[HISTORY: Adopted by the Board of Selectmen
of the Town of Cromwell 5-13-1987. Amendments noted where applicable.]
CHARTER REVISION
Effective with the general election held in November 2013, the
Town changed to a Town Council/Town Manager form of government. According
to Charter § 11.04, any references in Town ordinances to
the "First Selectman" or to the "Board of Selectmen" shall now be
deemed to refer to the "Town Manager" or the "Town Council," as appropriate.
The purpose of this chapter is to provide standards
and regulations for the installation, use and maintenance of burglary,
hold-up and/or fire alarm systems within the Town which result in
the dispatch and/or response of Town emergency vehicles and/or personnel
and to encourage the installation and use of reliable alarm systems.
For the purpose of this chapter, the following
definitions shall apply:
Any person, firm or corporation in the business of selling,
installing and/or servicing alarm systems.
An assembly of equipment and/or device(s) that
is designed to detect unlawful intrusion, a criminal act of attempted
robbery and/or robbery and/or fire and, when so activated, calls for
police or fire response by:
Transmitting a signal to a Town communication
center or police or fire headquarters;
Transmitting a signal to a person who relays
information to a Town communication center or police or fire headquarters;
or
Producing an audible sound signal to which the
Police or Fire Department is expected to respond.
Alarms on motor vehicles which are not transmitted
to the communication center or Police or Fire Departments, nor activate
alarm systems that are so transmitted, are specifically excluded.
Any person, firm, corporation or organization of any kind
on whose premises, whether owned or leased, an alarm system is maintained
within the Town.
A telephone device or attachment that mechanically or electronically
connects a telephone line to a Town communication center or Police
or Fire Department headquarters and reproduces a prerecorded voice
message to report a criminal act, fire or other emergency, calling
for Police or Fire Department response.
A location in the Town used to receive, investigate and/or
dispatch requests for emergency services, such as Town police or fire
headquarters.
The connection of any alarm system from any specific location
via direct leased telephone wires to a communication center maintained
by the Town.
Any activation of an alarm system to which the Police or
Fire Department responds and which is not caused by a criminal act,
fire or other emergency, except an activation caused by:
Any alarm user whose alarm system is connected directly to
the Town communications center.
[Amended BOS 5-9-1997; BOS 5-10-2006]
A.
Each alarm user shall register his/her alarm system
or systems with the Chief of Police prior to use, provided that alarm
systems in use as of the effective date of this chapter may be registered
no later than 60 days from such date.
B.
Registration of alarm systems shall be accomplished
within 30 days of installation by filling out a form provided by the
Chief of Police, which shall contain such information as he may require,
including the names of at least two other persons (key holders) to
be contacted in case of emergency.
C.
The fee for registration of an alarm system shall
be $25. All registrations shall expire one year after date of issuance.
The fee for reregistration shall be $10 for each successive one-year
period.
D.
It shall be the responsibility of each alarm user
to notify the Chief of Police, in writing, of changes in registration
information.
A.
Upon the favorable recommendation of the Police Chief,
alarms from business premises and financial institutions may be terminated
in the Town communication center.
B.
The alarm subscriber approved for a direct connection
to the Town communication center or the alarm business contracting
for servicing the subscriber's alarm system shall be responsible for
obtaining the leased telephone line between the subscriber's premises
and the alarm-receiving equipment at the Town communication center
and for furnishing the appropriate interface equipment, if required,
in order to provide an input signal which is compatible with the receiving
equipment used in the Town communication center.
C.
The number of subscribers shall be limited by the
capacity of the Town communication center to monitor adequately as
determined by the Chief of Police.
No automatic dial alarm may be installed on
any alarm system after the effective date of this chapter. Any automatic
dial alarm in use as of such date may remain in use for no more than
one year or until the sale of the premises, whichever occurs first.
Each alarm user, at his expense, is required
to maintain all components of his alarm system in good working order
at all times to ensure that the sensory mechanism used in connection
with such device be adjusted to suppress false alarms.
No alarm system designed to transmit emergency
messages directly to the Town communication center shall be tested
or demonstrated without first obtaining permission from the Police
Chief or Fire Chief. Permission is not required to test or demonstrate
alarm systems not transmitting emergency messages directly to the
communication center unless the messages are to be relayed to the
communication center.
When an alarm business service to its alarm
users is disrupted for any reason by the alarm business or the alarm
business becomes aware of such disruption, it shall promptly notify
its alarm users by telephone that protection is no longer being provided.
If, however, the alarm business has written instructions from its
alarm users not to make such notification by telephone during certain
hours, the alarm business may comply with such instruction.
A.
Enforcement and administration of this chapter shall
be the function of the Chief of Police, except that the Fire Chief
shall have jurisdiction over fire alarm systems, and shall be accomplished
as is provided in either or both of the following two sections.
B.
The Town shall set the following standards for alarm
performance:
(1)
A maximum of three false alarms from any one protected
property per calendar year shall be acceptable.
(2)
After the third false alarm, the alarm user shall
be notified in writing. Such notification shall require that his alarm
system be inspected by the alarm business, and the alarm user shall
review alarm procedures with all employees. Also, written notification
shall be made to the Police Chief or Fire Chief, as appropriate, indicating
that the alarm problem has been corrected.
(3)
Upon receipt of the fourth false alarm, the Town shall
charge a penalty of $25 for the fourth and fifth false alarm and $50
for each false alarm thereafter in any calendar year.
C.
If a subscriber and/or alarm business fails to comply
with any requirement of this chapter, the Chief of Police may terminate,
in writing, the privilege of having equipment and indicators in the
Town communications center and may require removal of the same within
three days from the receipt of said written notice, exclusive of Saturdays,
Sundays and holidays, at the expense of such alarm user and/or alarm
business. Failure to remove said equipment shall result in the Town's
removal of said equipment at the expense of the person(s) so notified.
Any person who performs or causes the performance
of any of the following acts shall be subject to a fine of up to $100
and/or arrest for each such act:
A.
There shall be in the Town an alarm appeal hearing
officer, who shall have the powers and duties granted under this section.
B.
The alarm appeal hearing officer shall be the Town
Manager or his designee.
[Amended TC 6-16-2014]
C.
An appeal from four or more false alarms in any one
calendar year by an alarm user or from the removal of direct wire
connection by any subscriber may be made in writing to the Chief of
the proper protective service. The hearing officer shall mail notice
of the time and place of said appeal hearing to the alarm user at
least 15 days before the hearing date. The decision of the alarm appeal
hearing officer shall be final.
Notwithstanding the provisions of this chapter,
the Town and its departments, officers, agents and employees shall
be under no obligation whatsoever concerning the adequacy, operation
or maintenance of any alarm system or of the alarm-monitoring facilities
at any Town communication center. No liability whatsoever is assumed
for the failure of such alarm systems or monitoring facilities or
for the failure to respond to alarms or for any other omission in
connection with such alarm systems. Each alarm user shall be deemed
to hold and save harmless the Town and its departments, officers,
agents and employees from liability in connection with the alarm user's
alarm system.
