[HISTORY: Adopted by the Board of Trustees of the Village of Elmsford
as indicated in article histories. Amendments noted where applicable.]
[Adopted 1-19-1930; repealed and reenacted in
the same form 7-10-2006 by L.L. No. 4-2006]
A.
Any person who shall willfully give any false alarm of
fire, or who shall willfully tamper, meddle or interfere with any station
or signal box of any fire alarm system or any auxiliary fire appliance, or
who shall willfully break, injure, destroy or disturb any of the wire, poles
or other supports and appliances connected with or forming a part of any fire
alarm system or any auxiliary fire appliance in the Village of Elmsford, New
York, shall be liable to a penalty of $500 for each violation thereof.
B.
Unless the penalty as imposed be paid upon conviction,
the Police Justice of the Village of Elmsford, New York, shall commit the
offender to the county jail or penitentiary for a term not exceeding one day
for each $1 of the penalty imposed.
[Amended 11-6-2000 by L.L. No. 7-2000]
[Adopted 1-2-1979 by L.L. No. 1-1979]
The purpose of this article is to provide regulations and standards
applicable to alarm devices, alarm businesses, alarm agents and alarm users
as defined in this article.
For the purpose of this article, the following definitions shall apply:
Any person who is employed by any business, firm, corporation or
other commercial entity that is licensed hereunder to conduct the business
of owning, operating, maintaining, installing, leasing or selling alarm devices,
whose duties include any of the following: selling, maintaining, leasing,
servicing, repairing, altering, replacing, moving or installing, in or on
any building, place or premises, any alarm device as defined in this article
within the Village of Elmsford.
Any business, firm, corporation or other commercial entity which
is in the business of owning, operating, maintaining, installing, leasing
or selling an alarm device or devices or system of alarm devices, which business,
firm, corporation or other commercial entity is, as owner, operator, provider
of maintenance service, installer, lessor or seller of said device, devices
or system of devices, subject to the license requirements of this article.
Any device which, when activated by a criminal act or by fire, smoke
or other emergency requiring Police or Fire Department response, transmits
a signal to the central alarm monitoring facility at police or fire headquarters
or to a private central alarm station and/or produces an audible or visible
signal to which the Police or Fire Department is expected to respond. Excluded
from this definition and from the coverage of this article are alarm devices
which are designed to alert or signal persons within the premises in which
the alarm device is installed of an attempted unauthorized intrusion, holdup,
fire or other emergency and is not intended to alert persons outside the premises.
Any police or fire alarm device or aggregation of police or fire
alarm devices installed on or within a single building or on or within more
than one building or area adjacently located on a common site at a specific
location.
Any person on whose premises an alarm device is owned, operated,
used or maintained.
A facility owned by a private firm that owns or leases a system of
alarm devices, which facility is manned by operators who receive, record or
validate alarm signals and relay information about such validated signals
to police and fire headquarters when appropriate.
A telephone device or telephone attachment that automatically or
electronically selects a telephone line connected to police or fire headquarters
and reproduces a prerecorded message to report a criminal act or other emergency
requiring Police or Fire Department response.
Any alarm device which transmits a signal over a leased telephone
line to the central alarm monitoring facility at police and fire headquarters
or to a private central alarm station.
Any alarm resulting from the activation of an alarm device to which
the Police or Fire Department responds which is not the result of a robbery,
burglary or other crime, fire or emergency.
The Chief of Police who shall be directly responsible to the Board
of Trustees for the purpose of this article.
Any alarm device not connected to the central alarm monitoring facility
or to a private central alarm station which, when activated, causes an audible
and/or visual signaling device to be activated on the exterior of the premises
within which the device is installed.
A mechanical deficiency or other fault or failure in an alarm device
which results in a false alarm but which is not caused by any fault or negligence
on the part of the alarm device owner or operator.
Any alarm device in which activation of the alarm signal is initiated
by the direct action of the alarm user.
A.
It shall be unlawful for any person, business, firm or
corporation to operate, maintain, modify, install, lease or sell an alarm
device or devices or system of alarm devices as defined by the terms of this
article without first obtaining a permit as herein provided.
B.
Any person engaged in the business of maintaining, repairing,
servicing, altering, replacing, removing or installing an alarm device or
system of devices shall carry on his person at all times while so engaged
a valid alarm agent permit and identification card and shall display such
permit and identification card to any Village official upon request.
C.
The Board of Trustees may require the denial, suspension
or revocation of any permit, or the disconnection of any alarm system connected
to the central alarm monitoring facility at police and fire headquarters,
at any time the Board of Trustees deems necessary for more than four false
alarms or the violation of any of the provisions of this article or the violation
of any standards or regulations promulgated by the Chief of Police pursuant
to this article. Any permit issued hereunder shall be surrendered immediately
to the Chief of Police upon such suspension or revocation.
A.
Responsibility for alarm systems.
(1)
The Police Department, Fire Department and Village of
Elmsford shall be under no obligation whatsoever concerning the adequacy,
the operation or maintenance of the alarm device so installed or of the operation
of the central alarm monitoring facility at police and fire headquarters,
and the Village of Elmsford and its authorized agents hereby assume no liability
whatsoever for any failure of any such alarm device or the central alarm monitoring
facility or for failure to respond to any such alarms or for any act of omission
or commission as a result of any such alarm, device or system.
