[Adopted 7-21-1986 by Ord. No. 32-86
(Sec. 5-14 of the 1973 Revised General Ordinances)]
The Township Council does hereby find and declare that:
A.
The occupants of numerous residential, commercial and
industrial establishments in the Township of Old Bridge have found it desirable
to make provision for the installation, upon their premises, at their own
cost and expense, of alarm systems for emergencies, such as burglar, fire
and like alarms.
B.
There is a growing number of alarm companies that sell
or lease such alarm systems entering into contracts with such occupants for
the installation, operation and maintenance of such alarm systems and providing
for the connection to the individual alarm system so installed by them to
a central location or to an alarm panel installed in the Township of Old Bridge
Department of Police.[1]
C.
The number of private enterprises engaged in the alarm
business, each with its own system and equipment, has resulted in conditions
that, if not remedied, will lead to an unnecessary drain on the manpower,
time, space facilities and finances of the Township of Old Bridge and its
Police Department and the deterioration of the quality of service to persons
subscribing to the alarm services and inequities among the alarm businesses
in the Township of Old Bridge.[2]
The purpose of this article is to provide standards and regulations
for various types of local alarms, burglar, fire and other emergency alarm
devices, whether by direct line, telephone or other means, actuating devices
at the Old Bridge Police Headquarters requiring a response by the Police Department
or Fire Department.
The provisions of this article shall apply to any person, other than
the municipality, who operates, maintains or owns any alarm device or local
alarm designed to summon the Police or Fire Department to any location in
response to any type of alarm signal. The terms of this article shall in no
way prohibit alarm companies from providing services by private sources to
other offices within or without the Township of Old Bridge so long as such
activity is not connected to the alarm panel. Any person having premises protected
by a local alarm shall be responsible for the registration thereof.
As used in this article, the following terms shall have the meanings
indicated:
Any type of alarm system actuating equipment in the alarm panel or
alarm register providing warning of intrusion, fire, smoke, flood or other
peril.
That component installed in the console of the law enforcement building
containing alarm indications and designations.
The installation in one or more buildings of one or more devices
or local alarms for the express purpose of giving visual or audible warning,
or both, of an emergency such as burglary, intrusion, fire or smoke.
Any alarm device which, when activated, transmits a signal to a remote
location indicating an alarm condition. This type of alarm may or may not
have a local bell, depending on its design.
The console or control panel of devices giving visual or audio indications,
or both, and general communications located within the confines of the Department
of Police.[1]
That type of device that employs an automatic dialing system precoded
to connect with a special telephone in the law enforcement building rather
than to the alarm panel.
Any alarm device which, when activated, transmits a signal directly
to the alarm panel at police headquarters via telephone lease lines.
The actuation of an alarm system by causes other than those to which
the alarm system was designed or intended to respond. Testing of the alarm
system without prior approval of the Department of Police shall be considered
a "false alarm."[2]
The person obtaining the license to install, operate and maintain
the alarm panel at the Old Bridge Police Headquarters.
Any alarm device which, when activated, sounds a warning bell at
the location of the alarmed premises and does not transmit any type of signal
to another location.
Any person owning or leasing an alarm device of any type within the
Township of Old Bridge.
Includes any natural person, partnership, corporation or association
or any other legal entity.
A.
There is hereby established an alarm panel licensee which
will be granted a license upon the recommendation of the Township Council.
B.
Any such licensee shall have exclusive use and control
of the alarm panel which shall be installed in the communications console
in the law enforcement building in accordance with the specifications, except
for use by the Police Department of the Township of Old Bridge. Such licensee
shall be responsible, at no cost to the Township of Old Bridge, for the furnishing,
installing, operating and maintaining of said panel containing equipment and
being of a design approved by the Director of Police of the Township of Old
Bridge. Said licensee shall locate said panel, if necessary, under the supervision
of the Director of Police at no cost to the Township of Old Bridge.[1]
A.
Every person desiring to install an alarm system within
the Township of Old Bridge shall make application to the Director of Police
for a permit to do so. The application shall be in such form as the Director
of Police shall prescribe and shall set forth all information required by
the Director to enable him to effectively carry out his public safety responsibilities.
As part of said application, the permittee shall provide an agreement to release
the Township of Old Bridge and its officers, agents and employees from any
and all liability or damages which may flow or result from any and all actions
of said Township of Old Bridge and its agents, servants or employees and,
further, to indemnify and save harmless the Township of Old Bridge and its
officers, agents and employees for or on account of any acts or omissions
directly or indirectly related to the installation, operation or maintenance
of the alarm panel and alarm register and the connection of the applicant's
alarm system thereto.[1]
C.
The permittee shall pay to the Township of Old Bridge
a processing fee of $10 with each alarm application submitted. If any person
has an alarm system in existence at the time of passage of this subsection,
said person shall have until December 31, 1986, to make application to the
Director of Police for a permit for said alarm system without payment of the
processing fee.
[Amended 9-2-1986 by Ord. No. 41-86[3]]
D.
Every permittee shall, by acceptance of the permit, be
deemed as having consented to the inspection of the alarm system, by appointment
at reasonable hours, by the Director of Police or his designated representative
and shall accept the responsibility for the proper operation of the alarm
system up to and including the line connection, if any, to the Public Safety
Building.[4]
E.
Any person installing or maintaining unauthorized equipment
shall be prosecuted for violation of this section, and each and every day
the equipment is in operation shall be considered a separate violation.
F.
Any licensee and/or permittee for an alarm shall provide
for a representative to be on call for emergency repair service. In each case
wherein the alarm is connected directly to police headquarters, the service
shall be provided within eight hours of notification by the Police Department
of any malfunction of any equipment.
G.
