[Adopted by L.L. No. 1-1994]
The purpose of this article is threefold:
A. To regulate the connection of alarm systems with the
911 Emergency Communications Center to prevent the emergency number
from being jammed or seized by automatic dialing devices or other
such similar devices.
B. To regulate the automatic dialer's message content
to ensure that the essential information is received to provide appropriate
emergency response.
C. To regulate administrative matters relating to the
operations of the 911 Emergency Communications Center to ensure the
health, safety and general welfare of the residents of the County
by regulating the use and application of alarm systems and by providing
an alternate seven-digit number for the purpose of automatic dialer
interconnect.
As used in this article, the following terms
shall have the meanings indicated:
911 COORDINATOR
The County of Ulster Director of Emergency Communications/Emergency
Management or his designated representative, hereinafter the "Coordinator."
[Amended 8-17-2010 by L.L. No. 3-2010]]
ALARM SYSTEM
Any assembly of equipment or device arranged to signal the
presence of a hazard requiring urgent attention and to which police,
fire or emergency medically related service agencies are expected
to respond. "Alarm system" shall include an automatic dialing device.
ALARM USER
Any person on whose premises, located within the County of
Ulster, an alarm system is owned, operated or maintained by such person
or his agents, employees or servants.
AUTOMATIC DIALING DEVICE
A device which is connected to a telephone line and is programmed
to access a predetermined emergency agency number and transmit by
voice message or coded signal to an emergency agency an emergency
message indicating a need for emergency response.
COUNTY
The County of Ulster, State of New York.
EMERGENCY COMMUNICATIONS CENTER
The central dispatching location provided by the County and
the New York State Police or any of the other public safety answering
points to receive all emergency calls on behalf of participating agencies.
PERSON
Any person, firm, partnership, association, corporation,
company or organization of any kind.
PRIVATE ANSWERING POINT
Refers to a business which offers the service of receiving
emergency signals from alarms and where emergency signals from alarm
systems are monitored and thereafter relayed to an emergency agency.
SPECIAL TRUNK LINE
A designated telephone line(s) leading into the County's
Emergency Communications Center and having the primary purpose of
handling emergency signals or messages from automatic dialing devices.
The testing of automatic alarm dialers shall
be permitted in accordance with the following procedures:
A. Business and residential alarms may be tested a maximum
of four times per year. Such testing shall be conducted during the
hours of 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. Exceptions for frequency of tests
and hours will be granted when an alarm is being tested as a result
of alarm maintenance or repair.
B. Prior to the alarm test, the user must contact the
County's 911 Emergency Communications Center to notify the Center
of the test. The caller must provide his name, address, telephone
number, and type of alarm. The telephone number to be used when requesting
an alarm test is 338-2471 for a robbery, burglary or police trouble
alarm and for a fire, water flow, or emergency medical alarm. If for
any reason the alarm test cannot be conducted, the operator will advise
the user and the test shall be rescheduled at a time which is designated
by the 911 Emergency Communications Center operator.
C. Upon test completion, the user shall recall the 911
Emergency Communications Center by calling the administrative number
and verify the alarm test. The caller must identify himself and advise
the operator of the name of the business or household and request
validation of the test.
D. The 911 Emergency Communications Center operator will
monitor, test and evaluate clarity of message, tone and message completeness.
The Coordinator may refuse to permit any person,
business or firm the right to program its automatic dialing device
to access the designated special seven-digit number when the Coordinator
has reason to believe that the use of the device would adversely impact
the operations of the 911 Emergency Communications Center.
These regulations shall pertain to all alarm
systems which terminate at the 911 Emergency Communications Center.
The 911 Coordinator may from time to time issue amendments, in writing,
to these regulations. All regulations shall be issued with an effective
date. It is the duty of all alarm users to keep advised of amendments
to the existing procedures and make appropriate changes and/or modifications
as required.
[Adopted 10-20-2015 by L.L. No. 13-2015]
This article shall be known by and may be cited as the "False
Alarm Reduction Act."
The Ulster County Legislature hereby finds and declares that
false alarms drain resources of the Ulster County Sheriff, police
officers, and other first responders such as firefighters and emergency
services workers. Each false alarm amounts to a waste of taxpayer
money without any public safety benefit and otherwise imperils the
rest of the public who may need actual assistance. The Ulster County
Legislature hereby further finds it important and necessary to ensure
that the alarms being called into the Ulster County Sheriff, police
officers and other first responders such as firefighters and emergency
services workers must have valid permits issued by the Ulster County
Sheriff. For those reasons, and in furtherance of enhancing the public's
health, safety, and general welfare, this article is enacted. Therefore,
the alarm permit fees together with fines levied in accordance with
this article shall be used to offset the administrative and operational
expenses caused by the large number of responses by the Ulster County
Sheriff, police officers and other first responders.
