[HISTORY: Adopted by the Board of Supervisors of the Township of
Thornbury 12-7-1993 by Ord. No. 1993-8.
Amendments noted where applicable.]
GENERAL REFERENCES
Fire Department — See Ch. 14.
This chapter shall be known as the "Thornbury Township Automatic Protection
Device Ordinance."
The following definitions shall apply to the interpretation and enforcement
of this chapter:
Any device, bell, horn or siren which is attached to the interior
or exterior of a building and emits a warning signal audible outside the building
and is designed to attract attention when activated by a criminal act or other
emergency requiring the police and/or fire company to respond.
An electrically- or battery-operated instrument composed of sensory
apparatus and related hardware which automatically transmits any form of alarm
or signal, including but not limited to a prerecorded voice alarm, from the
premises to the police department and/or fire company upon receipt of a stimulus
from a sensory apparatus that has detected a physical force or condition inherently
characteristic of intrusion or fire.
Any person, firm or corporation who sells, leases and/or installs
automatic protection devices.
Any signal activated by an automatic protection device, any audible
alarm or any other kind of direct or indirect signal given to the police and/or
fire company to which police and/or fire company personnel respond which is
not the result of a burglary, fire, robbery or similar emergency.
To connect, maintain and/or use any telephone, recording equipment
or any other equipment to transmit (send) a message, either directly or indirectly,
by an automatic protection device.
[Amended 3-5-1996 by Ord. No. 1996-2]
Any person, firm, corporation or other entity.
Thornbury Township, Chester County, Pennsylvania.
The police department operating under the direction of the Westtown
- East Goshen Police Commission which provides police services to Westtown,
East Goshen and Thornbury Townships, Chester County, Pennsylvania.
All automatic protection devices which are connected to audible alarms
shall be equipped with timing devices which shut off the audible alarms after
a maximum period of 15 minutes. Audible alarms without such a timing device
will be unlawful in the township and must be disconnected by the owner or
lessee within 60 days from the effective date of this chapter.
A.
No automatic protection device installed after the effective
date of this chapter shall be keyed to the Westtown - East Goshen Police Radio
Network or the Pennsylvania State Police Radio Network.
B.
Within 60 days after the effective date of this chapter,
all existing automatic protection devices that transmit messages to the Westtown
- East Goshen Police Radio Network or to the Pennsylvania State Police Radio
Network shall be keyed to the Chester County Police/Fire Radio Network.
C.
All automatic protection devices installed after the
effective date of this chapter shall be keyed to the Chester County Police/Fire
Radio Network.
It is permissible for owners or lessees of automatic protection devices
to key alarms to a telephone or radio which is available to them or to a private
agency, subject to the regulations set forth in this chapter.
Automatic protection devices installed in the township that are keyed
to the Chester County Police/Fire Radio Network shall meet the following requirements:
A.
The type and content of recorded messages must be intelligible
and in a format approved prior to installation by the Chester County Police/Fire
Radio Network.
B.
No more than one call shall be made to the Chester County
Police/Fire Radio Network as a result of a single activation of the automatic
protection device.
C.
The time for transmitting each recorded message shall
not exceed 15 seconds.
D.
Recorded messages may be repeated during one call, but
the interval between each recorded message shall not be less than eight seconds,
nor more than 12 seconds.
E.
The sensory mechanism used in connection with an automatic
protection device must be adjusted to suppress false indications of intrusion
so that the device will not be actuated by changing pressure in the water
pipes, short flashes of light, the rattling or vibrations to the premises
caused by the passing of vehicles or any other force not related to a genuine
alarm.
F.
All components comprising such an automatic protection
device must be maintained by the owner or lessee in good repair to assure
maximum reliability of operation.
When messages evidencing failure to comply with the operational requirements set forth in § 55-6 hereof are received by the Chester County Police/Fire Radio Network and the township concludes that the automatic protection device sending such messages is malfunctioning, the township is authorized to demand that the owner or lessee of the device or his representative disconnect the device until it is made to comply with the operational requirements. If this disconnection of the defective device is not accomplished within 48 hours of notification by the township, the township may then take appropriate action to disconnect the defective automatic protection device. For purposes of this provision, two or more false alarms within any thirty-day period shall be sufficient evidence for the township to determine that the device is malfunctioning.
Automatic protection device suppliers must conform to the requirements
contained in the National Electrical Code.
For the purpose of enforcing this chapter, the police department, Fire
Marshal and/or the Township Manager, or their duly authorized designees, are
hereby authorized to enter upon a lessee's or owner's premises upon
written notice or in the event of an emergency at any time to make inspections
of installation and/or operation of automatic protection devices.
No person shall conduct any test or demonstrations of an automatic protection
device without first obtaining permission from the township and/or the Chester
County Police/Fire Radio Network.
Automatic protection device suppliers and installers shall furnish at
or prior to the time of contracting and at their expense a copy of this chapter
to owners, lessees or users of the equipment or services to be supplied.
[Amended 3-5-1996 by Ord. No. 1996-2]
A.
For the purpose of defraying the costs to the township of responding to false alarms, the owner, lessee or user of any automatic protection device, any person using the services of an intermediary, users of audible alarms and users of any other kind of alarm systems or any other kind of direct or indirect connection keyed to the Chester County Police/Fire Radio Network, except persons using the two-way live voice communication by telephone, shall, as a condition to the installation and continued use and operation of any such equipment or service, execute a consent in such form as may be prescribed by the township, agreeing that such owner, lessee or user shall pay to the township for each false alarm, as defined in § 55-2 of this chapter, an administrative service fee in an amount as set from time to time by resolution of the Board of Supervisors for each false alarm originating from the owner's, lessee's or user's premises.[1]
B.
Each such administrative service fee shall constitute a civil claim by the township which, together with interest at the legal rate and court costs, shall be collectible in a civil proceeding brought before a District Justice in the event that the fee is not paid within 30 days of the date of billing. Proceeding for collection thereof shall not affect or impair the township's enforcement of this chapter, pursuant to the penalty provisions of § 55-14 hereof.
Any such owner, lessee or user who fails to execute the consent provided for in § 55-12 hereof within 60 days from the effective date of this chapter shall, within said sixty-day period, disconnect the automatic protection device or any other kind of direct or indirect connection to the Chester County Police/Fire Radio Network and shall discontinue using the services of any intermediary. Any owner, lessee or user thereof may revoke or refuse to consent as provided for in § 55-12 hereof only by disconnecting the automatic protection device or other alarm system. With respect to such systems installed at the effective date of this chapter, the owner, lessee or user can refuse or revoke the aforesaid consent by disconnecting the automatic protection device or other alarm system within 90 days of the effective date of this chapter.
A.
It shall be a violation of this chapter for any person
to activate or cause to be activated an automatic protection device with the
intent or for the purpose of sending a false alarm.
B.
Any person who violates or permits a violation of this
chapter shall, upon conviction in a summary proceeding brought before a District
Justice under the Pennsylvania Rules of Criminal Procedure, be guilty of a
summary offense and shall be punishable by a fine of not more than $1,000,
plus costs of prosecution. Each day or portion thereof that such violation
continues or is permitted to continue shall constitute a separate offense,
and each section of this chapter that is violated shall also constitute a
separate offense.
[Amended 3-5-1996 by Ord. No. 1996-2[1]]
