Note: Prior history: Chapter 9 entitled "Telephonic Alarm Systems", consisting of Sections 4-9.01 through 4-9.07, as added by Ordinance No. 51-NS, effective December 16, 1970, amended in its entirety by Ordinance No. 180-NS, effective September 14, 1977.
The purpose of this chapter is to set forth regulations governing burglary and robbery alarm systems, alarm businesses, and alarm agents within the City, require permits therefor, establish fees, and provide for the punishment of violations of the provisions of this chapter.
(§ 1, Ord. 180-NS, eff. September 14, 1977)
For the purposes of this chapter, unless otherwise apparent from the context, certain words and phrases used in this chapter are defined as follows:
"Alarm agent"
means any person who is employed by an alarm business, either directly or indirectly, whose duties include any of the following: selling, maintaining, leasing, servicing, repairing, altering, replacing, moving, or installing on or in any building, structure, or facility any alarm system.
Exemption: The provisions of this section shall not include a person who engages in the manufacture or sale of an alarm system from a fixed location and who neither visits the location where the alarm system is to be installed nor designs the scheme for the physical location and installation of the alarm system in a specific location.
"Alarm business"
means the business by any individual, partnership, corporation, or other entity of: selling, leasing, maintaining, servicing, repairing, altering, replacing, moving, or installing any alarm system or causing to be sold, leased, maintained, serviced, repaired, altered, replaced, moved, or installed any alarm system in or on any building, structure, or facility.
"Alarm system"
means any mechanical, electrical, or electronic device which is designed or used for the detection of an unauthorized entry into a building, structure, or facility or for alerting others of the commission of an unlawful act within a building, structure, or facility, or both, and which emits a sound or transmits a signal or message when actuated. "Alarm system" shall include, but shall not be limited to, direct dial telephone devices, audible alarms, and proprietor alarms. Devices which are not designed or used to register alarms that are audible, visible, or perceptible outside of the protected building, structure, or facility are not included within this definition, nor are auxiliary devices installed by the telephone company to protect telephone company systems which might be damaged or disrupted by the use of an alarm system.
"Appellant"
means a person who perfects an appeal pursuant to this chapter.
"Applicant"
means a person, firm, or corporation who or which files an application for a new or renewal permit as provided in this chapter.
"Audible alarm"
means a device designed for the detection of unauthorized entry on premises which device generates an audible sound on the premises when the device is actuated.
"City"
means the City of Huntington Park.
"Day"
means a calendar day.
"False alarm"
means an alarm signal necessitating a response by the Police Department of the City where an emergency situation does not exist.
"License Department"
means the License Department of the City.
"Notice"
means a written notice given by personal service upon the addressee or given by United States mail, postage prepaid, addressed to the person to be notified at his or her last known address. The service of such notice shall be effective upon the completion of personal service or upon the placing of the notice in the custody of the United States Postal Service.
"Permittee"
means any person, firm, partnership, association, or corporation who or which shall be granted a permit as provided in this chapter and his, her or its agents and representatives.
"Person"
shall mean a natural person, firm, partnership, association, or corporation.
"Police Chief"
shall mean the Police Chief of the City.
"Proprietor alarm"
shall mean an alarm which is not serviced by an alarm business.
"Subscriber"
shall mean any person who purchases, leases, contracts for, or otherwise obtains an alarm system or the servicing or maintenance of an alarm system from an alarm business.
"Telephonic alarm system"
shall mean any mechanism, equipment, or device which is designed to operate automatically through the use of public telephone facilities to transmit a signal, message, or warning to another location.
(§ 1, Ord. 180-NS, eff. September 14, 1977)
The Police Chief may prescribe minimum standards and regulations for the construction and maintenance of all alarm systems installed within the City. Such standards and regulations shall become effective upon the adoption there-of by resolution of the Council. All devices shall meet or exceed such standards and regulations before permits may be issued pursuant to this chapter. The Police Chief may require the inspection and approval of all alarm systems installed within the City.
(a) 
Audible alarm requirements. Every person maintaining an audible alarm shall post a notice containing the names and telephone numbers of the persons to be notified to render repairs or service and secure the premises during any hour of the day or night that the burglar alarm is actuated. Such notice shall be posted near the alarm in such a position as to be legible from the ground level adjacent to the building where the alarm system is located.
