[HISTORY: Adopted by the Mayor and Council
of the Borough of Leonia 9-8-1975 by Ord. No. 760 (Ch. 73 of the 1982 Code).
Amendments noted where applicable.]
The terms as used herein are defined as follows:
Any mechanism which shall transmit a signal to Borough police
headquarters, either to the alarm panel or designated dial-alarm telephone
lines.
The approved console or annunciator control panel installed
in the Borough police headquarters, pursuant to the provisions of
this chapter, for the purpose of providing a visual and audible response
to alarm systems.
A device or series of devices or local alarms whose purpose
is the giving of visual or audible warning, or both, of an emergency,
such as burglary, intrusion, fire, smoke, flood or like perils.
A precoded alarm device which uses the public telephone facility
to transmit a message to a designated telephone line in the Borough
police headquarters.
A signal, message or warning transmitted to police headquarters
which is stimulated by causes other than those for which the system
is specifically designed to respond.
The person or business holding the license to install, operate,
make connections to and maintain the alarm panel or console in the
Borough police headquarters.
Any alarm system mechanism which does not transmit a signal
to the Borough police headquarters.
Any person or business holding a permit to operate an alarm
system.
A.
One reputable alarm system business shall be chosen
by the governing body as the licensee. The governing body shall choose
the licensee after competitive bidding. The potential licensee shall
bid for the privilege of connecting an alarm panel in Borough police
headquarters and for the amount of a fee to be charged for connections
made thereto. The licensee shall be approved by Underwriters' Laboratories,
Inc. or another reputable electronic approval organization and shall
agree to maintain the alarm panel and make necessary repairs within
eight hours of notification by the Leonia Police Department of any
operational difficulty.
B.
The licensee shall provide an alarm panel and maintain
said panel and have the sole authority to connect alarm systems to
the panel. The licensee shall not refuse to connect any alarm device
for which a permit has been issued. For this service, the licensee
shall charge a one-time connection fee. The fee amount will be determined
upon the governing body's acceptance of the lowest responsible fee
bid and shall thereafter, by resolution, adopt the fee and authorize
the licensee to charge it.
C.
The licensee shall assume all liability for or on
account of any acts or omissions directly or indirectly related to
the installation, operation or maintenance of the alarm panel and
shall agree to indemnify and save harmless the Borough of Leonia,
its officers, agents and employees, for such acts or omissions.
D.
The licensee shall present the Borough Clerk with
a certificate of insurance evidencing the issuance of a comprehensive
general liability insurance policy in the minimum amount of $10,000
from an insurance company licensed to transact business in the State
of New Jersey. The licensee shall submit a performance bond in the
amount of $500,000.
The licensee shall provide a one-hundred-position
alarm panel to be installed in police headquarters. Said alarm panel
shall be maintained and operated in accordance with the provisions
of this chapter.
[Amended 3-18-1985 by Ord. No. 1005]
A.
Alarm system installer's permit.
(1)
Every business or person wishing to install or maintain
alarm systems with an alarm device for profit within the Borough must
obtain a permit as provided hereunder.
(2)
An application for permit under this section shall
be signed by an authorized representative of the applicant, shall
be made on forms furnished by the Police Chief and shall contain:
(a)
Name, address, and telephone number of the applicant;
(b)
Address of the residence or business in or upon which
the alarm device has been or will be installed;
(c)
A description of the type of alarm system to be installed;
(d)
The licensed alarm business selling, installing, monitoring,
inspecting, servicing, responding, to and for maintaining the alarm
device;
(e)
Name and telephone number of at least one other person
who can be reached at any time, day or night, and who is authorized
to respond to an alarm signal;
(f)
An agreement to indemnify the Borough, its officers,
agents and employees for or on account of any acts or omissions directly
or indirectly related to the installation, operation, or maintenance
of the alarm system or connection to the alarm panel.
(3)
Said permit shall be issued to all persons, applicants, or businesses licensed to install electrical equipment by the Board of Examiners of Electrical Contractors, N.J.S.A. 45:5A-9, provided said application is accompanied by the application fee set forth in § 76-11 of this chapter and the Chief of Police or his designated representative is able to determine the following:
(a)
That the applicant has demonstrated the ability to
comply with the terms of this order;
(b)
That the applicant, or any owner, partner, officer
or local office manager of the applicant do not have a recent record
of criminal convictions;
(c)
That the applicant is currently in good standing with
state and local consumer protection agencies.
