As used in this chapter, the following terms shall have the
meanings indicated:
ADVISORY BOARD
Persons designated by a governing authority that should be
representative of the community, alarm industry, and law enforcement.
The Advisory Board should review and recommend false alarm reduction
efforts and report to the governing authority (City Council, County
Board, etc.).
ALARM ADMINISTRATOR
A person or persons designated by the governing authority
to administer, control and review false alarm reduction efforts.
ALARM COMPANY
The business, by an individual, partnership, corporation
or other entity, of selling, leasing, maintaining, servicing, repairing,
altering, replacing, moving, installing or monitoring an alarm system
in an alarm site.
ALARM DISPATCH REQUEST
A notification to a law enforcement agency that an alarm,
either manual or automatic, has been activated at a particular alarm
site.
ALARM REGISTRATION (or PERMITS)
The notification by an alarm company or an alarm user of
the Alarm Administrator that an alarm system has been installed and
is in use.
ALARM REVIEW BOARD
Should consist of five members as follows: The Chief of Police
or designee, Borough Secretary or designee, member of Borough Council
or designee, a representative of the Fire Department or designee,
and an at-large appointee of the Borough Council that cannot be resolved
at a first level. All appointees shall serve at the pleasure of Council.
ALARM SITE
A single fixed premises or location served by an alarm system
or systems. Each tenancy, if served by a separate alarm system in
a multitenant building or complex, shall be considered a separate
alarm site.
ALARM SYSTEM
A device or series of devices, including, but not limited
to, systems interconnected with a radio frequency method such as cellular
or private radio signals, which emit or transmit a remote or local
audible, visual or electronic signal indicating an alarm condition
and intended to summon law enforcement services of the municipality,
including local alarm system. "Alarm systems" does not include an
alarm installed in a vehicle or person unless the vehicle or personal
alarm is permanently located at a site.
ALARM USER
Any person, firm, partnership, corporation or other entity
who (which) uses or is in control of any alarm system at its alarm
site.
ALARM USER AWARENESS CLASS
A class conducted by the municipality or law enforcement
agency for the purpose of educating alarm users about the problems
created by false alarms and responsible use and operation of alarm
systems.
AUTOMATIC VOICE DIALER
Any electrical, electronic, mechanical or other device capable
of being programmed to send a prerecorded voice message, when activated,
over a telephone line, radio or other communication system to a law
enforcement agency.
CANCELLATION or RESPONDING AGENCY ALARM DISPATCH CANCELLATIONS
The process by which an alarm company providing monitoring
verifies with the alarm user or responsible party that a false dispatch
has occurred and that there is not an existing situation at the alarm
site requiring law enforcement agency response.
CONVERSION
The transaction or process by which one alarm company begins
monitoring of a previously unmonitored alarm system or an alarm system
previously monitored by another alarm company.
DURESS ALARM
A silent alarm system signal generated by the manual activation
of a device intended to signal a life-threatening situation or a crime
in progress requiring law enforcement response.
FALSE ALARM
An alarm dispatch request to a law enforcement agency, when
the responding officer finds no evidence of a criminal offense or
attempted criminal offense after having completed a timely investigation
of the alarm site.
HOLDUP ALARM
A silent alarm signal generated by the manual activation
of a device intended to signal a robbery in progress.
KEYPAD
A device that allows control of an alarm system by the manual
entering of a coded sequence of numbers or letters.
LAW ENFORCEMENT AUTHORITY
The Commissioner, Superintendent, Sheriff and Chief of Police,
director of a law enforcement agency or an authorized representative.
The term "law enforcement authority" is also to include fire chiefs,
public safety officials, emergency management coordinator or authorized
representatives of same.
[Amended 6-12-2018 by Ord. No.
889]
LICENSE
A license issued to an alarm company to sell, install, monitor,
repair or replace alarm systems by an authority having jurisdiction.
LOCAL ALARM SYSTEM
Any alarm system that annunciates an alarm only by an internal
or external audio device.
MONITORING
The process by which an alarm company receives signals from
an alarm system and relays an alarm dispatch request to the municipality
for the purpose of summoning law enforcement response to the alarm
site.
ONE PLUS DURESS ALARM
The manual activation of a silent alarm signal by entering
at a keypad a code that adds one to the last digit of the normal arm/disarm
code (normal code = 1234; one plus duress code = 1235).
PANIC
An audible alarm system signal generated by the manual activation
of a device intended to signal a life-threatening or emergency situation
requiring law enforcement response.
PERSON
An individual, corporation, partnership, association, organization
or similar entity.
TAKEOVER
The transaction or process by which an alarm user takes over
control of an existing alarm system, which was previously controlled
by another alarm user.
VERIFY
An attempt, by the alarm company or its representative, to
contact the alarm site by telephonic or other electronic means, whether
or not actual contact with a person is made, before requesting law
enforcement dispatch, in an attempt to avoid an unnecessary alarm
dispatch request.
ZONES
Subdivisions into which an alarm system is divided to indicate
the general location from which an alarm system signal is transmitted.
A tenant of an apartment with an alarm system shall obtain an
alarm registration from Baldwin Borough before operating or causing
the operation of an alarm system in the tenant's residential
unit. The owner or property manager of an apartment complex shall
obtain a separate alarm registration of any alarm system operated
in offices or common areas of the apartment complex. The annual fee
for these registrations or the renewal of these registrations shall
be the same as the fee for a commercial alarm site. Each building,
regardless of the number of units contained therein, shall be deemed
as one commercial alarm site and shall pay the annual registration
fee for a commercial alarm site.
A registration shall expire one year from the date of issuance
and must be renewed annually by submitting an updated application
and a registration renewal fee to Baldwin Borough. Baldwin Borough
shall notify each alarm user of the need to renew 30 days prior to
the expiration date. Failure to renew will be classified as use of
a nonregistered alarm system, and citations and penalties shall be
assessed without waiver. A twenty-five-dollar late fee can be assessed
if the renewal is more than 30 days late.
Baldwin Borough can appeal to an appropriate governmental body regulating the alarm company to suspend or revoke the alarm company's license when the alarm company fails to comply with the duties listed in §
62-7. In the event Baldwin Borough cannot obtain required information about the alarm company from the governmental body regulating the alarm company, Baldwin Borough can require the alarm company to supply the required information in a registration with Baldwin Borough.
Any person who shall violate any provision of this chapter shall,
upon conviction thereof, before the District Magistrate, pursuant
to citation filed, be sentenced to pay a fine of not less than $50
nor more than $300 and cost of prosecution or, in default of payment
of such fine and costs, to undergo imprisonment for not more than
30 days.
Information contained in registration application and applications
for appeals shall be held in confidence by all employees or representatives
of the municipality and by any third-party administrator or employees
of a third-party administrator with access to such information.
Registration of an alarm system is not intended to, nor will
it, create a contract, duty or obligation, either expressed or implied,
of response. Any and all liability and consequential damage resulting
from the failure to respond to a notification is hereby disclaimed
and governmental immunity as provided by law is retained. By registering
an alarm system, the alarm user acknowledges that police response
may be based on factors such as availability of police units, priority
of calls, weather conditions, traffic conditions, emergency conditions,
staffing levels.