[HISTORY: Adopted by the City Council of the City of Lexington by Ord.
No. 92-11 (§§ 15-64 to 15-75 of the 1970 Code). Amendments
noted where applicable.]
A.
The purpose of this chapter is to reduce the number of
false alarms and thereby protect the public safety by minimizing unnecessary
use of the City's limited public safety resources.
B.
This chapter governs burglary, robbery, medical and fire
alarm systems; establishes service fees; and provides a system of administration.
For the purpose of this chapter, the following words and phrases shall
have the meanings respectively ascribed to them by this section:
Any person who is employed by an alarm business, either directly
or indirectly, whose duties include any of the following: maintaining, servicing,
or repairing any alarm or alarm system in or on any building, place or premises.
Any person whose duties consist solely of resetting an alarm following activation
shall not be deemed to be an alarm agent.
The business, by an individual, partnership, corporation or other
entity, of selling, leasing, maintaining, servicing, repairing, altering,
replacing, moving, installing or monitoring an alarm or alarm system in or
for any building, structure or facility.
Any device or system which transmits a signal visibly, audibly, electronically,
mechanically or by any combination of these methods which indicates a hazard
or occurrence requiring urgent attention and to which public safety personnel
are expected to respond. "Alarm system" shall not include a personal direct
telephonic call requesting emergency services placed by a person at the premises
in question.
The person, persons or organization that occupies the premises which
are protected by the alarm system, be it the owner, lessee or an agent thereof.
A telephone answering service 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 Police Department's Communications Center.
A device which is interconnected to a telephone line and is programmed
to select a predetermined telephone number and transmit by voice message or
code signal an emergency message indicating a need for emergency response.
Any alarm signal communicated to the Lexington Communications Center
which is not reasonably believed to be in response to actual or threatened
felonious criminal activity, medical emergency or fire. False alarms include
negligently activated signals; signals which are the result of faulty, malfunctioning
or improperly installed or maintained equipment; and signals which are purposely
or accidentally activated to summon public safety personnel in nonemergency
situations. False alarms shall not include signals activated by unusually
severe weather conditions or other causes which are identified by the Chief
of Police or his designee to be beyond the control of the user.
Any security alarm system which does not directly terminate in the
Lexington Communications Center but which causes a third party or answering
service to notify the Lexington Communications Center of the alarm activation.
Any person who installs, services, monitors, sells or leases any
security alarm system.
To connect an alarm system to a voice-grade telephone line, either
directly or through a mechanical device that utilizes a standard telephone,
for the purpose of using the telephone line to transmit an emergency message
upon activation of the alarm system.
The doing of an act where ordinary care suggests that the act should
not have been done at all or that it should have been done in some other way.
Any activation of an alarm system resulting in a response by public
safety personnel for other than that purpose for which the system was designed,
installed and approved by the Chief of Police or his designee.
It shall be unlawful for any person to install, sell, lease or use,
or cause or allow to be installed, sold, leased or used, automatic telephone
dialing devices or systems which are set or programmed to directly dial, actuate,
call or in any manner make direct contact with any telephone line or radio
circuit of the Lexington Communications Center.
Every alarm user shall obtain an alarm user's permit from the City for
each alarm system, which permit shall remain in effect unless and until either
revoked or the alarm system is removed or transferred to another user. No
alarm system shall be activated without the alarm user having first obtained
an alarm user's permit as described within this section. Such a permit shall
be obtained from the City within 120 days from the effective date of this
chapter or prior to the use of an alarm system which is installed subsequent
to the expiration of 120 days from the effective date of this chapter.
A.
The alarm user shall purchase an alarm user's permit for each alarm system within the jurisdictional boundaries of the City which is intended and/or designed, when activated, to generate a response from one or more municipal public safety agencies. An alarm permit fee to be set by City Council as set forth in § 105-7A shall be paid by the alarm user.
B.
The application for an alarm user's permit shall be made
on an alarm permit application form, which is available from the Lexington
Communications Center. Payment of the permit fee for each alarm system shall
accompany the application to the City Treasurer's office.
C.
Every person applying for more than one alarm permit
at one location shall pay the alarm user's permit fee for each permit, up
to three permits. Regardless of the number of permits, the total fee shall
not exceed three times the single permit fee for any one location.
D.
An alarm user's permit for a business or industry alarm
system shall be displayed in a conspicuous place at the main entrance of the
building observable from the outside.
E.
The alarm user's permit may be issued at any time; however,
all alarm permits expire on December 31 with renewal due between November
1 and January 1 of each year following the issuance of the permit. No additional
fee shall be imposed for such renewal unless the system has been transferred
or replaced.
