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 commercial and residential alarms,
to include, but not be limited to, burglary, 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.
INSTALLER
Any licensed installer, as defined in this chapter, or a
property owner who self-installs an emergency alarm system on his/her
own property.
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. "Licensed installer" shall
not include self-installations performed by the property owner of
a security or fire alarm system on their own property.
PERSISTENT FALSE ALARM
The fourth and each subsequent false alarm which occurs at
one location during any twelve-month period.
PERSON
Any natural person, partnership, corporation, association,
or other legal entity.
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.
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 their 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.
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.