In the case of false alarms, any person having knowledge
thereof shall immediately notify the Police Department. In addition, in the
case of false alarms, the Director of Police shall cause an investigation
to be made and keep a record of said alarms on file. For such false alarms,
the following penalties shall be imposed:
[Amended 9-21-1992 by Ord. No. 38-92[5]]
(1)
For three false alarms in any given calendar year, a
warning may be issued.
(2)
For the fourth and subsequent false alarms in the same
calendar year, an administrative charge may be made in the amount of $50 for
each such false alarm.
(3)
Where the investigation of the Police Department discloses
continued abuse of the privilege of connection to the alarm panel, the Director
of Police reserves the right to order a disconnection from the alarm panel
for a limited or permanent time, provided that no such permit shall be revoked
or suspended without giving the permittee an opportunity to show cause before
the Director of Police why such action should not be taken.
(4)
A person shall be excused from liability for a false
alarm if it can be demonstrated to the investigating officer or the court
that the alarm occurred because of telephone line interference or other similar
reason beyond the control of the licensee and/or permittee. Failure to make
necessary repairs to an alarm system shall not be an adequate excuse for a
false alarm, nor shall the negligence of employees in setting or disarming
the system be considered an adequate excuse for false alarms.
H.
Reasons for rejection of application are a prior history
of excessive false alarms and/or failure to pay fees or charges.
A.
Applicants desiring to connect directly to the alarm
panel at police headquarters shall be accommodated on a first-come, first-serve
basis. Commercial or residential alarms may be accepted.
B.
An additional fee for this service must be paid to the
alarm panel licensee at the following rates: Connection, $70; monthly maintenance,
$7; high security line connection, $125; and monthly maintenance, $7.
C.
If this system is equipped with a local bell, it shall
have a time-relay or other device which will limit the operation of said bell
to not more than 15 minutes.
A.
All alarm systems which are connected directly to a central
office operated by various alarm companies or local, on-site, alarm systems
shall be required to submit an approved application and payment of a processing
fee of $10, made payable to the Township of Old Bridge.
B.
All central office alarm systems, when equipped with
a local bell, and all local alarm systems shall have a time-relay or other
device which will limit the operation of said bell to 15 minutes or less.
C.
If any person has a central office or local alarm system
in existence at the time of passage of this article, he or she shall have
60 days from the effective date of this article to register said alarm and
pay the appropriate fee.
A.
All dialer-type alarm systems shall be required to submit
an approved application and payment of a processing fee of $10, payable to
the Township of Old Bridge.
B.
Dialer alarms must be the type accepted by the Federal
Communications Commission and connected in a manner approved by Federal Communications
Commission regulations.
C.
All dial alarms shall be coded to dial a specific number
provided by the Department of Police. In addition, the system must be coded
to notify a third party, who shall be named in the registration required by
this article.[1]
D.
All dial alarms shall be capable of being disconnected
by the owner to permit a call to the police switchboard in the event that
a false alarm occurs.
E.
Owners of dial alarms shall be governed by the false
alarm procedures and penalties set forth in this article.
F.
If any person has a dial alarm system in existence at
the time of passage of this article he shall have 60 days in which to reprogram
his equipment to comply with the terms of this article and to register the
system with the Department of Police and submit the required ten-dollar processing
fee.[2]
G.
If any dial alarm shall hereafter be found to be in operation
without being registered, the occupant of the building or other person in
whose name the telephone is listed shall be sent a notice, in writing, by
the Director of Police requiring compliance with the terms of this article.
If the occupant or telephone subscriber shall fail to comply within 10 days
after receipt of such notice, he shall be liable to the penalties as set forth
in this article.[3]
H.
The contents of any recorded message from a dial alarm
must be intelligible and in a format approved by the Director of Police. No
such message shall be transmitted more than three times as a result of a single
stimulus of the mechanism. Messages shall not exceed 15 seconds, and the time
gap between delivery shall be approximately 10 seconds.[4]
I.
The sensory mechanism of dial alarms shall be adjusted
so as to suppress false indications and not to be actuated by impulses due
to pressure changes in water pipes, short flashes of light, wind, noises,
rattling or vibration of doors or windows or other forces unrelated to general
alarms.
J.
All components of dial alarms shall be maintained by
the owner in good repair. When evidence exists that there has been a failure
to comply with the operational requirements of this article, the Director
of Police is then authorized to demand that such device be disconnected until
such time as compliance with such requirements is reestablished.[5]
K.
This device should provide an automatic line seizure
feature in the event that this line is busy with an incoming or outgoing call.
The Township of Old Bridge shall be under no duty or obligation to any
permittee hereunder or to any alarm panel licensee hereunder, the alarm panel
and allied equipment being maintained at will and subject to termination at
any time by cancellation of the system by the Director of Police, provided
that 10 days' notice is given, in writing, to said permittees.
Whenever, under the provisions of this article, the Director of Police
or any authorized representative he may have designated is empowered to make
a decision with respect to the installation, operation and maintenance of
any alarm equipment or with respect to the issuance or denial of any application
relating thereto, any person aggrieved by said decision may, within 10 days
following said decision, file a written appeal therefrom with the Business
Administrator of the Township of Old Bridge, who shall conduct a hearing and
affirm, modify or reverse the decision appealed from.
The Township Council may, from time to time, promulgate rules and regulations
supplementing this article in order to provide for recordkeeping and efficient
management of said system.
[Amended 9-21-1992 by Ord. No. 38-92[1]]
Any person, firm or corporation which shall violate any of the terms of this article, other than the provisions governing false alarms, shall be subject to the issuance of a summons, returnable in Old Bridge Municipal Court, and shall be subject to a fine of not less than $25 nor more than the penalties set forth in Chapter 1, Article II, Penalty.
