[HISTORY: Adopted by the Mayor and Council
of the Town of Elsmere 3-9-1995 by Ord. No. 319. Amendments noted where
applicable.]
GENERAL REFERENCES
Noise — See Ch. 143.
The purpose of this chapter is as follows:
A.
To require a minimum standard of quality for all burglary,
robbery and panic alarms in the Town of Elsmere that have been or
will be installed in any structure or on any premises.
B.
To promote a quick and safe responses to the need
for police service while discouraging the misuse of the limited resources
of the Elsmere Public Safety Department, thereby reducing a potentially
unnecessary emergency response to false burglary, robbery and panic
alarms.
C.
To promote a uniform standard of responsibility for
alarm vendors, alarm owners and all operators of alarm systems in
any structure or on any premises installed to prevent or detect entries
that could result in a burglary, robbery or other crime.
D.
To regulate burglary, robbery and panic alarms and
require the necessary permits for the operation of such units while
establishing a user's fee for those owners or operators of such systems
who's system repeatedly emit false alarms.
The following words terms and phrases shall
have the following meanings to them for the purpose of interpreting,
administrating and enforcing this chapter:
A certificate issued by the Elsmere Public Safety Department,
which bears the signature of the Chief of Police and provides the
expiration date of the permit.
Any assembly of equipment, mechanically or electronically
arranged to signal the occurrence of an attempted or illegal entry,
robbery or other activity on or within a building or improvement requiring
urgent attention to which the police are normally expected to respond.
Any person, firm, partnership, association, corporation,
company or organization of any kind which is in control of any building,
structure or facility wherein an alarm system is installed, maintained
or operated. In cases where the actual location in which the alarm
is installed, maintained or operated is rented, leased or under some
other arrangement not occupied or used by the owner, the actual lessee,
renter or person(s) occupying the location shall be known as the "alarm
user."
Any individual, partnership, corporation or other entity
that, sells, leases, maintains, services, repairs, alters, replaces,
moves or installs any alarm system.
A telephone answering service providing among its services
the receiving on a continuous basis, through trained employees, emergency
signals from alarm systems that are thereafter relayed by live voice
to the ECC.
A device which is interconnected to a telephone line and
programmed to select a predetermined telephone number and transmit
by voice message or code signal an emergency message indicating a
need for an emergency response.
A system, or group of systems, operated for customers by
a firm, corporation or other entity in which the operations of electrical
protection circuits and devices are transmitted to, recorded in, maintained
or supervised from a central station having trained operators or guards
in attendance at all times who have the duty to take appropriate action
upon receipt of a signal or message, including the relay of messages
by direct line to the ECC.
The Chief of the Elsmere Public Safety Department.
The individual designated by the Chief of Police to issue
permits and to administer the provisions of this chapter.
The incorporated association representing the alarm and security
companies doing business in the State of Delaware.
A telephone line leading directly from a central station
system or answering service to the ECC that is for use only to report
emergency signals on a person to person basis.
The Emergency Communications Center that is currently being
utilized by the Elsmere Public Safety Department, which is used to
receive emergency and general informational calls from the public
which are to be relayed to the on duty officers of the Elsmere Public
Safety Department.
The card sticker or other items that are supplied to anyone
with an alarm by the Elsmere Public Safety Department, so that it
may be displayed in such a manner that makes it visible from outside
of the location that is alarmed and which contains the name and telephone
number of a person who will respond if an alarm is activated at that
particular location.
The activation of an alarm system resulting in a police response
caused by a mechanical failure, mechanical malfunction, improper maintenance
or faulty installation, regardless of whether the alarm user is at
fault; or the negligent or intentional activation of the sensors of
an alarm system by act or omission of the alarm user, a person residing
on or visiting the alarm user's premises or an employee of the alarm
user, including but not limited to opening doors or windows protected
by sensors, walking through or walking on areas protected by sensors,
or by failing to prevent the activation of sensors by animals, displays,
mechanical devices or other objects which the alarm user, a person
residing on or visiting the alarm user's premises, or an employee
of the alarm user has or reasonably should have control over.
An alarm is not false if the alarm is activated
by conditions that were not reasonably subject to the control of the
alarm user, such as severe weather conditions, or under circumstances
that would have caused a careful and prudent person to believe that
criminal activity or an emergency was in progress at the premises.
It shall be presumed that the alarm was false
if the police officer responding to an alarm activation finds no evidence
of criminal activity or an emergency at the premises.
To connect an alarm system, including an automatic dialing
device, to a telephone line, directly or through a mechanical device
that utilizes a telephone, for the purpose of using the telephone
line to transmit a message upon the activation of an alarm system.
From January 1 to December 31 of the same calendar year,
beginning January 1 of 1995.
A telephone line serving the ECC that is designed to receive
emergency calls.
The Town of Elsmere, Delaware.
Whenever a business or residence is comprised
of more than one structure which is not connected and when each independent
structure has installed in it an alarm system which is designed to
detect an emergency in that structure only, each alarm activation
occurring in such an unattached structure shall be considered as a
separate premises.
