[HISTORY: Adopted by the Town Council of the Town of Rocky Hill as
indicated in article histories. Amendments noted where applicable.]
GENERAL REFERENCES
Noise — See Ch. 180.
[Adopted 8-15-1977 by Ord.
No. 64-77]
No person except a public utility engaged in the business
of providing communications services and facilities shall use or operate,
attempt to use or operate, or cause to be used or operated, or arrange, adjust,
program or otherwise provide or install any device or combination of devices
that will, upon activation, either mechanically, electronically or by other
automatic means, initiate an intrastate call and deliver a recorded message
to any telephone number assigned to any department of the Town of Rocky Hill
by a public telephone company without prior approval of the appropriate Town
department.
As used in this article, the following terms shall have the meanings
indicated:
Includes the 563-1411 emergency number and any additional numbers
assigned by a public utility company engaged in the business or other system
to connect the subscriber to such primary number when the primary telephone
number is in use.
[Amended 1-6-1992 by Ord.
No. 171-92]
Henceforth, any person who desires to have a private secondary telephone line terminate in a location in any Town department shall submit an application, in writing, to the Town. Such application shall contain specific provisions relating to false alarms and testing procedures. The provisions of §§ 73-11 and 73-14 of Article II shall apply to false alarms and testing procedures.
A.Â
The Police Department, acting by its Chief, in coordination
with the department head concerned, shall receive, issue and control such
applications. It shall approve such applications if it finds:
B.Â
In the event that the applicant is in the business of
installing or selling or leasing said alarm systems, there shall be additional
requirements as follows:
(1)Â
The applicant seeking the termination agrees that no
messages will be telephoned on said lines except by an agent of his with access
to customer files and the means to provide access to the premises.
(2)Â
The applicant seeking the termination maintains adequate
equipment and work force to repair, maintain and otherwise service alarms
sold or leased by him.
(3)Â
Adequate procedures to test and prevent false alarms
as determined by the department head concerned are provided.
No person shall place any monitoring panels and annunciation or receiving
equipment other than private line telephones as provided herein in any Town
of Rocky Hill building without prior approval of the appropriate Town agency.
[Amended 1-6-1992 by Ord.
No. 171-92]
Any person, firm or corporation violating this article shall be fined
$25 per day for each violation with each day constituting a separate offense.
[Adopted 8-6-1979 by Ord.
No. 81-79]
The purpose of this article is to provide minimum standards and regulations
applicable to burglar, holdup alarm and fire alarm systems and alarm users
as defined in this article and to encourage the installation of protective
alarm systems in all dwellings, commercial, industrial and agricultural structures.
A.Â
When not inconsistent with the context, words used in
the present tense include the future, words used in the plural number include
the singular number and words in the singular number include the plural number.
The word "shall" is always mandatory and not merely directory.
B.Â
ALARM AGENT
ALARM BUSINESS
ALARM SYSTEM
ALARM USER
ANNUNCIATOR
ANNUNCIATOR PANEL
ANSI
ANSWERING SERVICE
AUTOMATIC HOLDUP ALARM SYSTEM
BURGLAR ALARM SYSTEM
CENTRAL STATION
CENTRAL STATION EQUIPMENT
CENTRAL STATION SYSTEM
CHIEF OF POLICE or POLICE CHIEF
COMMUNICATIONS CENTER
DIRECT CONNECT
DIRECT LINE
FALSE ALARM
FIRE ALARM SYSTEM
FIRE CHIEF
FIRE DEPARTMENT
HOLDUP ALARM SYSTEM
LOCAL ALARM SYSTEM
MANUAL HOLDUP ALARM SYSTEM
MODIFIED CENTRAL STATION
PERSON
POLICE or POLICE DEPARTMENT
PRIMARY TRUNK LINE
REMOTE SIGNALING SYSTEM
SIGNAL LINE
SUBSCRIBER
TELEPHONE COMPANY
TOWN
UL
For the purpose of this article, the following terms,
phrases, words and their derivations shall have the meanings given herein.
Any person employed by an alarm business whose duties include the
altering, installing, maintaining, moving, repairing, replacing, selling,
servicing of, responding to or causing others to respond to an alarm device.
Any business operated by a person for a profit which engages in the
activity of altering, installing, leasing, maintaining, repairing, replacing,
selling, servicing or responding to a burglar, holdup alarm system or fire
alarm system or which causes any of these activities to take place.
