[HISTORY: Adopted by the City Commission of the City of Parsons 2-19-1996 by Ord. No. 5722. Amendments noted where applicable.]
GENERAL REFERENCES
Fire prevention — See Ch. 316.
Noise — See Ch. 436.
As used in this chapter, the following terms shall have the meanings indicated:
ALARM SYSTEM
Any assembly of equipment, mechanical or electrical, arranged to signal the occurrence of an illegal entry or other activity requiring urgent attention and to which police and/or fire personnel would be expected to respond.[1]
ALARM USER
The person, firm, partnership, association, corporation, company or organization of any kind in control of any building, structure or facility who or which purchases, leases, contracts for or otherwise obtains an alarm system or for the servicing or maintenance of an alarm system and therefore contracts with or hires an alarm business to monitor and/or service the alarm device.
ANSWERING SERVICE
A telephone answering business 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 Parsons, Kansas Police Department.
AUTOMATIC DIAL PROTECTION DEVICE
An electrically operated instrument composed of sensory apparatus and related hardware which automatically sends over regular telephone lines a prerecorded voice alarm upon receipt of a stimulus from the sensory apparatus that has detected a force or condition characteristic of an unauthorized intrusion or an emergency message indicating a need for emergency response.
BURGLARY ALARM SYSTEM
An alarm system signaling an entry or attempted entry into an area protected by the system.
CALENDAR YEAR
Those dates than run from January 1 through December 31 of each year.[2]
CENTRAL STATION PROTECTIVE SYSTEM
A system or group of systems operated by a person, firm or corporation in which the operations of electrical protection circuits and devices are transmitted to, recorded in, maintained and supervised from a central station having operators in attendance at all times.
CHIEF OF POLICE
The Chief of Police of the City of Parsons, Kansas, or his or her designee.
CITY
The City of Parsons, Kansas.
COORDINATOR
The individual designated by the Chief of Police to enforce the provisions of this chapter.
FALSE ALARM
An alarm signal eliciting an urgent response by police and/or fire personnel when a situation requiring an urgent response does not, in fact, exist, but does not include an alarm signal caused by violent conditions of nature. A false alarm may be the result of, but not limited to, mechanical or electronic failure, malfunction, improper installation, improper adjustment, accidental tripping, misoperation, misuse, defect or negligence of a person. The burden of proving that such alarm was not a false alarm shall be on the alarm business or alarm user.[3]
LOCAL ALARM SYSTEM
An alarm system which when activated causes an audible and/or visual signaling device to be activated and is intended to be seen and/or heard by others outside of the protected premises.
NOTICE
Written notice, given by personal service upon the addressee, or given by United States mail, postage prepaid, addressed to the person to be notified at his last known address. Service of such notice shall be effective upon completion of personal service or upon placing of the same in the custody of the United States Postal Service.
PRIMARY TRUNKLINE
A telephone line leading into the communications center of the Parsons, Kansas, Police Department that is for the purpose of handling emergency calls on a person-to-person basis and which line is identified by a specific listing among the emergency numbers by the telephone company serving the City.
PROPRIETARY SYSTEM
An alarm system sounding and/or recording alarm and supervisory signals to a control center located within the protected premises, the control center being under the supervision of the proprietor of the premises. If a proprietary system includes a signal line connected directly or by means of an automatic dialing device to a police communication system, a central station protective system or answering service, it thereby becomes an alarm system as defined in this section.
RESIDENTIAL EMERGENCY ALARM (also known as "panic alarms")
An alarm system installed or maintained in a residence for the purpose of summoning police assistance to an actual or attempted burglary, robbery or medical emergency requiring an urgent or emergency response by fire, medical or police personnel and equipment.
ROBBERY ALARM SYSTEM
An alarm system signaling a robbery or attempted robbery.
SECONDARY TRUNKLINE
A telephone line leading into the central switchboard of the Parsons, Kansas, Police Department that is identified by a specific listing in the telephone directory for handling administrative and other calls on a person-to-person basis.
[1]
Editor's Note: Amended at time of adoption of Code (see Ch. 1, General Provisions, Art. II).
[2]
Editor's Note: Amended at time of adoption of Code (see Ch. 1, General Provisions, Art. II).
