[HISTORY: Adopted by the Township Committee
of the Township of Carneys Point 6-13-1990 as Ord. No. 487. Amendments
noted where applicable.]
A.
The Carneys Point Township Committee finds that certain
facilities within Carneys Point Township have generated an inordinately
large number of false fire alarms. Whenever an alarm is sounded, it
is necessary for volunteer firemen and police authorities to respond.
This results in a cost to the taxpayers of the Township. More importantly,
the health and safety of volunteer fire fighters and Township policemen
are placed in jeopardy as they respond to these alarms.
B.
It is the intention of the Township Committee to place
the responsibility for false alarms upon the owners of those facilities
and residences which generate the false alarms. By assessing responsibility
in this fashion, the Township Committee believes that owners will
become more responsible in the care and maintenance of the equipment
which generates the false alarms. Alternatively, a penalty will be
assessed in order to recompense the taxpayers for the use of public
personnel and equipment.
The following definitions shall apply to the
interpretation and the enforcement of this chapter:
Any device, bell, horn or siren which is attached to the
interior or exterior of a building and emits a warning signal audible
outside the building and is designed to attract attention when activated
by an emergency requiring the Fire Company to respond.
An electrically operated or battery-operated instrument composed
of sensory apparatus and related hardware which automatically transmits
any form of fire alarm or signal, including but not limited to a prerecorded
voice alarm from the premises to the Police Department and/or Fire
Company upon receipt of a stimulus from a sensory apparatus that has
detected a physical force or condition inherently characteristic of
fire.
Any signal activated by an automatic protection device, any
audible alarm or any other kind of direct or indirect signal given
to the police and/or Fire Company to which police and/or Fire Company
personnel respond which is not the result of a fire or similar emergency.
Any person, firm, corporation or other entity.
All automatic protection devices which are connected
to audible alarms shall be equipped with timing devices which shut
off the audible alarms after a maximum period of 15 minutes. Audible
alarms without such a timing device will be unlawful in the Township
and must be disconnected by the owner or lessee within 60 days from
the effective date of this chapter.
Automatic protection devices installed in Carneys
Point Township shall meet the following requirements:
A.
The type and content of recorded messages must be
intelligible and in a format approved prior to installation by the
Carneys Point Township Chief of Police.
B.
No more than one call shall be made to the receiving
authority as a result of a single activation of the automatic protection
device.
C.
The time for transmitting each recorded message shall
not exceed 15 seconds.
D.
Recorded messages may be repeated during one call,
but the interval between each recorded message shall be not less than
eight seconds nor more than 12 seconds.
E.
The sensory mechanism used in connection with an automatic
protection device must be adjusted to suppress false indications of
intrusion so that the device will not be actuated by changing pressure
in the water pipes, short flashes of light, the rattling or vibrations
to the premises caused by the passing of vehicles or any other force
not related to a genuine alarm.
F.
All components comprising such an automatic protection
device must be maintained by the owner or lessee in good repair to
assure maximum reliability of operation.
When messages evidencing failure to comply with the operational requirements set forth in § 96-4 hereof are received and the Township concludes that the automatic protection device sending such messages is malfunctioning, the Township is authorized to require that the owner or lessee of the device or his representative disconnect the device until it is made to comply with the operational requirements. If this disconnection of the defective device is not accomplished within 48 hours of notification by the Township, the Township may then take appropriate action to disconnect the defective automatic protection device provided that an alternate warning system is available. For purposes of this provision, three or more false alarms within any thirty-day period shall be sufficient evidence for the Township to determine that the device is malfunctioning.
For the purpose of enforcing this chapter, the
Police Chief and/or the Fire Chief, or their duly authorized designees,
are hereby authorized to enter upon a lessee's or owner's premises
at any reasonable time to make inspections of installation and/or
operation of automatic protection devices. This section shall not
apply to single-family residences.
No person shall conduct any test or demonstration
of an automatic protection device without first obtaining permission
from the Chief of Police or Fire Chief.
[Amended 10-7-2020 by Ord. No. 968]
Any fire or burglar alarm activated by inadvertence, negligence or unintentional act of someone other than an intruder or a fire, and including alarms caused by a malfunction of the alarm device or relevant equipment, shall be deemed a false alarm, in addition to the definition of "false alarm" set forth in § 96-2 and there shall be assessed the following penalties:
[Amended 10-7-2020 by Ord. No. 968]
Any person or persons who violate any provision
of this chapter shall, upon conviction thereof, be punished by a fine
not exceeding $2,000 or by imprisonment for a term not exceeding 30
days, or both, in the discretion of the Municipal Judge.
