As used in this chapter, the following terms shall have the
meanings indicated:
ALARM ADMINISTRATOR
A member of the Hillside Police Department designated by
the Chief to administer, control and review false alarm reduction
efforts, provide reports regarding alarm response statistics and administer
the provisions of this chapter.
ALARM INSTALLATION COMPANY
A person or entity in the business of selling, providing,
maintaining, servicing, repairing, altering, replacing, moving or
installing an alarm system in an alarm site.
ALARM NOTIFICATION
A timely verbal report to the Hillside Police Department
that an alarm, either manual or automatic, has been activated at a
particular alarm site.
ALARM REGISTRATION
Authorization in accordance with this chapter granted by
the Alarm Administrator to an alarm user to operate an alarm system.
ALARM SITE
A single fixed premises or location served by an alarm system
or systems. Each unit, if served by a separate alarm system in a multi-unit
building or complex, and each building or other separate structure
shall be considered a separate alarm site.
ALARM SYSTEM
A device or series of devices, including, but not limited
to, hardwired systems and 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 or fire
response, including local alarm systems. The term "alarm system" does
not include an alarm installed in a vehicle or on someone's person
unless the vehicle or the personal alarm is permanently located at
a site.
ALARM USER
Any person or entity who has contracted for or otherwise
engaged monitoring, repair, installation or maintenance service from
an alarm installation company or monitoring company for an alarm system,
or who owns or operates an alarm system which is not monitored, maintained
or repaired under contract.
ARMING STATION
A manually operated device that allows control of an alarm
system.
AUTOMATIC VOICE DIALER
Any electrical, electronic, mechanical, or other device capable
of being programmed to send a pre-recorded voice message, when activated,
over a telephone line, radio or other communication system, to a law
enforcement, public safety or emergency services agency requesting
dispatch.
CANCELLATION
Verbal notification to the Hillside Police Department by
a monitoring company (designated by the alarm user), subsequent to
an alarm notification for the alarm site, that there is no emergency
at the alarm site requiring a Police or Fire Department response.
CHIEF
The Chief of the Hillside Police Department.
CONVERSION
The transaction or process by which one alarm installation
company or monitoring company begins the servicing and/or monitoring
of a previously unmonitored alarm system or an alarm system previously
serviced and/or maintained by another alarm company.
FALSE ALARM
An alarm dispatch request to the Hillside Police Department,
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 and there is no indication that an abnormal weather
condition or other severe event could have caused the generation of
an alarm. "False alarm" also means an alarm dispatch request to the
Hillside Fire Department, when the responding firefighter does not
find any evidence of a fire or fire emergency after completing a timely
investigation of the alarm site.
FALSE ALARM PREVENTION TUTORIAL
A brief informational video (less than 15 minutes), brochure
or online presentation that shall be approved by the Alarm Administrator
and made readily available at no cost to the alarm user. Said tutorial
may include a "question and answer" portion to ensure understanding
of the information presented.
HOLDUP ALARM
A silent alarm signal generated by the manual activation
of a device intended to signal a robbery in progress at the alarm
site.
LICENSE
A license issued by the State of New Jersey to an alarm installation
company or monitoring company to sell, install, monitor, repair, maintain
or replace alarm systems.
LOCAL ALARM SYSTEM
Any alarm system which is not monitored and which annunciates
an alarm condition only at or near the alarm site.
MONITORING
The process by which a monitoring company receives alarm
signals and other alarm system condition signals from alarm systems
and relays alarm notifications to the Hillside Police Department or
other emergency response agencies.
MONITORING COMPANY
A person or entity in the business of providing alarm monitoring
services.
NONRESIDENTIAL
As it pertains to an alarm site, shall mean any alarm site
other than an alarm site meeting the definition of "residential,"
as set forth herein.
PANIC ALARM
An audible alarm system signal generated by the manual activation
of the device intended to signal a personal safety or other emergency
situation requiring an immediate emergency response.
PERSON
An individual, corporation, limited liability company, partnership,
association, organization or similar entity.
