[HISTORY: Adopted by the Board of Supervisors of the Township of Exeter 3-24-2003 by Ord. No. 546. Amendments noted where applicable.]
GENERAL REFERENCES
Fire prevention — See Ch. 177.
Key lock boxes — See Ch. 225.
This chapter shall be known and may be cited as the "Exeter Township Ordinance Regulating Audible/Inaudible Fire and Police Alarm Systems."
A. 
The purpose of this chapter is to encourage alarm users and alarm companies to properly use and maintain the operational effectiveness and utilization of alarm systems and to reduce or eliminate false alarms, which may unduly divert law enforcement from responding to criminal activity and firefighters from responding to actual fires.
B. 
This chapter governs systems intended to summon law enforcement and/or fire response and requires registration, establishes fees, provides for penalties for violations and establishes a system of administration.
As used in this chapter, the following terms shall have the meanings indicated:
ALARM ADMINISTRATOR
A person or persons designated by the Board of Supervisors 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 PERMITS
A notification by an alarm company or an alarm user to the Alarm Administrator that an alarm system has been installed and is in use.
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 or fire service of the Township, including local alarm system. Alarm system does not include an alarm installed on 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.
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 or fire agency.
CANCELLATION OR RESPONDING AGENCY ALARM DISPATCH CANCELLATION
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 or fire apparatus 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 or fire agency, when the responding officer or firefighter finds no evidence of a criminal offense, attempted criminal offense or fire after having completed a timely investigation of the alarm site.
FIRE COMPANY AUTHORITY
The person in charge of the Fire Department or any of his/her designees.
[Amended 8-13-2016 by Ord. No. 802]
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 Chief of Police or his designee.
LOCAL ALARM SYSTEM
Any alarm system that annunciates an alarm only by an internal or external audio device.
MONITORING
The process by which the alarm company receives signals from an alarm system and relays an alarm dispatch request to Township for the purpose of summoning law enforcement or fire apparatus response to the alarm site.
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 or fire 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.
[Amended 8-13-2007 by Ord. No. 640]
A. 
No alarm user shall operate, or cause to be operated, an alarm system at its alarm site without a valid alarm permit issued by the Alarm Administrator. A separate permit is required for each alarm site. This includes alarm systems programmed with duress alarm or holdup alarm.
B. 
Notwithstanding the language contained herein, it shall not be unlawful for a person to continue to operate an alarm system on the person's premises without an alarm permit, after the effective date of this chapter, provided that said alarm system was in operation on the effective date of this chapter, until such time as the police or fire companies respond to an alarm resulting from the activation of such alarm system, hereafter such person shall have 15 days in which to apply for the alarm permit required by this chapter.
C. 
In order to apply for an alarm permit each person shall submit an application to the law enforcement authority stating the following:
(1) 
Alarm user name.
(2) 
Alarm user home address and/or principal business address and telephone number of the person who will be the registration holder and be responsible for the proper maintenance and operation of the alarm system and payment of fees assessed under this chapter.
(3) 
The alarm site and its classification, i.e., residential (includes condominium, mobile home, etc.), commercial or apartment.
(4) 
If the alarm site is a business, the names, addresses and telephone number of at least two individuals who have keys to the premises at which the alarm system is located and who are authorized to enter the premises at any time; or in lieu thereof, the name, address and telephone number of the alarm company who would have on file the names of authorized key holders, provided that such alarm company can be contacted 24 hours a day each and every day of the year.
(5) 
Mailing address if different from the alarm site.
(6) 
Any dangerous or special conditions present at the alarm site.
(7) 
Type of business conducted at the alarm site.
(8) 
If the alarm system is at a residence, the name, address and telephone number of at least one individual who has keys to the premises and is authorized to enter the alarm site at any time shall be listed along with the alarm user's place of employment and its telephone number.
(9) 
For each alarm system located at the alarm site, the classification of the alarm system, i.e., burglary, holdup, duress or other, for each purpose whether audible or silent.
(10) 
If the alarm system is to be leased or rented from, or is to be serviced pursuant to a service agreement by a person other than the person making application for an alarm system permit, the name, address and telephone number of that person shall be included on the permit.
D. 
The Alarm Administrator or the law enforcement authority shall furnish forms upon which any person applying for a alarm permit may submit the application.
E. 
The person applying for an alarm permit shall submit a fee in an amount to be established, from time to time, by resolution of the Board of Supervisors along with the application for each alarm site.
F. 
The alarm permit fee is nonrefundable. It must be submitted to the Alarm Administrator within five days after the alarm installation or alarm takeover.
G. 
The law enforcement authority shall, upon receipt of an alarm permit application, either grant an alarm permit to the applicant or notify the applicant, in writing, that the application has been denied and the reason(s) why it has been denied, i.e., failed to pay a fine assessed for previous false alarms, makes any false statement of a material fact by an applicant for the purpose of obtaining an alarm registration shall be sufficient cause for refusal to issue a permit, etc.
H. 
Signed certification from the alarm user stating (found on alarm permit application):
(1) 
The date of installation, conversion or takeover of the alarm system, whichever is applicable.
(2) 
The name, address and phone number of the alarm company performing the alarm system installation, conversion or alarm system takeover and responsibility for providing repair service to the alarm system.
(3) 
The phone number of the alarm company monitoring the alarm system if different from the installing alarm company.
(4) 
That a set of written operating instructions for the alarm system, including written guidelines on how to avoid false alarms, have been left with the applicant.
(5) 
That the alarm company has trained the applicant in proper use of the alarm system, including instructions on how to avoid false alarms.
