[HISTORY: Adopted by the Board of Commissioners of the Town of West New York as indicated in article histories. Amendments noted where applicable.]
GENERAL REFERENCES
Police Department — See Ch. 80.
Burglary prevention — See Ch. 142.
[Adopted 8-20-1980 by Ord. No. 1409; amended in its entirety 12-17-2003 by Ord. No. 23/03]
Whereas, the public interest requires the enactment of rules, regulations, standards and procedures to regulate and control alarms in the Town of West New York to the end that;
(1)
The municipal department and agencies charged with the protection of public safety may efficiently and economically coordinate response to alarm offsets in the Town of West New York;
(2)
The quality of response and handling of alarm offsets rendered to the public may be improved and maintained at a high level;
(3)
The regulation of alarm and alarm offsets will decrease the amount of false alarm offsets. The time spent on response to false offsets can be used to better serve the residents of the Town of West New York, County of Hudson, State of New Jersey, as follows:
Now therefore, be it ordained by the Board of Commissioners of the Town of West New York, County of Hudson, State of New Jersey, as follows:
As used in this article, the hereinafter defined words and phrases shall, subject to the provisions of the Revised Ordinances of the Town of West New York, have the following meanings:
ALARM
When used without a qualifying adjective, encompasses alarm devices, alarm systems, dual alarms and local alarms.
ALARM DEVICE
Any mechanism designed to actuate an alarm.
ALARM SYSTEM
The installation in one or more buildings of one or more alarm devices or local alarms for the express purpose of giving visual or audible warning, or both, of an emergency such as burglary, intrusion, fire, smoke, flood or like perils.
DIAL ALARM
An alarm device that employs an automatic dialing system precoded to dial the West New York Police Department or 911.
FALSE ALARM
The actuation of an alarm system by cause or for reasons other than those to which the alarm system was designed or intended to respond.
LOCAL ALARM
Any mechanism that constitutes, in whole or in part, an alarm system that is not connected to a central station, which produces its own signal when activated.
OCCUPANT
A commercial person in possession of premises in or upon which an alarm system exists.
PERSON
Any natural person, corporation, partnership, or any other organization or association.
A. 
No dial alarm shall be permitted to be in operation in the municipality and/or connected directly to the West New York Police Department or 911.
B. 
All dial alarms must be connected to a central monitoring station or service capable of screening false alarms and notifying police or fire services of the need for assistance.
No person shall possess any alarm system unless the alarm system has been registered with the West New York Police Department as follows:
A. 
Local alarm system.
(1) 
A local alarm system shall be deemed registered when the occupant to the building in which it is installed shall have filed with the Licensing Bureau of the West New York Police Department a registration form, which shall include, among other data, the location of the device, the name of the installer of said device, the type of device, provisions relating to false alarms and testing procedures, a list of persons to be contacted in the event of an alarm activation and other information as may be required by the West New York Police Department.
(2) 
It shall be the duty of the occupant of a building served by a local alarm system, within 10 days after a change in information previously submitted to the Town, to file a supplemental or revised registration containing accurate, current information with respect to the data required by the registration form.
(3) 
An annual fee of $25, payable to the Licensing Bureau, shall be made for the filing of any local alarm registration. This fee shall be payable on or before the first day of each calendar year. Failure to make payment for a local alarm registration shall be deemed a violation of this article. Failure to make payment by the 31st of January shall cause a penalty of an additional $10 for the alarm fee.
B. 
Central station connected alarm systems.
(1) 
Any alarm which is connected to a central station shall be deemed registered when the occupant to the building in which it is installed shall have filed with the Licensing Bureau of the West New York Police Department a registration form, which shall include, among other data, the location of the device, the name of the installer of said device, the type of device, the name and telephone number for the central monitoring service, provisions relating to false alarms and testing procedures, a list of persons to be contacted in the event of an alarm activation and other information as may be required by the West New York Police Department.
(2) 
It shall be the duty of the occupant of the building served by the alarm system which is connected to a central station to notify the West New York Police Department within 10 days of any change in information previously submitted the Town. This shall be accomplished by filing a supplemental or revised registration containing accurate current information with respect to the data required by the registration form.
(3) 
An annual fee of $25, payable to the West New York Police Licensing Bureau, shall be made for the filing of a registration for any alarm connected to a central station. This fee shall be payable on or before the first day of each calendar year. Failure to make payment for an alarm registration, shall be deemed a violation of this article. Failure to make payment by the 31st of January, shall cause a penalty of an additional $10 for the alarm fee.
A. 
In the case of a false alarm, the Director of Police shall cause an investigation to be made and keep a record of said alarm on file. The first and second false alarms in any given calendar year shall be deemed to be a warning. For the third false alarm in the same calendar year, a penalty of $100 shall be paid to the Town of West New York, and for the fourth false alarm, a fine of $200 shall be paid to the Town. For the fifth alarm or any alarm offset thereafter, a fine of $1,000 shall be imposed. If the investigation by the West New York Police Department discloses continued abuse of the privilege of the alarm and a failure of the occupant to take remedial steps to avoid false alarms, the Town shall have the right to require disconnection of the alarm for a limited or permanent time. No such alarm license shall be revoked or suspended without giving the occupant an opportunity to show cause before a committee comprised of three members of the West New York Board of Commissioners.
B. 
Multiple alarm activations received on the same day prior to the start of a business day shall be counted as one alarm. This is for warning or summons purposes. The alarm activation by installers/service persons, employees, or owners of the alarm system, without proper notification of the West New York Police Department, shall be deemed an offset for warning or summons purposes.
A. 
The occupant holding a West New York Police Department alarm license shall be responsible on a twenty-four-hour-per-day basis for his or her alarm system. It is also his/her responsibility to advise the West New York Police Department of any malfunctioning of an alarm.
B. 
In the event any agency providing public safety services for the Town of West New York, including but not limited to police, fire or signal bureau personnel, is required to service any alarm in the Town in an emergency or due to lack of immediate availability of needed service by the licensee or for any other reason, including local alarms, such service shall be at a cost of $100, to be billed to and paid by the registered owner of such alarm system. Failure to pay such service charge within 30 days of billing shall be a violation of this article.
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, disconnection, 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 with the Town Clerk and the Director of Police, whereupon the governing body shall promptly conduct a hearing and affirm, modify or reverse the decision appealed from.
The West New York Police Department may promulgate rules and regulations supplementing this article in order to provide for recordkeeping and efficient management of alarm systems; provided, however, that said rules and regulations or any revisions thereof shall not take effect until first approved by resolution of the West New York Board of Commissioners.
In addition to the revocation of his/her license or permit and the disconnection of his/her alarm system(s), any person who fails to comply with the provisions of this article or with any of the rules and regulations duly promulgated pursuant hereto may, if found guilty of such violation, be subject to a fine of not more than $1,000 for each incidence or to imprisonment for a period not exceeding 90 days, or both, in the discretion of the court. In the case of a continuing violation, the violator may be found guilty of as many separate offenses as the number of days he is proved to have continued the violation.