[HISTORY: Adopted by the Town Council of
the Town of Barrington 6-10-1991 as Ord. No. 91-7. Amendments noted
where applicable.]
RHODE ISLAND GENERAL LAWS (AS
AMENDED)
Burglar and hold-up alarm businesses — See
§ 5-57-1 et seq.
Fire alarm systems in apartment houses — See
§ 23-28.16-16.
Penalty for false fire alarms — See
§ 11-44-21.
GENERAL REFERENCES
Fee and Fine Schedule — See Ch. A225.
This chapter shall be known as the "Security
Alarm Ordinance."
The Barrington Town Council has determined that
the number of false or needless alarms in the Town of Barrington is
causing a drain on the resources of the Barrington Police and Fire
Departments. In order to reduce the drain, the Council has drafted
and passed the following.
As used in this chapter, the following terms
shall have the meanings indicated:
Equipment or devices located on real property within the
Town of Barrington, which equipment or devices are arranged to signal
the presence of a hazard requiring urgent attention and to which police
or fire are expected to respond. In this chapter, the term "alarm
system" shall include but shall not be limited to the terms "automatic
holdup alarm systems," "burglar alarm systems," "holdup alarm systems,"
"manual holdup alarm systems," "audible alarm systems" and "fire alarm
systems."
All alarm systems which have the capability of transmitting
to any agency maintained by the Town, such as the police station and/or
Fire Department, whether through telephone lines or a signal system.
Such term shall include the following systems:
ANSWERING SERVICERefers to a telephone answering service providing, among its services, the service of receiving, on a continuous basis, through trained employees, emergency signals from alarm systems and thereafter immediately relaying the message by live voice to the Police Department and/or Fire Department.
REMOTE SIGNALING SYSTEMAn alarm signaling system which, when activated by an alarm device, transmits a signal, including but not limited to an audible signal, from the alarm signaling device to the Police Department and/or Fire Department or other central location, where appropriate action is taken to investigate and respond to the signal.
CENTRAL STATIONRefers to an office to which remote alarm and supervisory signaling devices are connected, where operators supervise the circuits and where guards are maintained continuously to investigate signals which are then reported to the Police and/or Fire Departments.
DIRECT CONNECTRefers to an alarm system which has the capability of transmitting system signals to and receiving them at any agency maintained by the Town, such as the police station and/or Fire Department.
DIRECT LINEA telephone line leading directly from a central station to the communication center of the Police Department and/or Fire Department that is for use only to report emergency signals on a person-to-person basis.
The activation of an alarm system to which the Police and/or
Fire Department responds which is not caused by:
Fire, a criminal act or other emergency.
An act of nature, such as an earthquake, tornado
or hurricane.
Circumstances occurring off the protected property
and not within the control of the subscriber, their alarm company
or their answering service, including but not limited to electrical
power failure.
A person motivated solely by criminal, malicious
or mischievous intent.
A.
The Police Chief may promulgate rules and regulations
to implement this chapter.
B.
The Fire Chief may promulgate rules and regulations
relating to fire alarms to implement this chapter. Said regulations
relating to fire alarms shall be consistent with any regulations adopted
by the Police Chief to implement this chapter.
A.
Any alarm system which is in use prior to the passage
of this chapter must be registered with the Police Department within
60 days of the effective date of this chapter.
B.
Registration with the Police Department shall be required
prior to the installation of any new alarm system.
C.
Registration applications shall include the following
information:
(1)
The name, home address and telephone number of the
applicant;
(2)
The name, address and telephone number of the alarm
company which services and maintains the alarm system, if the alarm
is not serviced or maintained by the applicant; and/or
(3)
The name, address and telephone numbers of at least
two emergency contact people who can gain entrance to the property
and turn off the alarm system, which information shall be updated
yearly.
A.
Permit required.
(1)
A permit shall be required prior to the installation
of any direct connect alarm systems.
(2)
A permit shall be required within 60 days of the effective
date of this chapter for any direct connect alarm system which is
in use on the effective date of this chapter.
