[HISTORY: Adopted by the Township Committee
of the Township of Plainsboro 7-31-1981 by Ord. No. 0-81-18; amended in its entirety 7-12-2006 by Ord. No.
0-06-18. Subsequent amendments noted where applicable.]
The purpose of this chapter is to provide minimum
standards and regulations for the use of privately installed burglary,
robbery, medical and fire alarm systems, to require registration,
to establish fees and fines and to create an administrative apparatus.
As used in this chapter, the following terms
shall have the meanings indicated:
An assembly of equipment and devices arranged to signal a
monitoring company of the presence of a hazard or medical emergency
requiring urgent attention and to which police, fire fighters and/or
emergency medical personnel are expected to respond. "Alarm system"
does not include an alarm installed in a vehicle or on someone's person
unless the vehicle or the personal alarm is permanently located at
a site. In this chapter, the term "alarm system" shall include but
not be limited to:
AUTOMATIC HOLDUP ALARM SYSTEMAn alarm system in which a signal transmission is initiated by the action of a robber.
BURGLAR ALARM SYSTEMAn alarm system signaling an entry or attempted entry into the area protected by the system.
HOLDUP ALARM SYSTEMAn alarm system signaling a robbery or attempted robbery generated by the manual activation of a device.
DURESS ALARM SYSTEMA silent alarm signal generated by the entry of a designated code into an arming station in order to signal that the alarm user is being forced to turn off the system and requires law enforcement response.
FIRE ALARM SYSTEMSAlarm systems which monitor temperature, humidity, or any other condition of a fire hazard nature, and not directly related to the detection of an unauthorized intrusion into a premises or an attempted robbery at a premises. Notwithstanding anything to the contrary in this chapter, the term "alarm system" shall not include self-contained battery or electrically powered smoke detector units located within a dwelling unit which give out an audible signal and which are not tied into or directly connected with a central receiving station.
MEDICAL ALARM SYSTEMAn alarm system signaling the need for medical assistance.
The process where response to a burglar alarm is terminated
when a monitoring company (designated by the alarm user) for the alarm
site notifies our Communications Center there is not an existing situation
at the alarm site requiring law enforcement response after an alarm
dispatch request.
An alarm signal, eliciting a response by police, fire fighters,
and/or emergency medical personnel when a situation requiring a response
by the police, fire fighters, and/or emergency medical personnel does
not in fact exist, but does not include an alarm signal caused by
violent conditions of nature or other extraordinary circumstances
not reasonably subject to control by the alarm user.
The process by which a monitoring company receives signals
for an alarm system and relays an alarm dispatch request to the municipality
for the purpose of summoning police, fire, and/or emergency medical
services.
The person in the business of providing monitoring services.
An attempt by the monitoring company or its representative
to contact the alarm site and/or the alarm user by telephone and/or
other electronic means, whether or not actual contact with a person
is made, to determine whether a burglar alarm signal is valid before
requesting law enforcement dispatch, in an attempt to avoid an unnecessary
alarm dispatch request. For the purpose of this chapter, telephone
verification shall require, at a minimum, that a second call be made
to a different number if the first attempt fails to reach an alarm
user who can properly identify themselves to determine whether an
alarm signal is valid before requesting law enforcement dispatch.
A.
An initial registration shall be required for each
alarm system within the Township of Plainsboro.
B.
Any person desiring the issuance of a registration
shall file with the Director of Public Safety a written application,
on a form to be provided.
C.
A registration fee of $10 for each dwelling unit and
$25 for all other applicants shall be paid by the applicant. If two
separate systems or a single system with two separate functions is
involved, then separate fees shall be required for each such system
or function; but in no instance shall this permit fee exceed $50.
In cases where a new homeowner or business assumes control of a system
in place at the time of acquisition or possession of the property
a new registration is required in accordance with the provisions above.
A.
No alarm user shall operate, or cause to be operated,
an alarm system at its alarm site without a valid alarm registration.
A separate alarm registration is required for each alarm system.
B.
Every burglar alarm must be provided with a device
which will automatically reset or shut off the alarm after 15 minutes
from the time of activation.
C.