(6) 
That law enforcement and fire response may be based on factors such as availability of police units, priority of calls, weather conditions, traffic conditions, emergency conditions, staffing levels, etc.
I. 
An alarm permit cannot be transferred to another person or alarm site. An alarm user shall inform the Alarm Administrator of any change that alters any information listed on the registration application within five business days.
J. 
All fees owned by an applicant must be paid before a permit may be issued.
A. 
A tenant of an apartment with an alarm system shall obtain an alarm permit from the Alarm Administrator 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 permit operated in offices or common areas of the apartment complex. The alarm permit fee shall be the same as the fee for a residential alarm site.
B. 
If an alarm system installed by an individual tenant in an apartment complex unit is monitored, the tenant must provide the name of a representative of the apartment owner or property manager who can grant access to the apartment to the alarm company.
C. 
For purposes of enforcing this chapter against an individual residential unit, the tenant is responsible for false alarms emitted from the alarm system in the tenant's residential unit.
D. 
Each apartment unit shall be considered an alarm site.
An alarm user shall:
A. 
Maintain the premises and the alarm system in a manner that will minimize or eliminate false alarms.
B. 
Ensure that if an alarm system is designed to transmit a recorded message, the contents of said message shall be intelligible and give exact street address and location of the premises.
C. 
If an alarm system is designed to cause an exterior bell, siren or other sound-making device to be activated on or near the premises on which the alarm device is installed at the time it gives an alarm, said alarm device shall be designed to deactivate the bell, siren or other sound-making device after a maximum of 15 minutes after being activated (or 15 minutes for systems operating under Underwriters Laboratories, Inc., Standards 365 or 609). After the 15 minutes of activation, if the alarms does not deactivate, it may be disabled by any means that causes the alarm to stop.
D. 
The sensory mechanism used in connection with an alarm system must be installed and adjusted to suppress false indications of fire, smoke, intrusion or other emergency.
E. 
Make every reasonable effort to respond or cause a representative to respond to the alarm system's location within 30 minutes when notified by Exeter Township or the alarm company to deactivate a malfunctioning alarm system, to provide access to the premises or to provide alternative security for the premises.
F. 
Not manually activate an alarm for any reason other than occurrence of an event that the alarm system was intended to report.
G. 
Have a properly licensed alarm company inspect the alarm system after two false alarms in a one-year period from the date permits issuance or renewal. The Alarm Administrator may waive an inspection requirement if it determines that a false alarm(s) could have been related to a defect or malfunction in the alarm system. After four false alarms within a one-year period from the date of permit issuance or renewal the alarm user must have a properly licensed alarm company modify the alarm system to be more false alarm resistant or provide additional user training as appropriate.
H. 
Maintain at each alarm site a set of written operating instructions for each alarm system.
A. 
Upon enactment of this chapter, alarm companies shall use control panels tested for conformance to the Security Industry Association (SIA) Control Panel Standards - Features for False Alarm Reduction.
B. 
After completion of the installation an alarm company employee shall review with the alarm user the customer false alarm prevention checklist and also complete the installer false alarm prevention program checklist, which are attached to the alarm permit application.
C. 
An alarm company performing monitoring services shall:
(1) 
For residential police alarms, offer a training period in which no request for dispatch by law enforcement will occur during the first seven days after installation of an alarm system, but rather will use that week to train the alarm user on proper use of the alarm system unless circumstances necessitate immediate requests for response as determined by the Alarm Administrator or law enforcement authority.
(2) 
Report alarm signals by using telephone numbers designated by the Alarm Administrator.
(3) 
Attempt to verify every alarm signal, except a duress, holdup and fire alarm activation before requesting a law enforcement or fire response to an alarm system signal.
(4) 
Communicate alarm dispatch requests to the Township in a manner and form determined by the Alarm Administrator.
(5) 
Endeavor to contact the alarm user when an alarm dispatch request is made.
A. 
In the case of new installations, a seven-day testing period shall apply to allow the alarm company and the alarm user to prevent false alarms. During this seven-day period false alarm charges shall not be assessed.
B. 
Residential false police alarms. During each calendar year: first and second false alarm, no charge; third and subsequent alarms: $50 each.
C. 
Residential false fire alarms. During each calendar year: first false alarm, no charge; second false alarm: $50; third and subsequent alarms: $100 each.
D. 
Nonresidential false police alarms. During each calendar year: first and second false alarm, no charge; third and subsequent alarms: $100 each.
E. 
Nonresidential false fire alarms. During each calendar year: first and second alarm, no charge; second false alarm: $100; third and subsequent alarms: $200 each.
F. 
Failure to obtain alarm permit. In addition, any person operating a nonpermitted alarm system, including never acquired permits, will be subject to a charge of $200 for each false alarm, in addition to any other fines.
G. 
If cancellation occurs prior to law enforcement or fire officials arriving at the scene, this is not a false alarm for the purpose of fines and no fines will be assessed.
H. 
A false alarm charge shall be due and payable at the Exeter Township Municipal Office, no later than 30 days from the date of the notice of the false alarm charge.
I. 
Rectification of violations. The person or persons responsible for any violation of this chapter shall immediately, upon receipt from the Township, take the necessary measures to rectify such condition to conform to the requirements of this chapter. Notice may be by:
(1) 
Personal service.
(2) 
Posting such notice on the property.
(3) 
Certified mail.
Enforcement of this chapter may be by civil action and/or by criminal prosecution, as provided in 18 Pa.C.S.A. § 7511.
Information contained in the permit application shall be held in confidence by all employees or representatives of the Township and by any third-party administrator or employees of a third-party administrator with access to such information.