(3)
Failure to obtain such a permit will result in a fine
which shall be set and may be amended from time to time by the Town
Council.
B.
Permit application.
(1)
Application shall be made by a subscriber to the Police
Chief or Fire Chief, as appropriate, on a form approved by them.
(2)
At the time of application, the subscriber shall pay
an application fee and all other fees in full, as described herein.
(3)
The Police Chief or Fire Chief shall issue a permit
if the application is complete and signed, all fees are paid and the
Chief determines that the alarm system to be installed meets the requirements
of this chapter, any rules and regulations as may be promulgated by
either or both departments and state law.
A.
The Town may impose a one-time fee for processing
a registration application.
B.
The Town may impose an annual fee for monitoring an
alarm system (direct connect alarm system) interconnected to the Police
Department and/or Fire Department.
C.
The Town shall not impose a fee for answering any
alarm.
D.
The Town shall give written notification to the alarm
owner and impose a fine for any of the following nuisance alarm violations:
(1)
Failure to register an alarm system.
(2)
Failure to obtain the necessary permit for a direct
connect alarm system.
(3)
An audible alarm which does not have an automatic
reset system which turns the signal off automatically after sounding
for 15 minutes, as further described hereinafter.
(4)
The second and all subsequent nuisance alarm violations
within the calendar year, except when the alarm system owner can show
proof that the system has been inspected and found in good working
order.
(5)
The second and all subsequent false alarm violations
made to the Police and/or Fire Departments, through the direct connect
alarm systems, within the calendar year, except when the alarm system
owner can show proof that the system has been inspected and found
in good working order.
A.
No installed audible alarm system shall sound an alarm
for longer than 15 minutes.
B.
After the second false alarm in any calendar year,
the Police Chief or, in cases involving fire alarms, the Fire Chief
shall send a written order to the subscriber instructing them to:
C.
Within five days after this order is sent, the subscriber
shall forward to the Police Chief or, in cases involving fire alarms,
the Fire Chief proof that the alarm system has been inspected and
is in good working order.
A.
The Police Chief or, in cases involving fire alarms,
the Fire Chief shall notify the subscriber by certified mail of any
fine. Within 15 days of the mailing of such notice, the subscriber
may file a written appeal of said charge with the Police Chief or,
if applicable, the Fire Chief. Said notice of appeal shall contain
information to show that the alarm giving rise to the fine was not
a false alarm within the meaning of this chapter. Said notice of appeal
shall also contain a return address to which the Police Chief or,
in cases involving fire alarms, the Fire Chief shall send notice of
their decision.
B.
The Police Chief or, in cases involving fire alarms,
the Fire Chief shall consider the information filed by the subscriber,
reaffirm or rescind the false alarm charge and, within 15 days of
their receipt of said appeal, notify the subscriber of their decision
by certified mail. Such decision shall be final and shall not be subject
to further appeal.
Each subscriber is required to maintain all
components of their alarm system in good working order at all times
to ensure that the sensory mechanism is adjusted to suppress false
indications of holdups or intrusions or fire or smoke conditions so
that the alarm system will not be activated by impulses due to short
flashes of light, wind, noises, vehicular noise or other forces unrelated
to genuine alarms.
A.
In addition to any other penalty set out in this chapter,
if a subscriber and/or alarm business fails to comply with any requirements
of this chapter or any rules and regulations promulgated hereunder,
the Police Chief and/or Fire Chief may order the subscriber to disconnect
the alarm system from the Police Department and/or Fire Department,
as the case may be, and to remove any equipment or indicators connected
in the Police Department and/or Fire Department and shall indicate
in said order that failure to obey shall result in disconnection by
the Town. If the subscriber fails to obey the order within three days
from the receipt of the order, exclusive of Saturdays, Sundays and
holidays, the Town shall disconnect the alarm system and remove any
equipment or indicators at the expense of the violator.
B.
Notification and appeal; termination of service:
(1)
The Police Chief and/or Fire Chief shall notify the
subscriber and/or alarm company of the disconnect order by certified
mail. Within three days of the receipt of said notice, exclusive of
Saturdays, Sundays and holidays, the subscriber and/or alarm company
may file a written appeal of said disconnect order with the Town Manager.