An assembly of equipment and devices (or a single device, such as
a solid-state unit, which plugs directly into a one-hundred-ten-volt AC line)
arranged to signal the presence of a hazard requiring urgent attention and
to which police or fire are expected to respond. In this article, the term
"alarm system" shall include the terms "automatic holdup alarm systems," "burglar
alarm systems," "holdup alarm systems" and "manual holdup alarm systems" and
"fire alarm systems" as those terms are hereinafter defined. Alarm systems
which monitor temperature, humidity or any other condition not directly related
to the detection of an unauthorized intrusion into a premises or an attempted
robbery or a fire or smoke condition at a premises are specifically excluded
from the provision of this article.
Any person on whose premises an alarm system is maintained within
the Town of Rocky Hill except for alarm systems on motor vehicles or proprietary
systems. If, however, an alarm system on a motor vehicle is connected with
an alarm system at a premises (other than a proprietary system), the person
using such a system is an alarm user. Also excluded from this definition and
from the coverage of this article are persons who use alarm systems to alert
or signal persons within the premises in which the alarm system is located
of an attempted unauthorized intrusion or holdup attempt. If such a system,
however, employs an audible signal emitting sounds or a flashing light or
beacon designed to signal persons outside the premises, such system shall
be within the definition of an alarm system and shall be subject to this article.
The instrumentation on an alarm console at the receiving terminal
of a signal line which through both visual and audible signals shows when
an alarm device at a particular location has been activated, or it may also
indicate line trouble.
The configuration on the dispatch console capable of receiving alarm
signals.
[Added 1-6-1992 by Ord. No.
171-92]
Stands for the American National Standards Institute.
Refers 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 communication center of the Rocky Hill Police Department.
An alarm system in which the signal transmission is initiated by
the action of the robber.
Refers to an alarm system signaling an entry or attempted entry into
the area protected by the system.
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.
Refers to the signal receiving, recording or retransmitting equipment
installed in the central station.
A system in which the operation of electrical protection circuits
and devices are signaled automatically to, recorded in, maintained and supervised
from a central station having trained operators and guards in attendance at
all times.
The Chief of the Police Department of the Town of Rocky Hill, or
his designated representative.
[Amended 1-6-1992 by Ord.
No. 171-92]
The dispatch operation of the Rocky Hill Police Department.
[Added 1-6-1992 by Ord. No.
171-92]
An alarm system which has the capability of transmitting system signals
to and receiving them at an agency maintained by the local government, for
example, a police communication center.
A telephone line leading directly from a central station to the communication
center of the Rocky Hill Police Department that is for use only to report
emergency signals on a person-to-person basis.
The activation of an alarm system through mechanical failure, improper
monitoring, malfunction, improper installation or the negligence of the subscriber
of an alarm system or his employees or agents; which activation causes a direct
or indirect receipt of the alarm message to any Town of Rocky Hill agencies
or departments. Such terminology does not include, for example, alarms caused
by hurricanes, tornadoes, earth quakes or other violent conditions. False
fire alarms shall not mean alarms transmitted because of a water main break
or similar causes that occur outside of the protected property. False alarms,
as defined in this article, also do not include those alarms that are transmitted
with criminal, malicious or mischievous intent.
[Amended 3-21-1983 by Ord.
No. 103-83; 1-6-1992 by Ord.
No. 171-92; 12-18-2000 by Ord.
No. 199-00]
Refers to a signal or message from a person or device indicating
the existence of a fire or other emergency which requires Fire Department
action.
The certified person designated as Fire Chief by the Town of Rocky
Hill, or his designated representative.
Those publicly supported companies authorized by the Town of Rocky
Hill to provide fire protection services.
Refers to an alarm system signaling a robbery or attempted robbery.
Refers to a signaling system which when activated causes an audible
and/or visual signaling device to be activated in or on the premises within
which the system is installed.
Refers to an alarm system in which the signal transmission is initiated
by the direct action of the person attacked or by an observer of the attack.
An office to which remote alarm and supervisory signaling devices
are connected, where operators supervise the circuits. Such modified central
station is not listed by Underwriters' Laboratories.
Any person, firm, partnership, association, corporation, company
or organization of any kind.
The publicly supported Police Department of the Town of Rocky Hill,
or any authorized agent thereof.
A telephone line leading directly into the communication center of
the Rocky Hill Police Department that is for the purpose of handling emergency
calls on a person-to-person basis and which is identified as such by a specific
number included among the emergency numbers listed in the telephone directory
issued by the telephone company and covering the service area within the Rocky
Hill Police Department's jurisdiction.
An alarm signaling system which when activated by an alarm device
transmits a signal from an alarm signaling device to a central location, other
than the Rocky Hill Police Department, where appropriate action is taken to
investigate and respond to the signal.
Refers to the transmission line through which the signal passes from
one of the elements of the signal transmission to another.
A person who buys and/or leases or otherwise obtains an alarm signaling
system and thereafter contracts with or hires an alarm business to monitor
and/or service the alarm device.