(1)
Permits are not transferable from one user to another
user, or from one address to another address. It shall be the duty of the
alarm user to maintain current permit information.
(2)
Those alarm system receivers which are installed in the
Lexington Communications Center, if any, shall be removed within one year
of the effective date of this chapter and no further such alarm system receivers
shall be installed.
A.
It shall be the responsibility of the security alarm
users to instruct employees, or others who may have occasion to activate an
alarm, that alarm systems are to be activated only in emergency situations
to summon an immediate public safety response. Alarm users shall also instruct
appropriate employees as to the operation of the alarm system(s), including
setting, activation and resetting of the alarm. All instructions pertaining
to alarm systems and procedures shall be in written form, suitable for distribution
to employees. Alarm users shall be responsible for maintaining the security
system in proper working order.
B.
It shall be the responsibility of the alarm users to
reset and/or return all alarm systems to service after an alarm trip or maintenance.
The emergency response personnel will not reset any alarm system.
C.
It shall be the responsibility of the alarm users to
inactivate or cause to be inactivated audible alarms within 30 minutes of
the notification of their activation. All other alarms shall be reset within
one hour of the notification of their activation.
It shall be unlawful for any person to deliberately and without just
cause activate an alarm system to summon the City's public safety personnel
in a nonemergency situation. Nothing herein contained shall apply to the periodic
testing of direct transmittal alarms when sufficient notice is given to the
Lexington Communications Center.
A.
Schedule of fees.
(1)
An alarm permit fee of $25 shall be paid by the alarm
user for each location and for each alarm system located within the jurisdictional
boundaries of the City. Such fee shall be collected only once for each user
and each alarm system. If the permit issued is revoked, if the property is
transferred or if the alarm system is removed or replaced, a new permit must
be obtained as set forth herein.
(2)
The first three false alarms in a permit year shall be
free of charge. The fourth through eighth false alarms in a permit year will
result in a service fee of $25 each. The ninth through 12th false alarms in
a permit year will result in a service fee of $50 each. Note: This section
shall not apply to newly (first time/original alarm systems) installed/activated
alarm systems for the first 30 days of operation.
B.
Termination of response. The 12th false alarm from any
premises in a permit year will result in the alarm user's permit being revoked
and the user being so notified, in writing, by the Chief of Police or his
designee, and all emergency response by the City's public safety personnel,
based on alarm activation, shall cease upon receipt of the written notice.
C.
Reinstatement of service. Any service which has been
discontinued shall not be reinstated until it has been inspected by an alarm
company licensed to do business in the state, which shall certify that the
system has been repaired and is now found to be in a reliable status. In the
event that the false alarms occurred through human negligence rather than
mechanical failure, reinstatement shall not be permitted until the user, its
employees and all others having access to the system have completed a training
program satisfactory to the Chief of Police or his designee. In addition to
such written certification to the Chief of Police or his designee, a reinstatement
fee of $100, payable to the City, must accompany the request for reinstatement.
The inspection, repair and recertification of any alarm system shall be accomplished
at the alarm user's expense. Such reinstatement, if granted, shall be for
the remainder of the current calendar year.
The service and reinstatement fees of § 105-7 shall not be applied to any alarm system used, operated or installed in any premises or place owned, leased, occupied or under the control of the United States government, the state or any of its political subdivisions, nor to the City or its School Board or any officer, agent or employee of the aforesaid governmental agencies while acting or employed in his official capacity. All other requirements, including termination of service, shall apply.
The Chief of Police or his designee shall certify to the Director of Finance the name of the user, the address from which alarms subject to penalty emanated and the amount due the City on the last day of each month. The Director of Finance shall cause billing to be sent and shall in turn notify the Chief of Police or his designee when any account is more than 30 days in arrears. Any account more than 30 days in arrears shall be subject to revocation and a termination of response; further, the reinstatement fee specified in § 105-7C must be remitted before service is restored.
The information furnished and secured pursuant to this chapter shall
be confidential and shall not be subject to public inspection.
A.
Neither the Police Department, Fire Department nor the
rescue squad, nor any other agency of the City, shall be under any obligation
or duty to accord any priority to an alarm system or to any person by reason
of this chapter. The City specifically disclaims liability for any damages
which may be caused by the failure of the City to respond to an emergency
or alarm, or any damages caused by a reasonable response to an emergency alarm.
B.
The City, its officers, employees and agents shall not
assume any duty or responsibility for the installation, operation, repair
or effectiveness of any privately owned alarm system, such duties or responsibilities
being solely those of the alarm user and relevant alarm business. Additionally,
it shall be solely the responsibility of the alarm user and relevant alarm
business to silence an activated alarm and thereafter reset the same.
