This chapter shall be known as the "Borough of Downingtown Alarm Ordinance."
The following definitions shall apply to the interpretation and enforcement
of this chapter:
ALARM SUPPLIER
The business by an individual, partnership, corporation or other
entity of selling, leasing, maintaining, servicing, repairing, altering, replacing,
moving or installing any alarm system or causing any alarm system to be sold,
leased, maintained serviced, repaired, altered, replaced, moved or installed
in or on any building, structure or facility.
ALARM SYSTEM
Any assembly of equipment, mechanical, electrical or battery-operated,
arranged to signal the occurrence of a police, fire, hazard or medical emergency
requiring urgent attention and to which police, fire units or ambulance corps
are expected to respond.
AMBULANCE CORPS
Consists of an ambulance driver and any and all authorized personnel
accompanying the ambulance.
ANSWERING SERVICE
A service whereby trained employees, in attendance at all times,
receive prerecorded coded messages from automatic dialing devices reporting
an emergency at a stated location, where such employees have the duty to relay
immediately, by live voice, any such emergency message over a trunk line to
the communications center of the Police or Fire Department or Ambulance Corps.
AUDIBLE ALARM
Any device, bell, horn or siren which is attached to the interior
or exterior of a building, structure or facility and emits a warning signal
audible outside the building, structure or facility and is designed to attract
attention when activated by a criminal act or other emergency requiring Police
or Fire Department or Ambulance Corps response.
AUTOMATIC DIALING DEVICE
A device which is interconnected to a telephone line and is programmed
to transmit a signal by a voice or coded message that indicates that an emergency
condition exists and the need for an emergency response is required.
BOARD OF ADMINISTRATIVE APPEALS
The Hearing Board that determines all appeals with regard to false alarms, particularly under §
94-16E hereof. The Board shall consist of three residents of the Borough of Downingtown, who shall be appointed by the Borough Council and who shall serve staggered terms. One member shall serve for a period of three years; one member shall serve for a period of two years; and one member shall serve for a period of one year. Each and every year, the Borough Council shall appoint or reappoint members when said members' terms end.
BOROUGH
The Borough of Downingtown.
CENTRAL STATION
A protective system or group of such systems operated privately for
customers by a person, firm or corporation which accepts recorded messages
from automatic dialing devices at a central station having operators and guards
in attendance at all times who have the duty to take appropriate action upon
receipt of a signal or message, including the relaying of messages to the
communications center of the Police or Fire Department or Ambulance Corps.
EMERGENCY
A police, fire, hazard or medical emergency.
FALSE ALARM
A.
An alarm activated in the absence of an emergency, whether willfully
or by inadvertence, negligence or unintentional act, to which the Police Department,
Fire Department or Ambulance Corps responds. The definition excludes alarms
caused by malfunctions of the County Department of Emergency Services receiving
equipment; testing or repairing of telephone or electrical line or equipment
outside the premises; acts of God, such as earthquakes, floods, windstorms,
thunder or lightning; an attempted illegal entry, a crime in progress or,
in the case of emergency medical alarm, an actual medical emergency requiring
police, fire and/or medical personnel. If doubt exists as to the cause of
the "false alarm," the Chief of Police or his designee, or the Fire Chief
or his designee, shall make a decision regarding the circumstances of the
activation.
[Amended 2-13-1991 by Ord. No. 91-2]
B.
Multiple alarms received by the Police Department, Fire Department or
Ambulance Corps before the system can be deactivated or repaired within a
reasonable period of time after notice by the Borough shall be considered
a single alarm. It shall not be considered a violation of this section for
someone to activate an alarm when an actual emergency exists, even though
he may activate an alarm for an emergency different than the alarm activated
(i.e., pulls fire alarm for medical emergency). This shall be considered a
crossover alarm.
C.
The definition of a "false alarm" also includes the intentional activation
of a holdup alarm for other than a holdup in progress, the intentional activation
of a burglary alarm for other than a burglary, the intentional activation
of a medical alarm for other than a medical emergency or the intentional activation
of a fire alarm for other than a fire or hazard.
FIRE EMERGENCY
A fire or other emergency or hazard that presents a substantial risk
of fire or other disaster (i.e., chemical leak, building collapse, ruptured
gas line, etc.).
HAZARD EMERGENCY
An explosion or leak of toxic gas, liquid or solid, or a potential
explosion or leak.
INTERMEDIARY
A central station protective system or an answering service as herein
defined.
KEY
To use a telephone line and equipment for transmitting a message,
either directly or indirectly, by an automatic dialing device.
PERMIT
Written permission duly granted to an applicant by the Borough upon
payment of the required fee. The permits encompassed by this section include
the following: installation permit, (i.e., building permit) and annual user's
permit.
POLICE EMERGENCY
An incident requiring prompt response by the Police Department.
TRUNK LINE
A telephone line leading into the County Communications Centers of
the Police and Fire Departments and Ambulance Corps which is for the purpose
of handling calls on a person-to-person basis and which is identified by a
specific listing in the telephone directory issued by the telephone company.
On and after the effective date of this chapter, owners or users of
audible alarms must equip such audible alarms with a timing mechanism that
will disengage the audible alarm after a maximum of 15 minutes. Audible alarms
without such a timing mechanism shall be unlawful in the Borough of Downingtown
and must be disconnected by the owner or user within 60 days from the effective
date of this chapter.