RESIDENTIAL
As it pertains to an alarm site, shall mean any one-to-four-family-dwelling-unit
building, or any single-dwelling unit within a multiple-dwelling-unit
building of any size, if said unit is served by a separate alarm system.
RESPONDER
An individual capable of reaching the alarm site within 30
minutes and having access to the alarm site, the operating codes for
the alarm system and the authority to approve repairs to the alarm
system.
SIA CONTROL PANEL STANDARD CP-01
The ANSI (American National Standard Institute)-approved
SIA (Security Industry Association) CP-01 Control Panel Standard,
as may be updated from time to time, that details recommended design
features for security system control panels and their associated arming
and disarming devices to reduce the incidence of false alarms. Control
panels built and tested to this standard by Underwriters Laboratory
(UL), or other nationally recognized testing organizations, will be
marked to state: "Design evaluated in accordance with SIA CP-01 Control
Panel Standard Features for False Alarm Reduction."
TAKEOVER
The transaction or process by which an alarm user assumes
or acquires ownership of an existing alarm system which was previously
owned by another alarm user.
VERIFY
An attempt by a monitoring company, or its representative,
to contact the alarm site and/or alarm user by telephone and/or other
electronic means, whether or not actual contact with a person is made,
to determine whether an alarm signal is valid before requesting law
enforcement dispatch, in an attempt to avoid an unnecessary alarm
dispatch request. For the purpose of this chapter, telephone verification
shall require as a minimum that a second call be made to a different
number if the first attempt fails to reach an alarm user who can properly
identify himself/herself to determine whether an alarm signal is valid
before requesting emergency response.
ZONE
A division of devices into which an alarm system is divided
to indicate the general location from which an alarm system signal
is transmitted.
[Amended 5-22-2012 by Ord. No. O-12-009]
An alarm registration shall expire 12 months from the date of issuance and must be renewed annually by submitting an updated application to the Alarm Administrator. The Alarm Administrator shall notify in writing each alarm user of the need to renew 30 days prior to the expiration of the registration. It is the responsibility of the alarm user to submit a renewal application prior to the registration expiration date. Failure to renew will be classified as use of a nonregistered alarm system and penalties may be assessed in accordance with this chapter. A late fee of $25 shall be assessed if a complete renewal application is not received by the Alarm Administrator within 30 days after the renewal date. A renewal application will not be deemed complete until the applicable renewal fee (as set forth in §
106-3B of this chapter) has been received by the Alarm Administrator. If a renewal application is submitted more than six months after the annual registration renewal date, then, for the purposes of this chapter, the application will be considered an initial alarm registration, and all applicable fees for an initial alarm registration will apply.
All alarm installation companies and monitoring companies shall
maintain any and all licenses required by the State of New Jersey.
The Alarm Administrator shall notify the alarm user in writing
after each false alarm. The notification shall include the amount
of the fee for the false alarm, and a description of the appeals procedure
available to the alarm user.
In the interest of public safety, all information contained
in and gathered through the alarm registration applications and applications
for appeals shall, to the extent permissible under New Jersey Law,
be held in confidence by all employees or representatives of the Police
or Fire Department and by any third-party administrator or employees
of a third-party administrator with access to such information.
Alarm registration is not intended, nor shall it be construed,
to create any contract, duty or obligation on the part of the Township
of Hillside, either expressed or implied, to respond to any alarm.
The Township expressly retains all governmental, and other, defenses,
immunities, indemnities and protections from liability as provided
by law. Nothing within this chapter shall be construed to impose any
greater liability upon the Township for any claims, losses or damages,
including consequential damages, resulting directly or indirectly
from the Township's complete or partial response, or failure
to respond, to an alarm or alarm notification, than are otherwise
afforded to the Township and its police, fire and other employees,
officials and agents under state and federal law, rule and regulation.
By applying for an alarm registration, an alarm user acknowledges
that the Township's ability to respond to an alarm may be influenced
by various factors, such as the availability of officers or firefighters,
priority of calls, weather conditions, traffic conditions, emergency
conditions, staffing levels, funding, availability of resources and
prior response history.