A.
Every alarm user shall annually obtain an alarm permit
in accordance with this chapter prior to the installation and/or operation
of an alarm system. Systems providing both burglary and robbery alarm
services shall require only one permit. A permit is required for each
alarm system installed in a building or improvement on a lot or parcel.
The permit shall be physically located within the principal building
or improvement on the premises, lot or parcel using the alarm system
and shall be available for inspection by any law enforcement official
upon request.
B.
Permits required by this chapter shall be available
from the coordinator by filing an application.
C.
Each permit shall bear the signature of the Chief
of Police and the expiration date of the permit. The permit shall
be valid from January 1 or the date of issue through December 31 of
the current calendar year at the time of the application. Every alarm
permit shall automatically expire on December 31 of each calendar
year, and every alarm user shall annually apply and renew an alarm
permit as provided in this subsection.
D.
Alarm vendors shall notify alarm users, both at the
time of the sale and in the regular billings sent to the subscriber
or alarm user (to the extent that the alarm vendor and alarm user
have a continued business relationship), of the requirements of this
chapter.
E.
Every application for an alarm permit shall be made
on forms which are prepared and furnished by the Public Safety Department.
A copy of the application shall be provided to the alarm user, the
Town's administrative office, and a copy shall be maintained by the
Public Safety Department.
F.
No application or the information contained thereon
shall be made available to the general public, or disseminated by
the Public Safety Department, except pursuant to a validly issued
subpoena, or in the furtherance of a law enforcement activity, in
which case the information may only be disseminated to other law enforcement
agencies.
G.
A user's fee of $50 is hereby established when a response
by the Public Safety Department is required, due to an alarm activation,
to a building, structure, parcel or lot when it is discovered that
the alarm user does not possess a valid alarm permit. This user fee
shall be made payable to the Town of Elsmere, Public Safety Department,
and shall be paid within 10 days of the police response.
A.
Whenever repeated false alarms are encountered at
a premises, during the same permit year, the Public Safety Department
shall assess the alarm user at that premises who possesses a valid
permit the following user fees:
B.
The user fee shall become due and owing immediately
upon the date that notice is delivered to the alarm user's premises.
C.
The user fee shall be made payable to the Town of Elsmere, Public Safety Department, and shall be paid within 30 days of the date in which the notice was delivered to the alarm user's premises. If the user fee is not paid within the thirty-day period provided, or if an appeal is not filed within that same thirty-day period, the alarm user's permit for that structure or premises shall become automatically revoked, and the notice shall so state. If an alarm user's permit is revoked, a new permit may be issued pursuant to § 63-8B, provided that the applicant complies with the terms of that subsection, pays the unpaid fees that lead to the revocation and an additional administrative fee of $100; such permit shall only be valid for the balance of the permit year in which it was issued. Any user fee assessed under this subsection shall automatically be doubled for a newly issued permit that was the result of a prior revocation within that permit year. The three-occurrence grace period shall also not apply to such newly issued permits.
Any police officer responding to an activated
alarm system shall inspect the area protected by the alarm system
and shall determine whether the emergency response was in fact required
as indicated by the alarm system. If the police officer determines
the alarm activation was false, the officer shall note on the report
the false alarm. A copy of all false alarms shall be forwarded to
the coordinator.
A.
Once it is determined that an alarm user has had six
false alarms within a permit year, the coordinator shall send written
notice to the alarm user that the user's permit will be revoked. The
permit will be considered automatically revoked if the alarm user
does not file an appeal within 15 days of the notice, and the notice
shall so state.
B.
If an alarm user's permit is revoked, a new permit may be issued pursuant to § 63-6, provided that the applicant complies with the terms of that section as well as any other requirements that the Chief may deem necessary to reduce the number of false alarms, and that the user pays an additional administrative fee of $100. If a permit is issued under these circumstances, the permit shall only be valid for the balance of the permit year in which it is issued.
C.
Any user fee assessed under this subsection shall
automatically be doubled for a newly issued permit that was the result
of a prior revocation within that permit year.
D.
The three-occurrence grace period shall not apply
to newly issued permits that were issued in accordance with this section.
Any alarm user shall be entitled to an appeal
pursuant to this section, so long as the alarm user follows the following
procedure:
A.
The alarm user shall serve written notice upon the
Chief within 15 days of the date of the notice to revoke, or the notice
that a user fee is being imposed upon the alarm user, that the user
requests to appeal the revocation or assessment of a user's fee.
B.
At the time that the written notice of appeal is served
upon the Chief, the alarm user shall also provide the Chief with a
filing fee of $100.
C.
The one-hundred-dollar filing fee shall be refunded
to the alarm user if the false alarm giving rise to the user fee assessment
or the revocation is determined to have been genuine or beyond the
control of the alarm user or his representative, by the Hearing Board.
A.
In the event that an alarm user request an appeal, the appeal shall be scheduled within a reasonable period of time, but in no event shall this time be more than 30 calendar days from the date which the alarm user notified the Chief of his intent to appeal in accordance with § 63-9.