(2)
The alarm user or permittee, upon acceptance of such
permit, hereby agrees to hold and save harmless the Village of Elmsford, its
agents or employees from any liability whatsoever in connection with any such
alarm device or the operation of the same.
B.
Dial alarm devices.
(1)
Effective March 31, 1979, no person shall use or cause
or permit to be used any alarm device that automatically selects a telephone
trunkline of the Police or Fire Department of the Village of Elmsford and
then reproduces any prerecorded voice messages to report any robbery, burglary,
fire or other emergency.
(2)
The use of any dial alarm device which relays a digital-coded
signal to the central alarm monitoring facility at police and fire headquarters
is permitted under this article.
C.
False alarms.
(1)
It shall be a violation of this article to intentionally cause a false alarm, and any person who does intentionally cause a false alarm shall be subject to the penalty provisions of § 83-7 herein.
(2)
False alarm fees. Any owner or lessee of property having
an alarm device or system of devices on his or its premises, and any user
of services or equipment furnished by a licensee under this article, shall
pay to the Village a fee for each and every false alarm to which the Police
or Fire Department responds, in each calendar year, as set forth by resolution
of the Board of Trustees in the Master Fee Schedule, which may be amended
from time to time.
[Amended 5-1-2000; 7-10-2006
by L.L. No. 4-2006]
(3)
More than four false alarms in a year may constitute
grounds for the suspension or revocation of an alarm user's permit and
disconnection of the alarm user's system from the central alarm monitoring
facility. False alarm charges may be waived by decision of the Board of Trustees
as recommended by the Chief of Police. Any alarm owner, lessee or user charged
with a false alarm penalty may appeal such charge in writing to the Board
of Trustees within 10 days after receipt of the notice of penalty and may
appear before the Board of Trustees at a time and place to be determined by
the Board. The above charges will be collected by the Chief of Police and
be paid to the Village Treasurer. Failure to pay a false alarm penalty charge
shall subject such alarm owner, lessee or user to the disconnection of his
alarm device from the central alarm monitoring facility and/or the penalty
provisions of this article.
D.
Operation fees. The Village may require that a set fee
or fees be paid by any person operating an alarm device connected to the central
alarm monitoring facility for costs incurred by the Village in purchasing,
installing, maintaining, monitoring and administering functions associated
with the central alarm monitoring facility. The owner or lessee shall be responsible
for the maintenance and service of his or its alarm device equipment and shall
be responsible for all malfunctions of his or its equipment.
E.
Change of location. If the location of the Village central
alarm monitoring facility should be changed at any time, the Village shall
not be responsible for any expense incurred by the owner or lessee or business
licensee or alarm agent for moving alarm systems or reconnecting such systems
to the relocated central alarm monitoring facility.
F.
Removal of unlawful equipment. In addition to any other
remedy provided by law, the Board of Trustees, whenever they shall have knowledge
of the use of any alarm device, cabinet or attachment which is not operated
or maintained in accordance with the provisions of this article or which is
contrary to regulations promulgated pursuant to this article may order the
disconnection of such device from police and fire headquarters, and it shall
be unlawful to disobey such order.
G.
Rules, regulations, standards and enforcement. The Board
of Trustees shall promulgate rules, regulations and standards applicable to
alarm devices, alarm businesses, alarm agents and alarms users which are necessary
for the purpose of assuring the quality, efficiency and effectiveness of alarm
devices and alarm installations owned, operated, maintained, installed, leased
or sold under this article. The Board of Trustees shall administer and enforce
the provisions of this article. The aforesaid rules, regulations and standards
shall be set forth in writing, and copies shall be available for applicants.
A.
Central alarm station systems. The Board of Trustees
is hereby authorized to prescribe the location and the manner of installation
of private and regular business telephone lines into police headquarters from
a central alarm station for the express purpose of providing direct telephone
communication between a central alarm station and police headquarters for
use in reporting alarms.
B.
Direct alarm systems. The Chief of Police is hereby authorized
to prescribe the location and manner of installation of all cabinets, accessories,
connections and equipment of an approved direct alarm system within police
and fire headquarters for the purpose of providing a direct alarm system where
the visible and audible signals therefrom may be readily seen and heard by
police and fire personnel.
C.
Exceptions. None of the provisions of this article shall
apply to an alarm device or devices installed in a motor vehicle or trailer
nor to employees of a public utility company engaged in the business of providing
communication, services or facilities.
D.
Repealer.
(1)
The repeal of the previous Village Alarm Ordinance by
this article shall not affect rights or liabilities which have previously
arisen thereunder, nor shall the provisions of this article apply to or govern
the construction of and punishment of any offense committed prior to its effective
date.
(2)
The Village shall not be obligated to continue alarm
monitoring service to any resident who has, at the effective date of this
article, any outstanding penalty for violations of any section or sections
of the repealed Article 12, Chapter VI.
A.
The failure of any person, natural or corporate, to obtain any permit as required by § 83-4, to perform or obey any provision of this article or to obey any order pursuant to this article of the Police Chief or his designee or the Board of Trustees constitutes a violation punishable by a fine of up to $250 for each such violation. Each day that such violation continues after the expiration of the period allowed for compliance under the provisions of this article shall constitute a separate offense.
B.
Any person who shall intentionally tamper with, destroy
or compromise any alarm or alarm device or equipment connected therewith,
which alarm or alarm device is governed by the provisions of this article,
shall be guilty of a Class A misdemeanor.