Said notice of appeal shall include an address to which the Town Manager
shall mail a notice of hearing and all other correspondence directed
to the appealing subscriber and/or alarm company. The Town Manager
shall immediately notify the Police Chief and/or Fire Chief of the
receipt of any such appeal.
(2)
Upon receipt of a timely appeal of a disconnect order,
the Town Manager shall schedule a hearing of said appeal to be heard
by the Town Manager. The Town Manager shall set said hearing for a
date not more than 15 days after the receipt of the appeal. Not less
than seven days before said hearing date, the Town Manager shall,
by certified mail, send written notice of the date, time and place
of said hearing to the subscriber and/or alarm company taking the
appeal.
(3)
At said hearing, the appealing subscriber and/or alarm
company and the Police Chief and/or Fire Chief, or their designee,
shall present facts and arguments relevant to the issuance and validity
of the disconnect order.
(4)
Solely on the basis of the hearing record, the Town
Manager shall render a decision and shall, by certified mail, send
written notice of said decision to the subscriber and/or alarm company
within 10 days of the close of the hearing.
(5)
The filing of a notice of appeal of a disconnect order shall stay any such order until a hearing has been held and a decision rendered thereon; provided, however, that if the Police Chief and/or Fire Chief finds that the public health, safety or welfare imperatively requires emergency action and states that finding and the factual basis therefor in their written disconnect order, the filing of a notice of appeal shall not affect a stay of the order, and the terms of Subsection D of this section shall operate as if no appeal had been filed, pending a hearing and a decision thereon. At the time the Police Chief and/or Fire Chief sends written notice of an emergency disconnect order to a subscriber and/or alarm company, they shall send a copy of said order to the Town Manager. Within five business days of the receipt of a written notice of appeal of such an emergency disconnect order, the Town Manager shall conduct a hearing thereon, giving the appealing subscriber and/or alarm company written and whatever other notice the Town Manager deems necessary of the date, time and place of said hearing. Said hearing shall be conducted in the manner described hereinabove. The Town Manager shall, by certified mail, send to the subscriber and/or alarm business written notice of their decision of said appeal within three business days of the close of the hearing.
(6)
The Town Manager may designate one or more Town supervisory
employees to perform the duties ascribed to them in this chapter;
provided, however, that they shall not, in any case, appoint an officer,
employee or other member of the Police or Fire Department to perform
any of such duties.
C.
Each notice of a disconnect order shall refer to and
provide instructions concerning the subscriber's and/or alarm company's
right to appeal.
D.
Fines. In addition to any other penalty set out in
this chapter, failure of any subscriber and/or alarm company to comply
with the requirements of a written notice or order by the Police Chief
or Fire Chief of a violation of any provision hereof within three
days of receipt of such notice or order, exclusive of Saturdays, Sundays
and holidays, shall also constitute an offense punishable by a fine
which shall be set and may be amended from time to time by the Town
Council. Such notice shall continue in force and effect until full
compliance with the requirements stated herein, and each and every
failure to comply with such notice within 24 hours after the three
days allowed for compliance shall constitute a separate offense; provided,
however, that if a subscriber and/or alarm company files a timely
notice of appeal of any such notice or order, then the provisions
of this subsection shall take effect only after a written notice of
affirmation of said order or notice is received by said subscriber
and/or alarm company.
The Police Chief and the Fire Chief shall jointly
compile a continuous record of all false alarms and of all written
notices and orders given to subscribers and alarm companies. Such
record shall indicate the number and frequency of false alarms and
shall separately state the number of false alarms received from residences
and from businesses.
The Town of Barrington shall not be liable for
any defects in the operation of any signal line system (direct connect
alarm system), for any failure or neglect to respond appropriately
upon receipt of an alarm from such a source, for any failure or neglect
of any person in connection with the installation, operation, disconnection
or removal of equipment, the transmission of alarm signals or the
relaying of such signals or messages.