The utility that furnishes telephone services to the Town of Rocky
Hill.
The Town of Rocky Hill, Connecticut.
Stands for Underwriters' Laboratories.
A.Â
Upon the favorable recommendation of the Police Chief,
alarms may be terminated in the Rocky Hill Police Headquarters.
[Amended 3-21-1983 by Ord.
No. 103-83]
B.Â
The alarm subscriber approved for a direct connection
to the Rocky Hill Police Headquarters or the alarm business contracting for
servicing the subscriber's alarm system shall be responsible for obtaining
the leased telephone line between subscriber's premises and the alarm receiving
equipment at the Rocky Hill Police Headquarters and for furnishing the appropriate
interface equipment, if required, in order to provide an input signal which
is compatible with the receiving equipment used to operate the standard annunciator
panel.
[Amended 1-6-1992 by Ord.
No. 171-92]
Each subscriber, 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 indications of holdups or intrusions or fire or smoke conditions so
that the device will not be activated by impulses due to short flashes of
light, wind, noises, vehicular noise or other forces unrelated to genuine
alarms.
[Amended 3-21-1983 by Ord.
No. 103-83]
No alarm system designed to transmit emergency messages directly to the Rocky Hill Police Headquarters shall be tested or demonstrated without first obtaining permission from the Police Chief or Fire Chief. Permission shall not be granted by the Police Chief or Fire Chief unless they are provided with the names, addresses and telephone numbers of two persons who may be contacted at any time to respond within 20 minutes of any Rocky Hill police call to a premises which is the subject of an alarm response. Failure of such persons to respond within said twenty-minute period shall be considered a failure to comply with the requirement of this article within the meaning of § 73-14 herein. Permission is not required to test or demonstrate alarm devices not transmitting emergency messages directly to the Rocky Hill Police Headquarters unless the messages are to be relayed to the Rocky Hill Police Headquarters.
When an alarm business service to its subscribers is disrupted for any
reason by the alarm business, or the alarm business becomes aware of such
disruption, it shall promptly notify its subscriber by telephone that protection
is no longer being provided. If, however, the alarm business has written instructions
from its subscriber not to make such notification by telephone during certain
hours, the alarm business may comply with such instructions.
[Amended 1-6-1992 by Ord.
No. 171-92]
A.Â
There shall be only one annunciator panel, which shall
meet the specifications established by Underwriters' Laboratories, Inc. and
the requirements of the Chief of Police, installed in the communications control
center. Such panel shall be installed and maintained by the alarm equipment
supplier(s) at no cost to the Town of Rocky Hill.
B.Â
The number of annunciators mounted in such panel shall
be limited as the Chief of Police may deem practical and within the capacity
of the police communications center to monitor adequately.
A.Â
Enforcement and administration of this article 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 subsections.
B.Â
The Town of Rocky Hill shall set the following standards
for alarm performance.
[Amended 3-21-1983 by Ord.
No. 103-83; 12-18-2000 by Ord.
No. 199-00]
(1)Â
A maximum of two false alarms from any one protected
property per calendar year shall be acceptable.
(2)Â
After the second false alarm, the subscriber shall be
notified in writing. Such notification shall require the alarm system to be
inspected by the installing alarm company and the subscriber 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)Â
In any one calendar year, upon receipt of the third false
fire alarm from any one protected property of a subscriber, the Town of Rocky
Hill shall charge a penalty of $50 for said third false alarm and for each
subsequent offense, the Town of Rocky Hill shall charge a penalty of $75.
C.Â
If the subscriber and/or alarm equipment supplier(s)
fails to comply with any requirement of this article, the Chief of Police
may terminate, in writing, the privilege of having equipment and indicators
in the communications center in the Rocky Hill Police Department and may require
removal of the same within three days from the receipt of said written notice,
exclusive of Saturday, Sunday and holidays, at the expense of such subscriber
and/or alarm equipment supplier(s). Failure to remove said equipment and indicators,
as specified above, shall result in the Town's doing so at the expense of
the person(s) so notified.
[Amended 3-21-1983 by Ord.
No. 103-83; 1-6-1992 by Ord.
No. 171-92]
D.Â
Failure of any subscriber and/or alarm equipment supplier
to comply with the requirements of a written notice of a violation of any
provision hereof within three days of receipt of such notice, exclusive of
Saturday, Sunday and holidays, shall also constitute an offense punishable
by a fine not to exceed $100. Such notice shall continue in force and effect
until full compliance with requirements stated therein, 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.
[Amended 3-21-1983 by Ord.
No. 103-83; 1-6-1992 by Ord.
No. 171-92]
The Town of Rocky Hill shall not be liable for any defects in operation
of any signal line 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.