(4)
If said permit shall be denied, the reason for denial
shall be specified in the notification to the applicant.
B.
Alarm system permit.
(1)
Every person or business wishing to have an alarm
system with an alarm device on his or her premises shall make application
to the Chief of Police for an alarm system permit. Application forms
shall be issued by the office of the Chief of Police and shall request:
(a)
The name and address of the location of the system.
(b)
A description of the alarm system.
(c)
The name of the installer.
(d)
A statement consenting to inspection, at reasonable
hours, by the Chief of Police or his designated representative of
the premises on which said alarm devices are installed.
C.
Revocation of permits; use of unauthorized equipment.
(1)
The Chief of Police may revoke any permit issued pursuant
to the provisions of this chapter, if the Chief determines that the
alarm system has been maintained or operated in violation of the permit
or in violation of any provision of this chapter or if there has been
a failure to pay the annual fee, after giving to the permit holder
written notice and an opportunity to be heard.
(2)
Upon the discovery of any unauthorized equipment or
for noncompliance with this chapter, the Chief of Police or his designated
representative may have the equipment disconnected, and any person
installing or maintaining unauthorized equipment shall be prosecuted
for violation of this chapter.
In addition to the requirements of § 76-4:
A.
No dial alarm shall be permitted unless, after being
approved by the Chief of Police, it shall be installed at the permittee's
property with a protective, connecting arrangement, approved by the
New Jersey Bell Telephone Company and a test alarm is conducted by
or on behalf of the permittee.
B.
All dial alarms shall be coded to dial a special unlisted
telephone number which shall be provided by the Chief of Police. No
dial alarm shall be coded to dial the number of the general police
switchboard of the Borough.
C.
All dial alarms shall be coded as well to notify a
relative, neighbor or other third party who shall be named in the
registration required by this chapter.
D.
All dial alarms shall be capable of being disconnected
by the owner to permit a call to the police switchboard in the event
that a false alarm occurs.
E.
The owner of each dial alarm system shall pay to the Borough an additional annual fee as provided in Chapter 123 to cover the cost of registration and testing and to amortize the cost of the special telephone line or lines required in police headquarters and the ancillary tape devices necessitated by these systems.
F.
If any person has a dial alarm in existence at the time of the adoption of this chapter, he shall have 30 days in which to reprogram the equipment to comply with the terms of this chapter and in which to pay the annual fee. Any person failing to comply herewith shall be liable to the penalty, upon conviction in the Municipal Court, set forth in Chapter 1, Article I, General Penalty.
G.
If any dial alarm shall hereafter be found to be dialing the general police headquarter's number rather than the special telephone number reserved for dial alarms, the occupant of the building or other person in whose name the telephone is listed shall be sent a notice, in writing, by the Chief of Police requiring compliance with the terms of this chapter. If the occupant or telephone subscriber shall fail within 30 days after receipt of said notice to comply, he shall be liable for a penalty, upon conviction in the Municipal Court, as set forth in Chapter 1, Article I, General Penalty.
H.
The contents of any recorded message from a dial alarm
must be intelligible and in a format approved by the Chief of Police.
No such message shall be transmitted more than three times as a result
of a single stimulus of the mechanism. Messages shall not exceed 15
seconds, and the time gap between delivery shall be approximately
10 seconds.
I.
The sensory mechanism of dial alarms shall be adjusted
so as to suppress false alarms and not to be actuated by impulses
due to pressure changes in water pipes, short flashes of light, wind,
noises, rattling or vibration of doors or windows or other forces
unrelated to general alarms.
J.
All components of dial alarms shall be maintained
by the owner in a sound manner. When evidence exists that there has
been failure to comply with the operational requirements of this chapter,
the Chief of Police is then authorized to notify the owner that such
device be disconnected until such time as compliance with such requirements
is reestablished.
A.
No person shall install, operate or maintain any alarm
system unless the alarm system has been registered with the Chief
of Police as follows:
(1)
The alarm system of each permittee shall be deemed
registered at such time as the permit therefor is issued.
