This chapter shall be known as the "Village
Alarm Systems Ordinance."
The purpose of this chapter is to provide minimum
standards and regulations applicable to burglar, fire and holdup alarm
systems, alarm businesses and alarm users. Both society in general
and public safety in particular will be aided by providing a useful
and usable system of private security which properly balances quick
response by law enforcement with minimization of law enforcement time
spent on alarms which are false or otherwise not the intended function
of private security systems.
[Amended 12-8-2006 by Ord. No. 2006-2; 8-22-2023 by Ord. No. 2023-3]
Within this chapter, the following terms, phrases
and words and their derivations have the meaning given herein:
ALARM BUSINESS
Any business in which the owners or employees engage in the
activity of altering, installing, leasing, maintaining, repairing,
replacing, selling, or servicing alarm systems.
ALARM SYSTEM
An assembly of equipment and devices or single device such
as a solid-state unit which plugs directly into 110-volt AC line or
otherwise receives electrical energy arranged to signal the presence
of a hazard requiring urgent attention and to which the Police Department
is expected to respond. In this chapter, the term "alarm system" shall
include the terms "automatic holdup alarm system," "burglar alarm
system" and "manual holdup alarm systems," as those terms are hereinafter
defined, and fire alarm systems which monitor temperature, humidity
or any other condition directly related to the detection of fire.
Excluded from this definition and from the coverage of this chapter
are alarm systems used to alert or signal persons within the premises
in which the alarm system is located of an attempted unauthorized
intrusion or holdup attempt or fire.
ANNUNCIATOR
The instrumentation on an alarm console at the receiving
terminal of a signal line through which both visual and audible signals
show when an alarm device at a particular location has been activated
or which, in the event of malfunction, may also indicate line trouble.
ANSWERING SERVICE
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 dispatch center serving the Police
Department.
AUTOMATIC DIALING DEVICE
An alarm system which automatically sends over regular telephone
lines, by direct connection or otherwise, a prerecorded voice message
or coded signal indicating the existence of the emergency situation
that the alarm system is designed to detect.
BURGLAR ALARM SYSTEM
An alarm system which signals an entry or attempted entry
into the area protected by the system.
CENTRAL STATION
An office to which remote alarm and supervisory signaling
devices are connected, where operators supervise the circuits.
DIRECT CONNECT
An alarm system which has the capability of transmitting
system signals to the Police Department dispatch center.
FALSE ALARM
The activation of an alarm system through mechanical failure,
malfunction, improper installation, or the negligence of the owner
or lessee of an alarm system or of his employees or agents or other
undetermined cause. "False alarm" does not include alarms caused by
severe weather, tornadoes or electric outages.
INTERCONNECT
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 the activation of the alarm system.
MANUAL HOLDUP ALARM SYSTEM
An alarm system in which the signal transmission is initiated
by the direct action of the person attacked or by an observer thereof.
PRIMARY TRUNK LINE
A telephone line leading directly into the dispatch center
of the Police Department that is for the purpose of handling emergency
calls on a person-to-person basis and which is identified as such
by a specific number included among the emergency numbers listed in
the telephone directory, or numbers in sequence therewith.
SUBSCRIBER
A person who buys or leases or otherwise obtains an alarm
system and thereafter contracts with or hires an alarm business to
monitor and/or service the alarm system.
The Chief of Police, in cooperation with the
County Sheriff's Department, shall promulgate such rules as may be
necessary for the implementation of this chapter. Such rules shall
require the approval of the Village Board and shall be open to inspection
by the public.
No person shall interconnect any automatic dialing
device to a law enforcement department primary trunk line. No person
shall permit such devices which were installed prior to the effective
date of this chapter to remain interconnected from any property owned
or controlled by that person. Such devices may be connected to a central
station or an answering service. Relaying messages so received to
the Police Department shall only be done person to person on the telephone
line.
Direct connections to the Police Department
are prohibited. The Chief of Police is authorized to require that
the owner or lessee of any alarm system directly connected to the
Police Department or primary trunk lines shall disconnect such device
within 30 days after passage of this chapter.
When the service provided by an alarm business
to its subscribers is disrupted for any reason by the alarm business,
or the alarm business becomes aware of such disruption, it shall promptly
notify its subscribers by telephone that protection is no longer being
provided. If, however, the alarm business has written instructions
from its subscriber not to make such notification by telephone during
certain hours, the alarm business may comply with such instructions.
[Amended 8-22-2023 by Ord. No. 2023-3]
There shall be an administrative charge applied and paid by any person who, while having a permissible and permitted alarm system at one or more locations, signals a false alarm, as defined above in §
150-3, requiring a response by the Police or Fire Department, except when the Police or Fire Department finds that an unauthorized person is on the premises was seen on the premises immediately before the alarm was activated, or that there is fresh evidence of forceful entry or attempted forceful entry. Such administrative charges shall be imposed whether the Police or Fire Department receives the alarm by direct notice or through an intermediary such as an answering service or central station. The Village Administrator or Village Clerk-Treasurer shall be responsible for billing such costs and fees associated with the Police or Fire Department. Such administrative charges shall be billed to the owner of the property and, if unpaid for 30 days or more, shall be assessed against each property as a special charge for each false alarm made on a calendar year basis, as follows:
C. $500 - third and subsequent offenses.
The Village shall be under no duty or obligation
to a subscriber or to any other person concerning any provision of
this chapter, including but not limited to any defects in an alarm
system or any delays in transmission or response to any alarm; however,
this in no way shall be construed that it is not the proper function
of law enforcement to respond to alarms.