As used in this chapter, the following terms shall have the
meanings indicated:
ALARM SYSTEM
Any transmission to a privately operated central alarm station;
or any device which transmits without human initiative an alert to
the Village of Freeport police, fire, or any emergency service that
an emergency exists or that a dispatch or response is requested at
a particular premises, location not a premises, or a vehicle at a
public road. "Alarm system" shall also mean any alarm device which
automatically emits an audible, visual or other response upon the
occurrence of any hazard or emergency and is intended to alert persons
outside the building to the existence of said hazard or emergency.
"Alarm system" shall not include personal panic medical alarms or
any alarm triggered by the failure of a human physiological system.
ALARM SYSTEM INSTALLER
Any person that installs, repairs, maintains or in any manner
makes operable an alarm system. A qualified fire alarm technician
shall be an alarm system installer for purposes of this chapter.
ALARM SYSTEM SUBSYSTEM
That portion of an alarm system designed for a particular
type of detection, such as intrusion detection, fire detection, fire
suppression, flooding, hazardous gas detection, vehicular crash detection,
and any other type detection. Detection types shall be determined
by the type of hazard monitored and not by the technology used by
the sensor.
ALARM USER
Any person or entity that contracts with a central alarm
station, controls an alarm system or is in control of a premises that
is protected by an alarm system. "Alarm user" shall also include any
person or entity that installs an alarm system after the effective
date of this chapter who has not filed a permit application for said
installation or has not completed the requirements for issuance of
a valid permit within 30 days of said installation.
AUTHORIZED RESPONDER
For each emergency service the commanding officer at the
alarm location or a member of the emergency service at the alarm location
empowered by a command officer of the responding service to determine
the cause of the alarm for reporting purposes and including for the
determination of a false alarm.
CENTRAL ALARM STATION
Any facility connected to a fire, police or other emergency
service alarm system, which facility is manned by operators who receive,
record or validate alarm signals and relay information about such
validated signals to the Police, Fire Department, or other emergency
service.
COOPERATIVE SECURITY SYSTEM
An alarm system that allows for the simultaneous monitoring
by a Village emergency service or that, upon notification from a central
alarm station or from the alarm user, allows the emergency service
to view images or data related to the alarm notification collected
from the alarm system's sensors or cameras in use at the protected
location.
DISPATCH
A discretionary decision whether to direct police, fire,
or other emergency units to a location where there has been a request,
made by whatever means, for police assistance or investigation, fire
control, ambulatory service, or hazardous material containment or
control. A recall or cancellation of the alert or message prior to
the arrival of the first responder shall not be a dispatch for the
purposes of this chapter.
EMERGENCY NUMBER
Any telephone number designated by the Village as a telephone
number through which members of the public may report an emergency
or request public assistance.
EMERGENCY SERVICE
The Police Department, Fire Department, ambulance/emergency
medical service operated by the Village or the Village Office of Emergency
Management, or any emergency service that is not operated by the Village
but is requested to respond within the Village and does so respond.
FALSE ALARM
Any dispatch or response at which an authorized responder
for the responding emergency service has determined is not the result
of a fire, holdup, robbery or other crime or emergency pursuant to
the criteria promulgated by the emergency service for the determination
of causes for reporting purposes or according to the criteria set
out in this chapter.
FIRST RESPONDER
Any member of the emergency service arriving at the requested
alarm location as the result of a dispatch or response, for each service
dispatched or responding.
KEY BOX
A UL-listed box, size and style approved by the Fire Official,
that meets the requirements and uses the same security key code adopted
by the Fire Department.
MAYOR
The Mayor of the Village, who shall exercise supervision
over the conduct of the Police Department, Fire Department, and any
Village emergency service.
NUISANCE FIRE ALARM
A false alarm determined to be caused by mechanical failure,
malfunction, improper installation, lack of proper maintenance or
any other cause which in the judgment of the authorized responder
requires a repair of the device or reinstallation of any portion of
the alarm system.