Every burglar alarm system in a private dwelling shall
be equipped with a time delay of at least 20 seconds in the event
that the system shall be accidentally activated.
D.
Every nonresidential fire alarm system shall not be
silenced, reset or shut off, until a member of the Fire Department
or Fire Official arrives on the scene and determines the specific
location of the alarm in the building, and authorizes the silencing
or resetting of the system.
E.
Every alarm user shall provide a signed certification
stating the following:
(1)
The date of installation, conversion or takeover of
the alarm system, whichever is applicable;
(2)
That a set of written operating instructions for the
alarm system, including written guidelines on how to avoid false alarms,
have been left with the applicant by the alarm installation company,
the previous system owner, or the monitoring company;
(3)
The alarm installation company or current alarm company
has trained the applicant in the proper use of the alarm system, including
instructions on how to avoid false alarms; and
(4)
A certificate of approval has been obtained from the
Plainsboro Township Construction Official for each alarm system.
F.
Emergency services response may be influenced by factors
including, but not limited to the availability of units to respond,
priority calls, weather conditions, traffic conditions, emergency
conditions, staffing levels, etc.
Alarm user shall:
A.
Maintain the alarm site and the alarm system in a
manner that will minimize or eliminate false alarms.
B.
Make every reasonable effort to have a responder to
the alarm system's location within 20 minutes when requested by law
enforcement to deactivate an alarm system; provide access to the alarm
site; provide alternative security for the alarm site.
C.
Not activate an alarm system for any reason other
than an occurrence of an event that the alarm system was intended
to report.
D.
Have a licensed alarm installation company inspect
the alarm system after three false alarms in a one-year period. After
five false alarms within a one-year period, the alarm user must have
a licensed alarm installation company modify the alarm system to be
more false-alarm resistant or provide additional user training as
appropriate.
E.
Maintain a written set of operating instructions for
each alarm system.
F.
Complete the customer false alarm prevention checklist
and submit it with the registration to the alarm administrator.
A.
No person shall use or possess an operative alarm
system without having registered it in accordance with the provisions
of this chapter.
B.
No person owning, using or possessing an alarm system
shall cause or permit the giving of repeated false alarms, whether
intentional, accidental or otherwise.
C.
An alarm registration cannot be transferred to another
person or alarm site. An alarm user shall inform the alarm administrator
of any change that alters the information listed on the alarm registration
within five business days of such a change.
D.
All fines and fees owed by an applicant must be paid
before an alarm registration may be issued.
The acceptance of any alarm system by the Director
of Public Safety and/or Fire Official as provided herein shall in
no manner place upon the Police Division, Township of Plainsboro,
or the Fire District, any additional liabilities other than those
statutorily incurred with the police or fire functions.
The provisions of this chapter shall not apply
to any alarm system installed on property occupied by any Township,
County, state or federal government agency or office.
A.
Any alarm user who fails to register their system as specified in § 47-3 above is subject to a fine of $25.
B.
Any residential alarm system, subject to the control
of the alarm user, which has six or more false alarms for each system
(i.e., burglar, fire, or medical) within the calendar year, is in
violation of this chapter and subject to a fine of $50 to $1,000 for
each false alarm over six.
C.
Any commercial/business alarm system, subject to the
control of the alarm user, and located in a building of less than
150,000 square feet, which has six or more false alarms for each system
(i.e., burglar, fire, or medical) within the calendar year is in violation
of this chapter and subject to a fine of $50 to $1,000 for each false
alarm over six. Any commercial/business alarm system, subject to the
control of the alarm user, and located in a building of more than
150,000 square feet, which has 10 or more false alarms for each system
(i.e. burglar, fire, or medical) within the calendar year is in violation
of this chapter and subject to a fine of $50 to $1,000 for each false
alarm over 10. Businesses which have more than one building on a site
will be subject to the control of the alarm user, which has six or
more false alarms for each system in each building (i.e., burglar,
fire, or medical) within the calendar year is in violation of this
chapter and subject to a fine of $50 to $1,000 for each false alarm
over six.
D.
Any alarm user installing any alarm system not in
compliance with this chapter is subject to a fine of $100.