(1) 
All audible alarm systems shall include a device which will limit the operation of the system to no more than 15 minutes after each actuation on premises located in a residential zone or 30 minutes after actuation on premises located in a nonresidential zone.
(2) 
No person shall install or maintain any audible alarm system which creates a sound similar to that of an emergency vehicle siren or a civil defense warning system.
(b) 
Repealed.
(c) 
Display of alarm system permits. Permits for alarm systems shall be kept on the premises where the alarm system is located. The License Department may issue an appropriate permit identification tag and establish the requirements for its posting.
(d) 
Responsibilities of permittees.
(1) 
When a subscriber alarm system has been activated, the alarm business which owns, leases, or maintains such system shall have an alarm agent present at the location within one hour after being requested to do so by a representative of the Police Department.
(2) 
When a proprietor alarm system has been activated, the owner or other person in responsible control of the location wherein such system is located shall be present at such location within one hour after being requested to do so by a representative of the Police Department. Such person shall inspect the alarm system after each activation to insure proper operation. Any audible alarm system not deactivated within one hour after such notification or efforts of notification have been made is hereby declared a public nuisance and subject to misdemeanor prosecution or summary abatement as a public nuisance.
(§ 1, Ord. 180-NS, eff. September 14, 1977, as amended by § 1, Ord. 624-NS, eff. Dec. 15, 1999)
No person shall act as an alarm agent in the City without first registering their name and filing a copy of their State issued identification card with the City.
(§ 2 (77), Ord. 624-NS, eff. Dec. 15, 1999)
(a) 
Alarm businesses. No person shall engage in, conduct, or carry on an alarm business without first applying for and receiving an alarm business permit in accordance with the provisions of this chapter.
(b) 
Repealed.
(c) 
Alarm systems. No person shall possess or use an alarm system without first applying for and receiving an alarm system permit in accordance with the provisions of this chapter.
(d) 
Exemptions. The provisions of this chapter shall not be applicable to audible alarms affixed to automobiles.
(§ 1, Ord. 180-NS, eff. September 14, 1977, as amended by § 1, Ord. 624-NS, eff. Dec. 15, 1999)
(a) 
Issuing authority. The issuing authority shall be the License Department.
(b) 
Approving authority. The approving authority shall be the Police Chief.
(c) 
Applications: Form. Applications for all permits required by this chapter shall be filed with the License Department and shall be accompanied by the requisite fee. The fee is established to cover part of the costs of investigating and processing the applications and permits and shall not be refundable. The License Department shall prescribe the form of the application and request such information as is necessary to evaluate and act upon the permit application. The application for alarm systems shall require the name, address, and telephone number of the person who will render service or repairs during any hour of the day or night and the name, address, and telephone number of the persons responsible for the premises. If at any later time the name and address of the service or repair person, or of the person responsible, changes, then the permittee shall give written notice thereof to the Police Chief within 20 days after such change.
(d) 
Investigations: Denial.
(1) 
Alarm businesses. Every application for an alarm business shall require the fingerprints of the applicant or of the agent applying for the applicant if the applicant is not a natural person. The Police Chief shall conduct an appropriate investigation of the applicant to determine whether such permit shall be issued. The Police Chief may dispense with the investigation upon being furnished with an authenticated copy of a current permit issued by another governmental agency located in the State. The permit shall be denied by the Police Chief if:
(i) 
He or she determines the character or reputation of the applicant to be inimical to the safety or general welfare of the community; or
(ii) 
The applicant for the alarm business permit does not comply with the standards and regulations adopted pursuant to the provisions of Section 4-9.03 of this chapter; or
(iii) 
The applicant or his or her employee or agent has knowingly made any false, misleading, or fraudulent statement of a material fact in the application for a permit or in any report or record required to be filed with any City agency; or
(iv) 
The applicant had a similar type permit previously revoked for good cause within the past year, unless the applicant can show a material change in circumstances since the date of such revocation.
(2) 
Alarm systems. The permit shall be denied by the Police Chief if the alarm system does not comply with the standards and regulations adopted pursuant to Section 4-9.03 of this chapter. Such permit shall be issued to the person owning, using, or possessing the alarm system.
(§ 1, Ord. 180-NS, eff. September 14, 1977, as amended by §§ 2 (78), (79), Ord. 624-NS, eff. Dec. 15, 1999)
Any person denied a permit by the Police Chief pursuant to the provisions of this chapter shall have the right to appeal such denial to the Council within 15 days after the denial of the permit. Such appeal shall be in writing, shall be filed with the City Clerk, and shall set forth the reasons why the permit should be granted. A hearing shall be held by the Council not later than 45 days after such appeal is filed, and the appellant shall be given not less than seven days' written notice of the date, time, and place of the hearing. The decision of the Council shall be final.