PERNICIOUS OFFENDER
Any person accumulating three or more convictions of violations
of this chapter based upon separate violation dates over an eighteen-month
period.
PERSON
An individual, corporation, partnership, joint venture, association,
company, trust, unincorporated organization or other entity, and shall
include any other person that has a substantial interest in or effectively
controls such person, as well as the individual officers, directors,
general partners, trustees, or other individuals in control of the
activities of each such person.
PREMISES
That portion of a structure where there is a unity of control
by the alarm user over the alarm system.
QUALIFIED FIRE ALARM TECHNICIAN
Any person who inspects, installs, repairs, or performs maintenance
on fire alarm systems or the fire detection portion of an alarm system.
This person shall be any one of the following:
A.
Factory trained and certified;
B.
National Institute of Certification in Engineering Technologies
(NICET) Fire Alarm Level II certified; or
C.
Licensed or certified by state or local authority.
RESPONSE
Either a dispatch or any answer to an alert or message from
an alarm system or from a central alarm station which results in the
deployment of police, fire, ambulatory service, or hazardous material
containment or control services to the location requested. A recall
or cancellation of the alert or message prior to the arrival of the
first responder shall not be a response for the purposes of this chapter.
SECURITY CAP
A Fire Department connection (FDC) plug and cap approved
for use in the Village by the Fire Department utilizing two-and-one-half-inch
National Standard thread pattern.
SECURITY PADLOCK
A padlock approved by the Fire Department that utilizes the
approved key code utilized by the Fire Department.
VILLAGE
The Incorporated Village of Freeport.
A false alarm violation shall be determined using a rebuttable
presumption that the following determinations made by the authorized
responder in the fire alarm activation report are correct:
A. There is no evidence of a fire or that there are no conditions present
which create a substantial risk of fire warranting a response.
B. That the alarm was likely caused by mechanical failure, improper
installation or other nuisance alarm and requires service or repair.
C. That the alarm was caused by the improper use or preventable misuse
of a facility monitored by the alarm system.
A police false alarm violation shall be determined with the
benefit of a rebuttable presumption that the following determinations
made by the police authorized responder are correct:
A. There is no evidence of a crime or other activity that would warrant
a call for immediate police assistance at the premises.
B. No individual who was on or near the premises or who has viewed a
video communication from the premises called for a police dispatch
or verified a need for an immediate police response; and
C. There is no evidence that violent conditions of nature or other extraordinary
circumstances beyond the control of the alarm user caused the activation
of the alarm.
The owner or person in control of any building or facility required
to have a Fire Department repository unit shall be present, himself
or through his agent, during access to such repository unit by the
Fire Department except when the Fire Department has responded to an
emergency at the property.
The Village assumes no liability for any of the following:
A. Any defects in the operation of the repository unit, of any of the
keys contained within such repository unit or any information stored
within the repository unit or otherwise provided to the Village;
B. The failure or neglect of any owner or person in control of a building
or facility required to have a repository unit to provide access to
the repository unit;
C. The security of any property required to have a repository unit due
to access to the repository unit by any person.
D. No affirmative duty to respond to a call for assistance and no special
relationship or specific duty is created between an alarm user and
the Village or an emergency service thereof by the issuance of a permit
or the payment of a fee for alarm monitoring.
E. In the event that an alarm system emitting an audible, visual or other similar response shall fail to be deactivated within the time limitation specified in §
72-8B hereinabove, the Village shall have the right to take such action as may be reasonably necessary in order to disconnect any such alarm without incurring any liability of a civil or criminal nature therefor.
The following permit fees shall apply:
A. Initial permit
(3) Each additional detection type (subpermit): $50.
(4) Each additional detection type expiring less than one year: $25.
B. Renewal of permit.
(3) Each additional detection type (subpermit) three years: $50.
If any section, subsection, sentence, clause, or phrase of this
chapter is for any reason held to be invalid or unconstitutional by
the decision of any court of competent jurisdiction, such decision
shall not affect the validity of the remaining portions of this chapter.