Source: https://www.ecode360.com/8417768
Timestamp: 2019-04-22 07:03:33+00:00

Document:
§ 60-3 Registration required; application; fee; transferability; false statements.
§ 60-4 Alarm systems in apartment complexes.
§ 60-5 Registration duration and renewal.
§ 60-6 Duties of alarm user.
§ 60-7 Duties of alarm company.
§ 60-8 Alarm company license.
§ 60-9 Duties of Borough.
§ 60-10 Penalties for false alarms.
§ 60-11 Suspension of response.
§ 60-14 Violations and penalties.
Ch 83 Bulk Storage Containers and Dumpsters.
Noise — See Ch. 154.
The purpose of this chapter is to encourage alarm users and alarm companies to properly use and maintain the operational effectiveness and proper utilization of alarm systems and to reduce or eliminate false alarms which may unduly divert law enforcement from responding to criminal activity.
This chapter governs systems intended to summon law enforcement and fire response, and requires registration, establishes fees, provides for penalties for violation, establishes a system of administration, and sets conditions for suspension or loss of registration.
Persons designated by the governing authority that should be representative of the community, alarm industry, and law enforcement. The Advisory Board should review and recommend false alarm reduction efforts and report to the governing authority.
A person or persons designated by the governing authority to administer, control and review false alarm reduction efforts.
The business, by an individual, partnership, corporation or other entity of selling, leasing, maintaining, servicing, repairing, altering, replacing, moving, installing or monitoring an alarm system in an alarm site.
A notification to a law enforcement agency that an alarm, either manual or automatic, has been activated at a particular alarm site.
The notification by an alarm company or an alarm user of the alarm administration that an alarm system has been installed and is muse.
Should consist of five members as follows: the Chief of Police or designee, Borough Secretary or designee, member of Borough Council or designee, a representative of the Fire Department or designee, and an at-large appointee of the Borough Council that cannot be resolved at a first level. All appointees shall serve at the pleasure of Council.
A single fixed premises or location served by an alarm system or systems. Each tenancy, if served by a separate alarm system in a multitenant building or complex, shall be considered a separate alarm site.
A device or series of devices, including, but not limited to, systems interconnected with a 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 law enforcement service of the municipality. Alarm systems do not include an alarm installed in a vehicle or person unless the vehicle or personal alarm is permanently located at a site.
Any person, firm, partnership, corporation or other entity who (which) uses or is in control of any alarm system at its alarm site.
A class conducted by the municipality or law enforcement agency for the purpose of educating alarm users about the problems created by false alarms and responsible use and operation of alarm systems.
Any electrical, electronic, mechanical or other device capable of being programmed to send a prerecorded voice message when activated, over a telephone line radio or other communication system, to a law enforcement agency.
The process by which an alarm company providing monitoring verifies with the alarm user or responsible party that a false dispatch has occurred and that there is not an existing situation at the alarm site requiring law enforcement agency response.
The transaction or process by which one alarm company begins monitoring of a previously unmonitored alarm system or an alarm system previously monitored by another alarm company.
A silent alarm system signal generated by the manual activation of a device intended to signal a life-threatening situation or a crime in progress requiring law enforcement response.
An alarm dispatch request to a law enforcement agency, when the responding officer finds no evidence of a criminal offense or attempted criminal offense alter having completed a timely investigation of the alarm site.
A silent alarm signal generated by the manual activation of a device intended to signal a robbery in progress.
A device that allows control of an alarm system by the manual entering of a coded sequence of numbers or letters.
The Borough Police Department, director of a law enforcement agency, or an authorized representative.
A license issued to an alarm company to sell, install monitor, repair, or replace alarm systems by an authority having jurisdiction.
Any alarm system that annunciates an alarm only by an internal or external audio device.
The process by which an alarm company receives signals from an alarm system and relays an alarm dispatch request to the municipality for the purpose of summoning law enforcement response to the alarm site.