B.
The alarm user shall be provided with written notice
of the date, time and location of the hearing at least 10 days prior
to the date of the hearing.
A.
The Hearing Board shall consist of the Chief of Police,
the Town Manager and a representative of the Down Town Revitalization
Committee. The Town Manager shall serve as Chairperson of the Hearing
Board, and each member shall have an equal vote.
B.
Evidence presented at the hearing. The alarm user
shall have the right to present written and oral evidence, subject
to the right of cross-examination by the Board. Additionally, the
Board may admit written reports or oral statements of police officers
and may take notice of general, technical or scientific facts within
its specialized knowledge.
C.
Board action. Upon a two-thirds vote, the Board may
reverse or affirm the decision made by the coordinator.
D.
Written notice and findings of fact following the
hearing. A copy of the Board's decision shall be prepared promptly,
but in no event shall it be delivered or mailed later than 15 calendar
days after the Board vote. Unless announced immediately after the
hearing with the alarm user present, a copy of the Board's findings
shall be mailed or hand-delivered to the alarm user or his representative.
E.
Any person or persons, jointly or severally aggrieved
by any decision of the Hearing Board, may appeal the Board's decision
to the Justice of the Peace Court pursuant to Delaware Code § 5917,
Title 11. Any appeals to the Justice of the Peace Court shall be made
within 30 days of service, or of the postmark date, of the copy of
the written decision mailed by the Hearing Board to the aggrieved
parties.
Any alarm vendor, user or person owing an outstanding
user fee, who is subject to a revocation order, or who is otherwise
in violation of the provisions of this chapter, shall not be issued
any new permits until the user fees are paid and the alarm user complies
with all of the provisions of this chapter.
Any alarm vendor or person subject to the provisions
of this chapter that has an appeal outstanding at the beginning of
a permit year shall be granted a temporary permit, which shall be
valid for a period of 30 days.
A.
Any fees imposed in accordance with the enforcement
of this chapter that are not paid in accordance with the provisions
of this chapter shall be assessed against the land or improved premises
and shall, until paid, constitute a lien, from the time of filing
against such land or improved premises in favor of the Town. The lien
shall be perfected upon filing by the Town in the office of the Recorder
of Deeds for New Castle County of a certification of lien setting
forth the amount of such expense, including penalty.
B.
The Town may at its discretion, instead of filing a lien in accordance with Subsection A of this section, deny any and all licenses or permits applied for by any person, persons or corporation that has failed to pay any fees assessed in accordance with this chapter until such time as all unpaid fees have been paid in full.
Applications for alarm permits shall be made
on forms provided by the Elsmere Public Safety Department. Each application
shall be signed by the legal owner of the structure or premises, or
the legal owner's authorized agent. The application shall state the
alarm user's name, and the address and telephone number of the alarm
user's property to be serviced by the alarm. Any nonresidential alarm
user shall also include the name of an individual employed by the
applicant or his agent, who will represent the business or entity
as its agent to receive any notice issued in accordance with this
chapter. If the alarm user's alarm is serviced by an alarm company,
the alarm user shall also include the name address and telephone number
of that company. Every alarm user shall also provide the name, address
and telephone number of at least one person who can be notified of
an alarm activation and can respond to assist the police in the inspection
of the property. The alarm user shall ensure that the information
concerning this person is valid and that that person or their designee
is available to respond at all times.
A.
It shall be unlawful for any alarm vendor or alarm
user to program an automatic dialing device to select a predetermined
telephone number assigned to the ECC, and transmitted by voice message
or code signal an emergency message indicating a need for an emergency
response.
B.
Within 60 days after the effective date of this chapter,
all existing automatic dialing devices programmed to select any telephone
line assigned to the ECC shall be reprogrammed or disconnected.
C.
It shall not be unlawful for any alarm vendor or alarm
user to program an automatic dialing device to an answering service
or central station system with direct-line capabilities to the ECC.
D.
Any financial institution that is required by regulations
of federal supervisory agencies issued pursuant to the Bank Protection
Act of 1968 to have an appropriate device for notifying the police
that a burglary or robbery has occurred or is in progress may arrange
to have the particular signaling device so installed in the ECC, provided
that they have complied with all of the regulations, procedures and
requirements which have been set forth by New Castle County concerning
the installation of such devices.
A.
No alarm user shall install, have installed or maintain
a burglary, robbery or panic audible alarm system designed to be heard
in the vicinity of the premises being protected unless the alarm will
automatically shut down or cease emitting sound within 15 minutes
after it is activated.
B.
Anyone violating this section shall be fined not less
than $50 nor more than $200 for each activation of an alarm system
which is installed or maintained in violation of this section.
A.
All existing burglary, robbery and panic alarm systems
shall be brought into compliance with this chapter no later than 60
days after the effective date of this chapter by the Town Council.
B.
Any alarm system, alarm user or alarm vendor not complying
with any of the provisions of this chapter within 60 days of its effective
date shall be in violation and shall be fined not less than $50 nor
more than $200.