(§ 1, Ord. 180-NS, eff. September 14, 1977)
(a) 
Alarm business permits. Unless exempt under State law, the annual permit fee for an alarm business permit, or any renewal thereof, shall be the sum of $50, which shall be due and payable on January 1 of each year, for a calendar year or any portion thereof. Any permit issued during the year shall expire on December 31 of that year, and shall be subject to renewal after that date.
(b) 
Repealed.
(c) 
Alarm system permits. Unless exempt under State law, the permit fee for a new alarm system permit shall be the sum of $20, the permit fee for an alarm system permit renewal shall be the sum of Eighteen dollars, which shall be due and payable on January 1 of each year, for a calendar year or any portion thereof. Any permit issued during the year shall expire on December 31 of that year and shall be subject to renewal after that date.
(d) 
Exemptions.
(1) 
The United States government, the State, counties, municipal corporations, departments thereof, and other governmental entities shall be exempt from the fees required by this section.
(e) 
Fees contained in this section shall be increased each year by the percentage equal to the change in the All Urban Consumers Price Index for Los Angeles, Riverside and Orange Counties ("Index") for the prior twelve month period ending each April, beginning with the change published in the Index on April 30, 2008.
(§ 1, Ord. 180-NS, eff. September 14, 1977, as amended by § 1, Ord. 624-NS, eff. Dec. 15, 1999, and § 1, Ord. 821-NS, eff. January 16, 2008)
(a) 
Law enforcement response service charges and penalties. In order to defray the costs incurred by the City in responding to false alarms and in lieu of revoking the permit for possession or use of an alarm system, a service charge shall be paid to the City by each subscriber or permittee of a proprietor alarm for each fourth and subsequent law enforcement response made to the premises for a false alarm during a fiscal year. In addition to the cost recovery of the service charge, the City may impose a penalty for false alarm incidents starting with the fifth false alarm incident occurring within a fiscal year. The City Council shall establish the amounts of service charges by resolution and may provide that service charges and penalties shall increase as the number of false alarms generated by a premises increases.
(b) 
Calculation of false alarm responses and response service charges. For purposes of calculating the number of law enforcement responses made to false alarms at a single location, in order to determine the amount of the service charge due, if any, there shall be a maximum of one false alarm counted against the subscriber or permittee per 24-hour period (12:00 a.m. to 12:00 a.m. of the following day). This shall be the case irrespective of the number of false alarms responded to within said 24-hour period. For example, three false alarms in a 24-hour period shall count as one false alarm for the purpose of calculating the response service charge due, if any.
(c) 
Temporary disconnection of alarm system. If three or more responses are made to the same location for false alarms in a 24-hour period (12:00 a.m. to 12:00 a.m. of the following day), responding personnel shall notify the subscriber or permittee of the proprietor alarm that: (1) the alarm shall be immediately disconnected, (2) that the alarm shall not be reconnected until the subscriber or permittee of the proprietor alarm provides the Chief of Police, or his or her designee, with satisfactory proof that any problem(s) with the alarm system have been remedied, and (3) if the alarm is not disconnected, as required herein, city law enforcement personnel will not respond if it goes off.
Notice shall be provided by the law enforcement personnel responding to the third false alarm in a 24-hour period. Said notice shall be securely posted in a conspicuous place on the premises and, if a mailbox is accessible, a copy of the same notice shall be left in the mailbox.
(d) 
Notice of false alarm. Notwithstanding subparagraph (b), notice of each false alarm shall be mailed to or otherwise served upon the subscriber or permittee of a proprietor alarm. The notice shall state that the City may: (1) assess service charges to defray the cost of law enforcement responses to false alarms, or (2) declare that an alarm system that generates excessive false alarms is a public nuisance that the City may initiate proceedings to abate.
(e) 
Billing. The Director of Finance shall cause to be issued a monthly bill for the unpaid service charges accrued during the billing period and any prior periods. Such bill shall be due and payable within 30 days after the billing date.
(f) 
Enforcement. The amount of any service charge 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 unpaid service charge. All service charges shall be deemed delinquent 30 days after they are due and payable. Failure to pay the charges billed shall constitute grounds for the revocation of the alarm permit.