The manual activation of a silent alarm signal by entering at a keypad a code that adds one to the last digit of the normal arm/disarm code (normal code equals 1234; One plus duress code + 1235).
An audible alarm system signal generated by the manual activation of a device intended to signal a life-threatening or emergency situation requiring law enforcement response.
An individual, corporation, partnership, association, organization or similar entity.
The transaction or process by which an alarm user takes over control of an existing alarm system which was previously controlled by another alarm user.
An attempt by the alarm company or its representative to contact the alarm site by telephonic or other electronic means, whether or not actual contact with a person is made, before requesting law enforcement dispatch, in an attempt to avoid an unnecessary alarm dispatch request.
Subdivisions into which an alarm system is divided to indicate the general location from which an alarm system signal is transmitted.
No alarm user shall operate, or cause to be operated, and alarm system at its alarm site without a valid alarm registration issued by Mount Oliver Borough. A separate registration is required for each alarm site. An additional alarm registration classification shall be required for alarm systems programmed with duress alarm or holdup alarm.
The annual fee for a registration or registration renewal for a residential alarm site shall be $5 and for a commercial site shall be $60, and should reflect the administration cost. No refund of a registration or registration renewal fee will be made. The initial annual registration fee must be submitted to Mount Oliver Borough within five days after the alarm installation or alarm takeover. A registration occurring on or before June 30 shall be charged the fill annual fee. A registration occurring after June 30 shall be charged 1/2 the annual fee. An additional fee established by Mount Oliver Borough shall be assessed for an alarm system programmed with duress alarm or holdup alarm.
Had an alarm registration for the alarm site suspended or revoked and the violation causing the suspension or revocation has not been corrected.
The law enforcement response may be based on factors such as availability of police units, priority of calls, weather conditions, traffic conditions, emergency conditions, staffing levels, etc.
Any false statement of a material fact made by an applicant for the purpose of obtaining an alarm registration shall be sufficient cause for refusal to issue a registration.
An alarm registration cannot be transferred to another person of the alarm site. An alarm user shall inform Mount Oliver Borough of any change that alters any information listed on the registration application within five business days.
All fees owed by an applicant must be paid before a registration may be issued or renewed.
A tenant of an apartment with an alarm system shall obtain an alarm registration from Mount Oliver Borough before operating or causing the operation of any alarm System in the tenant's residential unit. The owner or property manager of an apartment complex shall obtain a separate alarm registration of any alarm system operated in offices or common areas of the apartment complex. The annual fee for a landlord's registration or the renewal of his or her registrations shall be the same as the fee for a commercial alarm site. Each building regardless of the number of units contained therein shall be deemed as one commercial alarm site and shall pay the annual registration fee for a commercial alarm site.
A registration shall expire one year from the date of issuance, and must be renewed annually by submitting an updated application and a registration renewal fee to Mount Oliver Borough. Mount Oliver Borough shall notify each alarm user of the need to renew 30 days prior to the expiration date. Failure to renew will be classified as use of a nonregistered alarm system and citations and penalties shall be assessed without waiver. A $25 late fee can be assessed if the renewal is more than 30 days late.
Not manually activate an alarm for any reason other than an occurrence of an event that the alarm system was intended to report.
An alarm user shall adjust the mechanism or cause the mechanism to be adjusted so that an alarm signal audible on the exterior of an alarm site will sound for no longer than 10 minutes after being activated (or 15 minutes from systems operating under Underwriters Laboratories, Inc., standards 365 or 609).
An alarm user shall have a properly licensed alarm company inspect the alarm system after two false alarms in a one-year period from the date of registration issuance or renewal. Mount Oliver Borough may waive an inspection requirement if it determines that a false alarm(s) could not have been related to a defect or malfunction in the alarm system to be more false-alarm resistant or provided additional user training as appropriate. See Appendix A for the Installers False Alarm Prevention Checklist.
