An intolerable amount of police resources are being expended
in responding to alarms that have been activated other than by the
commission of a crime. The purpose of this chapter is to avoid the
current waste of police resources by reducing the number of false
alarms to which the Department of Public Safety must respond.
Whenever used in this chapter, the following terms shall have
the meanings indicated:
ALARM BUSINESS
Any business operated by a person or corporation that engages
in the selling, leasing, maintaining, installing, repairing, altering,
moving, replacing or servicing of an alarm device or system.
ALARM SYSTEM
Any device or assembly of equipment and devices designed
or intended to signal the presence of a situation requiring the urgent
attention of the Department of Public Safety.
ALARM USER
Any person on whose premises an alarm system is used, operated
or maintained, except for alarm systems on motor vehicles.
AUTOMATIC DIALING DEVICE
Any alarm system which automatically sends over the telephone
lines, by direct connection or otherwise, a prerecorded voice message
or coded signal indicating the existence of an emergency situation.
CENTRAL ALARM STATION
Any facility operated by a private corporation that owns
or leases a system of alarm devices, which facility is manned by operators
who receive, record or validate alarm signals and relay information
about such validated signals to the Department of Public Safety when
appropriate.
CITY
The City of Mount Vernon.
COMMISSIONER
The Commissioner of Public Safety of the City of Mount Vernon.
COUNTY
The County of Westchester.
FALSE ALARM
The activation of an alarm system through mechanical failure,
malfunction, improper installation, improper usage or the negligence
of the owner or lessee of an alarm system or through the error or
negligence of employees, guests or agents of the owner or lessee of
the premises. It shall include all alarm signal activation incidents
in which investigation by the Department of Public Safety reveals
no evidence of the existence of an emergency condition. Those alarm
signals that investigation reveals to have been triggered by physical
damage to the protected premises as a result of hurricane, tornado,
earthquake or other violent natural phenomenon and line trouble signals
received via dedicated telephone lines are excluded from the definition
of "false alarm."
PERSON
Any person, partnership, corporation or unincorporated association.
PROPRIETARY SYSTEM
Any alarm system that does not transmit signals to a monitoring
system off premises or to a law enforcement agency but sounds at a
control center on the protected premises and is under the supervision
of the proprietor of the protected premises. When such an alarm monitors
conditions that may require the response of the Department of Public
Safety personnel, it becomes an alarm system as defined in this chapter.
All alarm business personnel who engage in selling, installing,
servicing or maintaining alarm systems within the City, when engaged
in their trade, shall carry a county alarm agent identification card
issued pursuant to Article XV of Chapter 863 of the Laws of Westchester
County.
The following shall be penalties for the offense of a violation
of provisions of this chapter:
A. For operation or maintenance of an alarm system without the automatic cutoff or standby power supply required by §
83-3A or
B, a fine of up to $50 for each day such offense continues.
B. For maintaining an automatic dialing device or system programmed to access a telephone number of the Department of Public Safety in violation of §
83-6A, a fine of $50 for each time a signal is received from such device.
C. For failure of alarm business personnel to obtain an alarm identification card as required by §
83-4, a fine of not less than $75 nor more than $250.
D. For false alarms as defined in §
83-2, which may occur, the owner or lessee of the premises shall be subject to a fine of $100.
[Amended 9-13-2006, approved 9-14-2006]
If any section, paragraph, clause, phrase or provision of this
chapter shall be adjudged invalid or held unconstitutional, the same
shall not affect the validity of this chapter as a whole or any part
or provision other than the part so decided to be invalid or unconstitutional.
This chapter shall take effect June 1, 1987.