[3]
Editor's Note: Amended at time of adoption of Code (see Ch. 1, General Provisions, Art. II).
A. 
The Chief of Police or his or her designee may require inspection of any or all alarm systems installed within the City.
B. 
Local alarm systems installed within 30 days after the effective date of this chapter shall not emit a sound similar to that of an emergency vehicle siren or a civil defense warning system.
C. 
Local alarm systems shall be equipped to automatically discontinue emitting an audible sound within 15 minutes of activation.
D. 
Alarm users shall notify the police communications center prior to any service, test, repair, maintenance, adjustment, alteration or installation of a local or police-monitored alarm system which might activate a false alarm. Upon the completion of such service, test, repair, maintenance, adjustment, alteration or installation, the alarm user shall notify the police communications center of such completion.
E. 
An alarm business, alarm user, employee of a central station protective system or employee of an answering service charged with the responsibility of relaying a live voice request for police response upon the activation of an alarm system shall give the following information to the police communications center at the time of such request: address of alarmed location; type of alarm that has been activated; name of commercial business or resident; specific location of the building, structure or facility protected by the activated alarm; name of the alarm business making request if applicable; name of person making the request; and a telephone number where the requesting party can be contacted. Unless specifically requested, it is the sole responsibility of the person making such request to notify authorized persons in control of such alarmed building, structure or facility that such alarm has been activated.
F. 
The Chief of Police or his or her designee shall be responsible for determining which alarms constitute false alarms as defined by this chapter. A record of all false alarms shall be maintained by the Chief of Police.
G. 
At the time of the first false alarm within a calendar year, the Chief of Police or his or her designee will notify the alarm user of the premises where the alarm activated by first-class mail of such occurrence and that additional false alarms during the current calendar year could require the payment of fees as per this chapter.
H. 
It is unlawful for any person to activate any burglary, robbery or residential emergency alarm for the purpose of summoning police except in the event of an actual or attempted burglary, robbery or medical emergency or for such persons notifying the police of an activated alarm and having knowledge that such activation was apparently caused by an electrical or other malfunction of the alarm system to fail to notify the police communication center of such malfunction.
I. 
It shall be unlawful to have or maintain an alarm system on any premises without providing address numbers which are clearly visible from a distance of 100 feet or more. The address numbers shall be posted to the left, right or overhead of the main entrance of the building, structure or facility, and if such building, structure or facility is on a corner lot, address numbers shall face the street named in the official address as designated by the United States Postal Service.
J. 
The Chief of Police shall establish, distribute and cause the enforcement of rules and regulations, subject to the provisions of the section, as from time to time he deems it necessary for the implementation of this chapter.
A. 
Any alarm system which has recorded more than five false alarms within the calendar year shall be subject to the following fees:
(1) 
The fees for the sixth through the 14th false alarm shall be $25.
(2) 
The fee for the 15th and all subsequent false alarms shall be $50.
B. 
The payment of the fees provided for in Subsection A(1) and (2) shall be submitted to the City Clerk's office within 30 days of receiving notice that such fee is due.
C. 
Alarm users with newly installed alarm systems shall receive one additional excused false alarm during the first 45 days of use, beginning with the date of activation, for the purpose of adjustments and corrections in the alarm system. Upon request, the alarm user shall provide proof of alarm system acquisition and installation. This one additional excused false alarm shall be in addition to the five nonchargeable false alarms permitted each alarm user during the calendar year.
D. 
Any alarm user who has been assessed a fee as provided for in Subsection A herein may appeal such assessment to the Chief of Police or his or her designee by filing a written notice of appeal with the Chief of Police within 10 days of receipt of the notice that such fee is due. The filing of such notice shall stay the effect of such assessment until a hearing is held before the Chief of Police or his or her designee. The Chief of Police or his or her designee shall have the power to uphold or set aside the assessment of such fees. An alarm user found to be in disagreement with the decision of the Chief of Police may appeal the decision to the City Commission.
A. 
It is unlawful for any person to program an automatic dialing device to select a primary or secondary trunkline.
B. 
It is unlawful for an alarm owner or user to fail to disconnect or reprogram any automatic dialing device which is programmed to select a primary or secondary trunkline within 12 hours of receipt of written notice from the Chief of Police that an automatic dialing device is so programmed.