Editor's Note: Said appendix is on file in the Borough offices.
An alarm user shall not use automatic voice dialers.
An alarm user shall maintain at each alarm site a set of written operating instructions for each alarm System.
Upon enactment of this chapter, alarm companies shall obtain a permit from Mount Oliver Borough to sell maintenance and/or service alarm systems in the Borough prior to installation of same. The fee shall be $50 for each permit issued.
Upon enactment of this chapter, alarm companies shall not program alarm systems so that they are capable of sending one plus duress alarms. Alarm companies may continue to report one plus duress alarms received from alarm systems programmed with one plus duress prior to enactment of this chapter. However, upon enactment of this chapter, when a takeover or conversion occurs or if an alarm user requests an alarm system inspection or modification pursuant to § 60-6C of this chapter, an alarm Company must remove the one plus duress alarm capability from such alarm system.
Upon enactment of this chapter alarm companies shall not install a device activating a holdup alarm, which is a single-action nonrecessed button. An alarm company must remove all single-action nonrecessed buttons when a takeover or conversion occurs.
Upon enactment of this chapter, alarm companies shall use control panels tested for conformance to the Security Industry Association (SIA) Control Panel Standard - Features for False Alarm Reduction.
After completion of the installation, an alarm company employee shall review with the alarm user the Customer False Alarm Prevention Checklist (Appendix B) or an equivalent approved by Mount Oliver Borough.
Upon enactment of this chapter, alarm companies that perform monitoring services must maintain for a period of at least one year records relating to alarm dispatch requests. Records must include the name, address, and phone number of the alarm user, the alarm system zone(s) activated, the time of alarm dispatch request and evidence of an attempt to verify. Mount Oliver Borough may request copies of such records for individually named alarm users.
Mount Oliver Borough can appeal to an appropriate governmental body regulating the alarm company to suspend or revoke the alarm company's license when the alarm company fails to comply with the duties listed in § 60-7. In the event Mount Oliver Borough cannot obtain required information about the alarm company from the governmental body regulating the alarm company, Mount Oliver Borough can require the alarm company to supply the required information in a registration with Mount Oliver Borough.
Establish a procedure to accept cancellation of alarm dispatch requests.
Mount Oliver Borough shall establish a procedure to record such information on alarm dispatch requests necessary to permit Mount Oliver Borough to maintain records, including, but not limited to, the following information. This information may be relayed by the responding officer at the time of clearance to law enforcement dispatchers, who will then record said information on the call record.
Cause of alarm if known.
A statement urging the alarm user to ensure that the alarm system is properly operated, inspected, and serviced in order to avoid false alarms and resulting fines.
If there is reason to believe that an alarm system is not being used or maintained in a manner that ensures proper operation and suppresses false alarms, Mount Oliver Borough may require a conference with an alarm user and the alarm company responsible for the repair of the alarm system to review the circumstances of each false alarm.
The Alarm Administrator shall oversee the creation and implementation of any alarm user awareness class. The Alarm Administrator may request the assistance of alarm companies and a law enforcement agency in developing and implementing the class. The class shall inform alarm users of the problems created by false alarms and teach alarm users how to operate their alarm system without generating false alarms.
In addition, any person operating a nonregistered alarm system (whether suspended or never acquired) will be subject to a citation and assessment of a $200 penalty for each false alarm, in addition to any other penalties.
An alarm user shall have the option of attending an Alarm User Awareness Class in lieu of paying one prescribed penalty.
If cancellation occurs prior to law enforcement arriving at the scene, this is not a false alarm for the purpose of penalties and no penalties will be assessed.
The alarm company shall be issued a civil citation if the officer responding to the false alarm determines that an on-site employee of the alarm company directly caused the false alarm. In this situation, this will not be counted against the alarm user.
The alarm company may be penalized for failure to verify if the Alarm Administrator determines the existence of the consistent pattern or written policy against verification.