On and after the effective date of this chapter, all automatic dialing
devices that transmit recorded messages directly to the Police Department,
Fire Department or Ambulance Corps shall be keyed to the County Department
of Emergency Services radio room (telephone line separate and distinct from
the trunk lines for the communications center).
Each alarm supplier who, after the effective date of this chapter, sells
or leases in the Borough of Downingtown an alarm system shall furnish the
operating instructions and manual to the buyer or lessee and the Chief of
Police and Code Enforcement Officer.
Every alarm supplier selling, leasing, furnishing or installing an alarm
system to any user, which system is located on premises within the Borough
of Downingtown, shall:
A. Be permitted to install only equipment that is listed
by Underwriter's Laboratories, Inc., as being electrically safe and meeting
the Borough requirements for the alarm system. Wiring for the alarm system
must conform to all applicable federal, state and local codes. In the case
of fire alarms, the stricter of the National Fire Protection Association standards
or Borough regulations shall apply.
B. Be required to cause each alarm system installed to be
provided with standby battery power, which shall automatically and immediately
take over in the event of a power failure.
C. Be required to install equipment in such a way as to
neutralize electrical surges on the alarm system.
D. Be required to deactivate any alarm system within a reasonable
period of time when multiple false alarms are received.
No person shall conduct any test or demonstration of any alarm system
without first notifying the Chief of Police or the fire radio network, as
applicable.
Alarm suppliers and installers shall furnish at their own expense, at
or prior to the time of contracting, a copy of this chapter to owners, lessees
or users of the equipment or services to be supplied.
Any police officer, fireman or ambulance personnel responding to an
alarm which is determined to be false shall promptly notify the Chief of Police
of such alarm, in writing, and he shall, within 10 days, have notification
of such false alarm sent via United States mail to the person in whose name
the alarm is registered.
[Amended 1-9-1991 by Ord. No. 91-1]
Any alarm system which has four or more false alarms within a calendar
year, with the exception of apartment buildings with three or more units,
which shall be allowed nine false alarms within a calendar year, shall be
subject to permit revocation as follows:
A. The Chief of Police and Code Enforcement Officer shall
notify the alarm user and the alarm business providing the service or inspection
to the user, by first class, postage prepaid, certified mail, of such fact
and direct that the user submit a written report to the Chief of Police and
Code Enforcement Officer within 15 days of receipt of the notice describing
actions taken or to be taken to discover and eliminate the cause of the false
alarms.
B. If the alarm user submits a report as directed, the Chief
of Police and Code Enforcement Officer shall determine if the action taken
or to be taken will substantially reduce the likelihood of false alarms. If
they determine that the action will substantially reduce the likelihood of
false alarms, they shall notify the alarm user, in writing, that his permit
will not be revoked at this time.
C. If no report is submitted or if the Chief of Police and
Code Enforcement Officer determine that the action taken or to be taken will
not substantially reduce the likelihood of false alarms, the Chief of Police
and Code Enforcement Officer shall give notice, by first class, postage prepaid,
certified mail, to the user that the permit will be revoked without further
notice, if the user does not file, within 10 days, a written request for a
hearing.
D. If a hearing is requested, written notice of the time
and place of the hearing shall be served on the user by the Chief of Police
and Code Enforcement Officer, by first class, postage prepaid, certified mail,
at least 10 days prior to the date set for the hearing, which date shall not
be more than 21 nor less than 10 days after the filing of the request for
hearing.
E. The hearing shall take place before the Board of Administrative
Appeals, designated by the Borough Council, and the alarm user shall have
the right to counsel and to present written or oral evidence, subject to the
right of cross-examination. If the hearing officer determines that four or
more false alarms have occurred and that the user has not taken action which
substantially reduces the likelihood of false alarms, he shall issue written
findings to that effect and an order revoking the user's permit.
F. An alarm user shall immediately discontinue use of this
alarm system upon being notified, by first class, postage prepaid, certified
mail, of the revocation of his user's permit.
G. An alarm user whose user's permit has been revoked may apply for a probationary user's permit. The Chief of Police and Code Enforcement Officer shall not be required to issue a probationary user's permit, unless he is satisfied that the user's system has been properly serviced and its deficiencies corrected. The Chief of Police and Code Enforcement Officer may impose reasonable restrictions and conditions upon the user before issuing a probationary user's permit, which restrictions and conditions shall be written on the permit. A probationary user's permit shall be issued for a one-year period. If the alarm user does not have four or more false alarms during that period, he may apply for a permanent permit under the provisions of §
94-7 of this chapter.
When messages evidencing failure to comply with the requirements set
forth in this chapter are received by the Borough and the Borough concludes
that the alarm system sending such messages should be disconnected in order
to relieve the Police Department, Fire Department or Ambulance Corps of the
burden of responding to false alarms, the Borough is authorized to demand
that the owner or lessee of the alarm system or his representative disconnect
the alarm system until it is made to comply with the operational requirements.
If disconnection of the defective alarm system is not accomplished promptly
and the Borough determines that the malfunctioning alarm system is repeatedly
sending false alarms without any intermittent valid alarms, the Borough may
then take any steps necessary to disconnect the defective alarm system.