As used in this article, the following terms shall have the
following meanings:
ALARM SYSTEM
A device or series of devices, including but not limited
to devices interconnected with a telephone and/or radio frequency
method such as cellular or private radio signals, which emit or transmit
a remote or local audible, visual or electronic signal indicating
an alarm condition and intended to summon the law enforcement and/or
fire protection and/or medical emergency service and/or emergency
services which perform services in Ulster County or a municipality
therein. "Alarm system" shall not include any personal alarm device
nor any vehicle alarm device unless the vehicle is permanently located
at a site where the device or devices constituting the alarm system
are intended to summon emergency services to.
DISPATCHED
A verbal, electronic, or written communication to law enforcement
or emergency services made through the Ulster County Sheriff's
Office, 911, or local law enforcement dispatch and caused through
an alarm system which actually causes a police officer, firefighter
(paid or volunteer), ambulance corps volunteer or employee, rescue
squad worker (paid or volunteer), or auxiliary member of any police
or fire department or ambulance corps or rescue squad to physically
leave the premises such person is at or change directions in their
motor vehicle with the plan to respond (or actually responding) to
what is determined to be a false alarm.
EMERGENCY
A.
A need for prompt medical services; and/or
B.
A need for prompt police services due to an impending or actually
occurring trespass, break in, robbery; and/or
C.
A circumstance perceived by a human witness or believed by a person based on his or her actual observation or the observation of another human reporting such human's personal, for anything described in Subsections
A or
B.
EMERGENCY SERVICES
A fire department, district, company, ambulance corps, or
rescue squad.
FALSE ALARM
An automated action which emanates from an alarm system in
a structure and causes a call or signal to come into an Ulster County
Sheriff's Office, 911, or local law enforcement dispatch where
a person therein contacts law enforcement or emergency services and
dispatches law enforcement or emergency services to such structure
(whether the law enforcement personnel or emergency services personnel
actually arrive at such structure or not) without any actual emergency
existing at that structure.
LAW ENFORCEMENT
The Ulster County Sheriff and the Deputies who work under
the Sheriff, and members or officers of any city, town, or village
police department, or the New York State Police. "Law enforcement"
shall also include the dispatchers, civilian or otherwise, who answer
the phones at any structure or portion thereof used by law enforcement
to dispatch police officers or emergency services to potential emergencies.
MUNICIPALITY
Any city, town, or village wholly contained within the County
of Ulster and Ulster County.
OWNER
The person, firm, partnership, association, or corporation
which has legal title to the real property where the false alarm emanates
from.
POLICE PHONE NUMBER
Emergency communications or any phone number designed to
be answered by law enforcement or emergency services.
STATEMENT
A written invoice stating a fine. Such statement shall include
a statement that the addressee or his or her attorney or a tenant
of the addressee acting with the written (notarized) approval of the
addressee may appeal the fine provided for in the invoice in the process
authorized under law. Statements shall be served personally upon the
addressee or may be served certified mail return receipt requested
along with a copy sent first-class mail at the address of the property
owner.
STRUCTURE
A physical improvement to real property which has an alarm
in it placed there by or under the control of an owner or tenant of
the structure.
The requirements of this article shall not apply to any Ulster
County municipality that has enacted local false alarm reduction legislation.
False alarms caused by an alarm system are prohibited. It is
the responsibility of the property owner to ensure that their alarm
system is properly licensed, in proper working order and does not
cause a false alarm.
Responding to or failing to respond to an alarm does not create
any special duty by Ulster County; nor does it create any special
duty by any municipality within Ulster County. Any and all liability
and consequential damage resulting from either 1) responding or 2)
the failure to respond to an alarm system signal is hereby disclaimed
and governmental immunity is retained. Responses by law enforcement,
fire department and/or medical emergency response may be based on
factors such as availability of police, fire and/or medical emergency
units, priority of calls, weather conditions, traffic conditions,
emergency conditions and staffing levels. No duty to respond to an
alarm is represented herein as being made or promised.
The effective date of this article shall be on January 1, 2016.