The alarm company can be penalized if the Alarm Administrator determines that an alarm company employee made a false statement concerning the inspection of an alarm site or the performance of an alarm system.
The alarm user has failed to submit a written certification from an alarm company that complies with the requirement of this chapter, stating that the alarm system has been inspected and repaired (if necessary) by the alarm company.
A person commits an offense if he/she operates an alarm system during the period in which his alarm registrations is suspended and is subject to enforcement and penalties set in § 60-14. An alarm company commits and offense if it continues to request law enforcement dispatch to an alarm site after notification by the Alarm Administrator that the registration has been suspended or revoked and is subject to enforcement and penalties set in § 60-14.
If the alarm registration is reinstated pursuant to § 60-13, the Alarm Administrator may suspend alarm response if it is determined that two false alarms have occurred within 60 days after the reinstatement date.
The Alarm Administrator shall notify the alarm user in writing after the first, second, and third false alarms. The notification shall include the amount of the penalty for each false alarm, notice that the alarm user can attend alarm user awareness class to waive a penalty, the fact that response will be suspended after the fourth false alarm and a description of the appeals procedure available to the alarm user.
The Alarm Administrator will notify the alarm user and the alarm company in writing after the fourth false alarm that alarm response has been suspended. This notice of suspension will also include the amount of the penalty for each false alarm and a description of the appeals procedure available to the alarm user and the alarm company.
An alarm user may appeal the assessment of a penalty, suspension, or request reinstatement to the Alarm Administrator. An appeal fee of $25 will accompany the appeal by the alarm user. The alarm user will retain appeal fees if the appeal is upheld. The filing of an appeal with the Alarm Administrator stays the assessment of the penalty or suspension until the Alarm Administrator makes a final decision.
The alarm user shall file a written appeal to the Alarm Administrator by setting forth the reason for the appeal within 10 days after receipt of the penalty.
If the Alarm Administrator denies the issuance or renewal of an alarm registration, or suspends response, the Alarm Administrator shall send written notice of the action and a statement of the right to an appeal to either the applicant or alarm user and the alarm company.
A second level of appeal is available to the Alarm Review Board in cases where the alarm user is not satisfied with the decision reached at a lower level.
The applicant, alarm user or the alarm company, on behalf of the alarm user, may appeal the decision of the Alarm Administrator to the Alarm Review Board by filing a written request for a review setting forth the reasons for the appeal within 20 days after receipt of the notice from the Alarm Administrator.
The Alarm Review Board shall conduct a formal hearing and consider the evidence by any interested person(s). The Board shall make its decision on the basis of preponderance of evidence presented at the hearing. The Board must render a decision within 30 days after the request for an appeal hearing is filed. The Board shall affirm or reverse the assessment of the penalty. The decision of the Board is final as to administrative remedies of the municipality.
Filing of a request for appeal shall stay the action of the Alarm Administrator suspending a registration or requiring a payment of a penalty, until the Alarm Review Board has completed the review. If a request for an appeal is not made within the twenty-day period, the action of the Alarm Administrator is final.
Any person who shall violate any provision of this chapter shall, upon conviction hereof, before the District Magistrate, pursuant to citation filed, be sentenced to pay a fine of not less that $50 nor more than $300 and cost of prosecution, or, in default of payment of such fine and costs, to undergo imprisonment for not more that 30 days.
Information contained in registration applications and applications for appeals shall be held in confidence by all employees or representatives of the municipality and by any third-party administrator or employee of a third-party administrator with access to such information.
Registration of an alarm system is not intended to, nor will it, create a contract, duty or obligation, either expressed or implied, or response. Any and all liability and consequential damage resulting from the failure to respond to a notification is hereby disclaimed and governmental immunity as provided by law is retained. By registering an alarm system, the alarm user acknowledges that police response may be based on factors such as availability of police units, priority of calls, weather conditions, and traffic conditions, and emergency conditions staffing levels.

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