(2)
In successive years following the issuance of a permit,
an alarm system shall be deemed registered when the annual alarm fee
is remitted to the Borough and the system has been approved by the
Chief of Police.
(3)
A local alarm system shall be deemed registered when
the occupant of the building in which it is installed shall have filed
with the Chief of Police a registration form which shall include,
among other data, the location of the device and its controlling switch
or key, the name of the installer of said device, the type of device,
provisions relating to testing procedures, a list of persons to be
contacted in the event of an alarm and other reasonable information
as may be required by the Chief.
B.
No further or renewed registration shall be required
unless and until there has occurred any material change in the information
previously submitted with respect to any alarm system. It shall be
the duty of the occupant of a building served by an alarm system,
within 10 days after a change in information previously submitted
to the Borough shall have occurred, to file a supplemental or revised
registration containing accurate current information with respect
to the data required by the registration form.
C.
No charge shall be made for filing of any registration
or any amended, revised or supplemental registration.
The licensee and each permittee shall be responsible
on a twenty-four-hour per day basis for service to equipment owned
by the licensee and the permittee. Such service shall be provided
within the eight-hour period next following notification by the Police
Department of any malfunctioning of equipment.
Whenever, under the provisions of this chapter,
the Chief of Police or any authorized representative he may have designated
is empowered to make a decision with respect to the installation,
operation and maintenance of any alarm equipment or with respect to
the issuance or denial of any application relating thereto or revocation
of a permit, and person aggrieved by said decision may, within 10
days following said decision, file a written appeal therefrom with
the Board of Police Commissioners, who shall promptly conduct a hearing
and affirm, modify or reverse the decision.
The Chief of Police may, from time to time,
promulgate rules and regulations supplementing this chapter in order
to provide for record keeping and efficient management of said system;
provided, however, that said rules and regulations or any revisions
thereof shall not take effect until first approved by resolution of
the governing body of the Borough.
The fees set forth in Chapter 123, Fees, payable January 1 of each year, beginning on January 1, 1976, and prorated on a quarterly basis in the event of installation in the course of a year, are established to defray additional expenses incurred as a result of private alarm systems.
A.
For any and all violations of this chapter not otherwise specifically provided for herein, upon conviction in a court of competent jurisdiction, a convicted offender may be liable for a penalty as set forth in Chapter 1, Article I, General Penalty. For the purposes of this section, each violation of this chapter shall be considered a separate offense.
[Added 8-19-2004 by Ord. No. 17-04]
All persons responsible for an alarm system
within the Borough shall notify the Police Department before any tests
or repairs of the system commence and after completion of the same.
Notification shall be made through the central station for central
alarms so that police response may be canceled appropriately.
[Added 8-19-2004 by Ord. No. 17-04;
amended 12-17-2007 by Ord. No. 19-07]
The Police Department shall cause a record to
be made of all false alarms, except for fire alarms, which shall be
tracked by the Fire Department. In any calendar year, the following
penalties shall apply to the person responsible for any alarm device:
A.
For the first through fourth false alarms, a written
warning shall be issued.
B.
For the fifth false alarm, there shall be imposed
a fine of $100.
C.
For the sixth false alarm, there shall be imposed
a fine of $150.
D.
For the seventh and subsequent false alarms, there
shall be imposed a fine of $200 for each such false alarm.
[Added 8-19-2004 by Ord. No. 17-04]
All other ordinances of the Borough of Leonia
which are in conflict with this chapter are hereby repealed to the
extent of such conflict.
[Added 8-19-2004 by Ord. No. 17-04]
A.
The provisions of this chapter are severable, and
if any sentence, section or other part of this chapter should be found
to be invalid, such invalidity shall not affect the remaining provisions,
and the remaining provisions shall continue in full force and effect.
In the event any part or provision of this chapter is held to be illegal
or void, this shall not have the effect of making void or illegal
any of the other parts or provisions thereof which are determined
to be legal; and is shall be presumed that this chapter would have
passed without such illegal or invalid parts or provisions.
B.
Any invalid part or provision of this chapter shall
be segregated from the remainder of this chapter by the court holding
such part invalid, and the remainder shall remain effective.
[Added 8-19-2004 by Ord. No. 17-04]
This chapter shall take effect upon final adoption
and publication of notice of adoption as required by law.
