unique number issued by the alarm
administrator to an alarm user, which authorizes the operation of
an alarm system.
"Alarm response manager (ARM)"
means a person designated by an alarm installation company
and monitoring company to handle alarm issues for the company and
act as the primary point of contact for the city's alarm administrator.
"Alarm site"
means a location served by one or more alarm systems. In
a multi-unit building or complex, each unit shall be considered a
separate alarm site if served by a separate alarm system. In a single
unit building that houses two or more separate businesses with separate
alarm systems, each business will be considered a separate alarm site.
"Alarm system"
means a device or series of devices, which emit or transmit
an audible or remote visual or electronic alarm signal, which is intended
to summon police response. The term includes hardwired systems and
systems interconnected with a radio frequency method such as cellular
or private radio signals, and includes local alarm systems, but does
not include an alarm installed in a motor vehicle, on an individual's
person or a system which will not emit a signal either audible or
visible from the outside of the building, residence or beyond, but
is designed solely to alert the occupants of a building or residence.
"Alarm user"
means any person who has contracted for monitoring, repair,
installation or maintenance service for an alarm system from an alarm
installation company or monitoring company, or who owns or operates
an alarm system which is not monitored, maintained or repaired under
agreement.
"Alarm user awareness class"
means a class conducted for the purpose of educating alarm
users about the responsible use, operation, and maintenance of alarm
systems and the problems created by false alarms.
"Alarm user list"
means a list provided by the alarm user's alarm installation
company or, if no alarm agreement exists between the alarm user and
an alarm installation company, the alarm user's monitoring company.
"Automatic voice dialer"
means any electronic, mechanical, or other device which,
when activated, is capable of being programmed to send a prerecorded
voice message to the police department or city requesting an officer
dispatch to an alarm site.
"Burglar alarm"
means an alarm intended to identify the presence of an intruder
in either a business or residence.
"Business license"
means a business license issued by the city of Glendora business
license division to an alarm installation company or monitoring company
to conduct business in the city.
"Cancellation"
means the termination of a police response to an alarm site
after an alarm dispatch request is made but before an officer's arrival
at the alarm site.
"City"
means city of Glendora.
"Conversion of alarm user"
means the transaction or process by which one alarm installation
company or monitoring company begins the servicing or monitoring of
a previously unmonitored alarm system or an alarm system that was
previously serviced or monitored by another alarm company.
"Duress alarm"
means a silent alarm system signal generated by the entry
of a designated code into an arming station in order to signal that
the alarm user is being forced to turn off the system and requires
an officer response.
"Enhanced call verification"
means an attempt by the monitoring company, or its representative,
to contact the alarm site and/or alarm user and/or the alarm user's
designated representatives 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 a police burglar
alarm dispatch, in an attempt to avoid an unnecessary alarm dispatch
request. For the purpose of this chapter, telephone verification shall
require, as a minimum, that 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 an officer dispatch. Names and numbers of those
contacted or attempted to contact shall be provided when requested.
"False alarm"
means an alarm dispatch request to the police department,
which results in the responding officer finding no evidence of a criminal
offense or attempted criminal offense after completing an investigation
of the alarm site.
"Holdup alarm"
means a silent alarm signal generated by the manual activation
of a device intended to signal a robbery in progress.
"Local alarm system"
means an unmonitored alarm system 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 police department.
"One plus duress alarm"
means the manual activation of a silent alarm signal by entering
a code that adds one number to the last digit of the normal arm/disarm
code (e.g., normal code equals 1234, one plus duress code equals 1235).
"Panic alarm"
means an alarm system signal generated by the manual activation
of a device intended to signal a life threatening or emergency situation
requiring an officer response.
"Person"
means an individual, corporation, limited liability company,
partnership, association, organization or similar entity.
"Protective or reactive alarm system"
means an alarm system that produces a temporary disability
or sensory deprivation through use of chemical, electrical, sonic
or other means, including use of devices that obscure or disable a
person's vision.
"Registration number"
means a unique individual number assigned to an alarm user
as part of alarm registration issued by the police department.
"Responsible party"
means a person capable of appearing at the alarm site upon
request who has access to the alarm site, the code to the alarm system
and the authority to approve repairs to the alarm system.
"Robbery alarm"
means an alarm signal generated by the manual or automatic
activation of a device or any system, device or mechanism on or near
the premises intended to signal that a robbery is in progress and
that a person is in need of immediate police assistance in order to
avoid bodily harm, injury or death. The term has the same general
meaning as "holdup alarm" or "duress alarm."
"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, are marked
as follows: "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 that was previously controlled
by another alarm user.
"Verified response"
means a police response that is based on information received
from a person physically present at a location (e.g., an alarm site)
or from real-time audio or video surveillance positively verifying
that there is evidence of either a crime or an attempted crime at
the location.
"Zones"
mean a division of devices into which an alarm system is
divided to indicate the general location from which an alarm system
signal is transmitted.
(Ord. 2045 § 2, 2020)
An application for an alarm registration must be in a format
provided by the police department. The information required on such
forms shall be determined by the alarm administrator. Registration
applicants acknowledge that the police response may be influenced
by factors including, but not limited to, the availability of officers,
priority of calls, traffic conditions, weather conditions, emergency
conditions, prior alarm history, administrative actions and staffing
levels.
(Ord. 2045 § 2, 2020)
All information contained in documents gathered through alarm
registrations, the submission of customer lists, the alarm appeal
process and records relating to alarm dispatch requests must be held
in confidence by all employees of the alarm administrator, city of
Glendora and any third-party alarm administrator. Such information
is proprietary and is hereby declared confidential and not a public
record. Absent special circumstances, such information must not be
released to the public or any person other than a law enforcement
agency, third party administrator or the applicable alarm user, alarm
installation company or alarm monitoring company except pursuant to
court order. Per California
Government Code Section 6254(f).
(Ord. 2045 § 2, 2020)
The issuance of alarm registrations does not create a contract
between the police department and/or the city of Glendora and any
alarm user, alarm installation company or monitoring company, nor
does it create a duty or obligation, either expressed or implied,
on the part of the police department to respond to any alarm. Any
and all liability and consequential damage resulting from the failure
of the police department to respond to an alarm dispatch request is
hereby disclaimed to the maximum extent permitted by law and full
governmental immunity as provided by law is expressly retained by
the police department and the city of Glendora. By applying for an
alarm registration, the alarm user acknowledges that the police department
response is influenced by the availability of officers, priority of
calls, traffic conditions, weather conditions, emergency conditions,
staffing levels, prior response history and administrative actions.
(Ord. 2045 § 2, 2020)