[HISTORY: Adopted by the Township Committee of the Township of Franklin
2-28-1984 by Ord. No. O-1-84. Amendments noted where applicable.]
This chapter shall be known as the "Alarm Ordinance."
As used in this chapter, the following terms shall have the meanings
indicated:
The business by any individual, partnership, corporation or other
entity of selling, leasing, maintaining, servicing, repairing, altering, replacing,
moving or installing any alarm system or causing to be sold, leased, maintained,
serviced, repaired, altered, moved or installed any alarm system in or on
any building, structure or facility.
An assembly of equipment, mechanical or electrical, arranged to signal
the occurrence of an illegal entry or other activity requiring urgent attention
and to which the police are expected to respond.
The person, firm, partnership, association, corporation, company
or organization of any kind in control of premises wherein an alarm system
is maintained.
A device which is interconnected to a telephone line and is programmed
to transmit by voice message or code signal to a designated trunk line (selected
telephone number other than a primary trunk line) indicating a need for emergency
response.
The individual or individuals designated by the Chief of Police of
the Township of Franklin to issue permits and enforce the provisions of this
chapter.
A telephone line or lines serving the Franklin Township Police Department
that is designated to receive calls from automatic dialing devices.
An emergency alarm activated by inadvertence, negligence or unintentional
acts to which the Police or Fire Department responds, including malfunction
of the alarm system. The definition excludes alarms caused by: malfunctions
of the indicator at the police station; malfunction, testing or repairing
of telephone equipment or lines; acts of God, such as earthquakes, floods,
windstorms, thunder or lightning; an attempted illegal entry of which there
is visible evidence; the user acting under a sincere belief that a need exists
to call the Police or Fire Department; a call to police canceling the alarm
by giving the proper identification number prior to arrival of the Police
or Fire Department. If a doubt exists as to the cause of a false alarm, the
Chief of Police shall resolve it in favor of the alarm user. Note: Multiple
alarms received by the Franklin Township Police Department before the system
can be deactivated within a reasonable period of time shall be considered
a single alarm.
The facility used to receive emergency information from the public.
To connect an alarm system, including an automatic dialing device,
to a telephone line, either directly or through a mechanical device that utilizes
a telephone, for the purpose of using the telephone line to transmit a message
upon the activation of the alarm system.
A telephone line or lines serving the Franklin Township Police Department
that is designated to receive emergency calls.
A.
All alarm users shall obtain an alarm user's permit for
each premises from the Coordinator's office upon the effective date of this
chapter or prior to use of an alarm system. Application for the alarm user's
permit and a fee of $10 will be filed with the Coordinator's office each year.
Each permit shall bear the signature of the Coordinator and be for a one-year
period. The permit shall be physically upon the premises using the alarm system
and shall be available for inspection by the Coordinator or officers in the
Franklin Township Police Department.
B.
A probationary user's permit shall be obtained from the
Coordinator's office by filing the required application and a fee of $100.
Each permit shall bear the signature of the Coordinator and be for a one-year
period. The permit shall be physically upon the premises using the alarm system
and shall be available for inspection by the Coordinator.
C.
A residential alarm user who is over the age of 65, is the primary resident of the residence and has no business conducted in the residence may obtain a user's permit from the Coordinator's office according to Subsection A without payment of a fee.
D.
A charge of $25 will be charged users who fail to obtain
a permit within the 60 days after the effective date of this chapter or who
are 60 days delinquent in renewing a permit.
A.
Every alarm business selling, leasing or furnishing to
any user an alarm system which is installed on premises located within the
area served by the Franklin Township Police Department shall furnish that
user with instructions that provide information to enable the user to operate
the alarm system properly and to locate and obtain service for the alarm system
at any time.
B.
Every alarm business selling, leasing or furnishing to
any user an alarm system which is installed on premises located within the
area served by the Franklin Township Police Department shall:
(1)
Be required that each alarm system installed be provided
with standby battery power which shall automatically and immediately take
over in the event of a power failure.
(2)
Be required to provide an automatic audible alarm cutoff
within 15 minutes of initial activation of any audible alarms installed to
all alarm systems.
(3)
Be required to notify the Franklin Township Police Department
prior to conducting any tests upon any alarm system whereupon such test would
cause emergency information to be received by the Franklin Township Police
Department.
A.
Any alarm system which has six or more false alarms within
a permit year shall be subjected to permit revocation as provided herein.
B.
If the Franklin Township Police Department records six
or more false alarms within a permit year for any alarm system:
(1)
The Coordinator shall notify the alarm user and the alarm
business providing the service or inspection to the user by certified mail
of such fact and direct that the user submit a report to the Coordinator within
15 days of receipt of the notice describing actions taken or to be taken to
discover and eliminate the cause of the false alarms.
(2)
If the alarm user submits a report as directed, the Coordinator
shall determine if the action taken or to be taken will substantially reduce
the likelihood of false alarms; if he determines that the action will substantially
reduce the likelihood of false alarms, he shall notify the alarm user in writing
that his permit will not be revoked at this time and that if one more false
alarm occurs within the permit year, the user's permit may be revoked.
(3)
If no report is submitted, or if the Coordinator determines
that the action taken or to be taken will not substantially reduce the likelihood
of false alarms, the Coordinator shall give notice by certified mail to the
user that the permit will be revoked without further notice, if the user does
not file within 10 days a written request for a hearing.
(4)
If a hearing is requested, written notice of the time
and place of the hearing shall be served on the user by the Coordinator by
certified mail at least 10 days prior to the date set for the hearing, which
date shall not be more than 21 nor less than 10 days after the filing of the
request for hearing.
(5)
The hearing shall be before a hearings officer designated
by the Coordinator, and the alarm user shall have the right to present written
or oral evidence, subject to the right of cross-examination. If the hearings
officer determines that six or more false alarms have occurred, and that the
user has not taken action which substantially reduces the likelihood of false
alarms, he shall issue written findings to that effect and an order revoking
the user's permit.
(7)
An alarm user whose permit has been revoked may apply for a probationary user's permit as provided in § 140-4B. The Coordinator shall not be required to issue a probationary user's permit unless he is satisfied that the user's system has been properly serviced and its deficiencies corrected. The Coordinator may impose reasonable restrictions and conditions upon the user, before issuing a probationary user's permit, which restrictions and conditions shall be written on the permit. A probationary user's permit shall be issued for a one-year period. If the alarm user does not have six or more false alarms during that period, he may apply for a permit for the following year under the provisions of § 140-4A.
Any alarm user or alarm business who or which shall be found to have
violated any of the provisions of this chapter shall, upon conviction thereof,
be subject to a fine not exceeding $200 or imprisonment for a term not exceeding
90 days, or both. The violation of more than one section of this chapter shall
constitute separate offenses and shall be prosecuted accordingly. Any such
fine or imprisonment shall be in the discretion of the local municipal judge
before whom such alarm user is convicted.
