[HISTORY: Adopted by the Common Council of
the City of Hudson 3-15-1988 by L.L. No. 2-1988 (Ch. 28A of the 1973
Code). Amendments noted where applicable.]
GENERAL REFERENCES
Noise — See Ch. 210.
This chapter shall be known as the "City of
Hudson Emergency Alarm Law."
The Common Council of the City of Hudson hereby
finds and declares that there is a growing incidence of false emergency
alarms sounded throughout the City. Such false alarms utilize an increasing
amount of valuable time of City police officers. Often, the City Police
Department must respond to false emergency alarms at the same location
on repeated occasions. Such false soundings hamper law enforcement
efforts and pose an increased risk to citizens when police time is
wasted responding to nonemergencies. The Council therefore finds and
declares that it is in the public interest to establish a statute
governing the sale, installation and maintenance of burglar, fire
and other emergency alarms in the City of Hudson.
For purposes of this chapter, the following
terms are hereby defined:
- EMERGENCY ALARM
- Any type of device or system of devices which provides warning of intrusion, fire, smoke, burglary, flood or like perils and which transmits emergency signals via telephone lines or otherwise to police headquarters or sounds an alarm audible outside the building, structure or property protected by the emergency alarm. Specifically excluded is a standard household smoke alarm which has as its primary function giving warning of smoke or fire to the occupants of the building or structure, or portion thereof, protected by such alarm.
- FALSE ALARM
- Any signal necessitating response by the Police or Fire Department where an emergency situation does not exist.
- LICENSED INSTALLER
- Any person duly licensed to install security or fire alarm systems pursuant to § 69-m of Article 6-D of the General Business Law of the State of New York.
- PERSISTENT FALSE ALARM
- The fourth and each subsequent false alarm which occurs at one location during any twelve-month period commencing May 1 and ending the following April 30.
A.
No emergency alarm shall be operated in the City of
Hudson without prior registration of the alarm with the Police Department
of the City of Hudson. Each emergency alarm in operation on the effective
date of this chapter in the City of Hudson shall be registered with
the Hudson Police Department on or before May 1, 1988.
B.
Every person required to register an emergency alarm
must furnish the Hudson Police Department at the time of registration,
and as necessary thereafter, a list of current information as follows:
(1)
The name, residence address and telephone number of
the registrant.
(2)
The name, address and telephone number of any other
person at a different location who is authorized to respond to an
emergency and open the location where the alarm system is installed
to reset the alarm.
(3)
In the case of a business location, the registrant
shall provide the Police Department with at least three persons to
contact in case of an emergency who have access to the location.
(4)
Name, address and telephone number of the licensed
installer who installed the emergency alarm, and the name, address
and telephone number of the person, if any, with whom the registrant
has contracted for service of the emergency alarm.
[Added 3-30-1993 by L.L. No. 2-1993]
C.
A one-time registration fee as established by the
Common Council shall be charged by the City of Hudson for residential
alarms. An annual registration fee as established by the Common Council
shall be charged by the City of Hudson for an emergency alarm at a
business location, to be billed by the Hudson Police Department in
May of each year.[1]
[Amended 3-30-1993 by L.L. No. 2-1993]
A.
No emergency alarm shall be installed within the City
of Hudson except by a licensed installer.
B.
No licensed installer shall do business in the City
of Hudson unless such person has provided to the City of Hudson Police
Department a copy of the license issued to such person pursuant to
the provisions of Article 6-D of the General Business Law.
C.
Prior to the installation of any emergency alarm,
the licensed installer shall inform the purchaser of the alarm of
the requirement for registration of the alarm and shall not complete
installation until such person has registered the alarm with the Hudson
Police Department.
D.
No emergency alarm having an audible alarm shall be
installed or registered unless such alarm automatically terminates
the audible signal within 15 minutes of its activation.
E.
The registrant of an emergency alarm shall notify
the Hudson Police Department of the removal, disconnection or other
act rendering an emergency alarm inoperable. Thereafter, the resumption
of operation of an emergency alarm at such premises shall require
a new registration.
[Amended 3-30-1993 by L.L. No. 2-1993]
An emergency alarm must be maintained in proper
working order at all times. The maintenance is the responsibility
of the person in whose name the alarm is registered. When maintenance
involves equipment located at the Police Department, the maintenance
shall be carried out only by a licensed installer and shall be at
the expense of the alarm registrant.
Testing of the system or device shall be conducted
in the following manner:
A.
No more than one test shall be conducted per calendar
month, unless otherwise authorized by the Hudson Police Department.
B.
The registrant, or his agent, must notify the Police
Department either in person or by phone before the testing of the
system. When notifying the Police Department of the test, the person
making the notification must indicate the registration number of the
emergency alarm for purposes of security.
A.
A registrant of an emergency alarm shall be guilty
of a violation of this section each time a persistent false alarm
occurs.
B.
The Hudson Police Department shall notify the registrant
in writing after the third false alarm in any fiscal year. Such notification
shall be considered a warning and advice that the system must be repaired.
[Amended 3-30-1993 by L.L. No. 2-1993]
A.
Any person having an emergency alarm operating within
the City of Hudson without current registration with the Hudson Police
Department shall be guilty of a violation, which shall be punishable
by a fine not exceeding $100 or by imprisonment for a term not exceeding
10 days, or both.
B.
Any person other than a licensed installer who installs
an emergency alarm within the City of Hudson shall be guilty of a
violation, which shall be punishable by a fine not exceeding $250
or by imprisonment for a term not exceeding 15 days, or both.
C.
Any licensed installer who installs an emergency alarm within the City of Hudson and fails to comply with any of the requirements of Subsection B, C or D of § 62-5 in connection with such installation shall be guilty of a violation, which shall be punishable by a fine not exceeding $250 or by imprisonment for a term not exceeding 15 days, or both.
D.
A violation of § 62-8 shall be punishable as follows:
(1)
For a first offense, by a fine not exceeding $25 or
by imprisonment for a term not exceeding five days, or both.
(2)
For a second offense within 12 months, by a fine not
exceeding $100 or by imprisonment for a term not exceeding 10 days,
or both.
(3)
For a third or subsequent offense within 12 months,
by a fine not exceeding $250 or by imprisonment for a term not exceeding
15 days, or both.