(g) 
Appeal. A notice of false alarm or any service charge assessed may be appealed in writing to the City Manager by the subscriber or permittee of a proprietor alarm within 15 days from the date the notice was sent or the assessment was made. The appeal shall state the grounds upon which the subscriber or permittee of a proprietor alarm believes the notice or service charge is improper. The City Manager is authorized to adjust service charges and cancel the notice of false alarm, in good faith, as the facts and circumstances may proscribe. The City Manager has the final decision on all appeals. No right to appeal such decision to the City Council pursuant to Section 1-4.01 shall exist.
(§ 1, Ord. 631-NS, eff. Dec. 15, 1999, § 1 Ord. 674-NS, eff. Mar. 20, 2002, and § 1, Ord. 820-NS, eff. January 2, 2008)
(a) 
Grounds. The following shall constitute grounds for the suspension and revocation of permits issued pursuant to this chapter:
(1) 
The violation of any of the provisions of this chapter, including failure to pay a permit fee or response service charge; or
(2) 
The failure to comply with the standards or regulations adopted pursuant to Section 4-9.03 of this chapter; or
(3) 
Where any alarm business permittee or alarm agent is charged with a crime involving moral turpitude or where the character, reputation, or moral integrity of the permit holder or his or her employees is determined inimical to the public safety or the general welfare of the community; or
(4) 
Where an alarm system actuates excessive false alarms and thereby constitutes a public nuisance; or
(5) 
Where the applicant or permittee, or his or her employee or agent, has knowingly made any false, misleading, or fraudulent statement of a material fact in the application for a permit or in any report required to be filed with any City agency; or
(6) 
Where the applicant or permittee has had a similar type permit previously revoked for good cause within the past year, unless the applicant can show a material change in circumstances since the date of revocation.
(b) 
Authority. Any permit issued pursuant to the provisions of this chapter may be suspended by the Police Chief for the grounds set forth in subsection (a) of this section.
(c) 
Appeal procedure. The determination of the Police Chief with regard to the matters of suspension shall be appealable in the time and manner set forth in Section 4-9.06 of this chapter.
The Police Chief, in the event of such suspension, shall serve the permittee with a written order of suspension, which shall state the reasons for such suspension. Such order shall be effective immediately, if personally served, or 48 hours after the order has been deposited in the United States Mail, postage prepaid.
Immediately upon such an order becoming effective, the permittee shall discontinue the use of any alarm system requiring a permit under this chapter and cause all operations conducted under the authority of any permit issued pursuant to this chapter to cease.
(d) 
Revocation. The suspension shall become a revocation 15 days after the order of suspension becomes effective, unless the permittee files an appeal of the order of suspension in the manner set forth in Section 4-9.06 of this chapter.
Where an appeal is filed, the order of suspension shall be stayed pending a determination thereon by the Council, which shall act upon the appeal in the manner set forth in Section 4-9.06 of this chapter. Such suspension shall become a revocation if the decision of the Council upholds the suspension. The suspension shall be dissolved immediately if the Council reverses the order of suspension.
(e) 
Surrender of permits. If any permit is revoked pursuant to this section, the permittee shall immediately surrender such permit to the License Department.
(§ 1, Ord. 180-NS, eff. September 14, 1977)
The information furnished and secured pursuant to this chapter shall be confidential in character, shall not be subject to public inspection, and shall be kept so that the information shall not be known except to persons charged with the administration of this chapter.
(§ 1, Ord. 180-NS, eff. September 14, 1977)
Any person violating any of the provisions of this chapter shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon conviction thereof, shall be punishable as set forth in Chapter 2 of Title 1 of this Code.
(§ 1, Ord. 180-NS, eff. September 14, 1977)
The conviction or punishment of any person for the violation of any provision of this chapter or for failure to secure a permit as required by this chapter shall not relieve such person from paying the permit fee due and unpaid at the time of such conviction, nor shall payment of any permit fee prevent criminal prosecution for the violation of any provision of this chapter. All remedies shall be cumulative, and the use of one or more remedies by the City shall not bar the use of any other remedy for the purpose of enforcing the provisions of this chapter. The amount of any permit or response service charge 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 permit fee or delinquent response service charge. All permit fees. shall be deemed delinquent 30 days after they are due and payable.
(§ 1, Ord. 180-NS, eff. September 14, 1977)