HomeMy WebLinkAboutORDINANCE NO. 1090 FALSE ALARMSx�xxnpRr CITY OF
�a ...................._
REXBURG
;� �
AnAmerica's Ynmilr Cmnmunity
ORDINANCE 1090
SECURITY ALARMS OF BUSINESSES AND HOMES
m
aU'o
AN ORDINANCE TO REDUCE THE NUMBER OF FALSE SECURITY
0 0 o
SZ xd ALARMS, THEREBY REDUCING THE COSTS TO THE CITY AND
t0 LL.�.
° d THE BURDEN ON POLICE SERVICES ARISING FROM AN
Mz�O O
� N INCREASING NUMBER OF FALSE SECURITY ALARMS, AND
c c v DIMINISHING THE RISK OF HARM TO OFFICERS AND THE
d 2—M
PUBLIC. BY REGULATING SECURITY ALARM BUSINESSES AND
= d 0 SYSTEMS, THE CITY SEEKS TO ENCOURAGE WELL-MAINTAINED
AND ACCURATE SECURITY ALARMS WHILE IMPROVING THE
C w N d O
ABILITY OF POLICE TO RESPOND QUICKLY TO CRITICAL CALLS;
REPEALING ALL ORDINANCES AND PARTS OF ORDINANCES IN
CONFLICT HEREWITH; AND PROVIDING AN EFFECTIVE DATE
HEREOF.
BE IT ORDAINED, by the Mayor and City Council of the City of Rexburg, Idaho:
SECTION I: PURPOSE: The purpose of this Chapter is to reduce the number of
false security alarms, thereby reducing the costs to the City and the burden on police
services arising from an increasing number of false security alarms, and diminishing the
risk of harm to officers and the public. By regulating security alarm businesses and
systems, the City seeks to encourage well-maintained and accurate security alarms while
improving the ability of police to respond quickly to critical calls.
SECTION II: DEFINITIONS: For the purposes of this Chapter, the following terms.
phrases, and words, and derivations thereof, shall have the meanings given in this section.
ALARM COMPANY: Any persons engaged in the business of selling, installing,
maintaining, servicing, repairing, altering, replacing, or moving an Alarm System in
businesses or residences located within the City, as well as any persons engaged in the
business of monitoring alarm systems located within the City and summoning police
response to activations thereof.
ALARM OFFICER: The Chief of the Rexburg Police Department or his or her
designee.
ALARM SYSTEM: Any mechanism, equipment, or device which is designed to detect an
unauthorized entry into any building or onto any property, or to direct attention to a
robbery, burglary, or other emergency in progress, and to signal the above occurrences
either by local or audible alarm or by silent or remote alarm.
ALARM USER: Any person who owns and renders operable any alarm system or who
contracts for the servicing or maintenance of an alarm system within any building,
structure, or property located within the City.
AUDIBLE ALARM: An alarm system which when activated generates sound or signal
that is audible from the immediate vicinity of the premises where the alarm system is
located.
AUTOMATIC DIALING DEVICE: An alarm system which automatically contacts the
City of Rexburg or any law enforcement dispatch service thereof by sending, over a
telephone line, by direct connection, intemet, or otherwise, a pre-recorded voice message
or coded signal indicating the existence of an emergency situation.
CALENDAR YEAR: The period between and including January 1 and December 31 of
any given year.
CITY: The City of Rexburg, Idaho.
EMERGENCY: Any condition, including but not limited to fire, smoke, or the
commission or attempted commission of a robbery, burglary, or other criminal action,
which requires or is expected to require a response from police or public safety personnel.
FALSE ALARM: The activation of an alarm system under conditions which the
responding officer cannot reasonably determine to have been an emergency. False alarms
include, but are not limited to: alarms resulting from user error of any kind, alarms caused
by faulty, inappropriately selected, or poorly installed equipment, and alarms set off by
conditions of nature which are normal for the area. False alums shall not include alarms
caused by unusual natural occurrences such as hurricanes, tornadoes, earthquakes, or by
other extraordinary circumstances determined by the alarm officer to be clearly beyond the
control of the alarm user.
PERSON: Any individual, partnership, association, corporation, limited liability
company, trust, or organization of any kind, including a government entity or political
subdivision thereof.
SECTION III: DUTIES OF ALARM COMPANIES:
1. No Alarm Company shall:
a. Render any alarm system operational or transfer the control or operation
thereof to the alarm user without fust delivering to the alarm user written
instructions regarding the proper use and operation of such alarm system
including instructions regarding the procedure to deactivate the alarm system
and reasonable measures that may be undertaken in order to avoid false alarms.
b. Install any alarm system without providing a copy of this ordinance to the
alarm user and informing the alarm user of his or her obligations under this
ordinance, including the penalties for false alarms and the requirement for the
alarm user to receive an alarm permit from the City of Rexburg Police
Department.
c. Install any Automatic Dialing Device that directly contacts the City or any
agency thereof within an alarm system, unless such a device is required by law.
d. Notify or request a police dispatch in response to a security alarm signal
without making reasonable efforts to contact the owner of the premises where
the alarm system is located or another person designated by such owner to
receive such telephone calls.
e. Fail to silence an alarm signal within one hour after the receipt of notification
that the alarm system has been triggered or activated in either a residential
structure or a commercial or industrial structure.
SECTION IV: DUTIES OF ALARM USERS:
1. No Alarm User shall:
a. Use, operate, maintain or install an alarm system on a commercial or industrial
property without possessing a current business license, having filled out and
signed an Emergency Card and submitted it to the City of Rexburg Police
Department, and having obtained an alarm user permit from the City of
Rexburg Police Department.
b. Use, operate, maintain or install an alarm system on a residential property
without having obtained an alum user permit from the City of Rexburg Police
Department.
c. Use, operate, maintain or install an alarm system unless the alum user, or a
person within his or her employ or retention, has been trained in the
appropriate procedures to deactivate an alarm system signal and is capable of
deactivating an alarm system signal within one hour after receipt of notification
that the alarm system signal has been triggered.
d. Use, operate, maintain or install an alarm system on a commercial or industrial
property unless the alarm user, or an employee of the alarm user, is available to
meet police officers when they respond to an alarm.
e. Use, operate, maintain or install an alarm system on a commercial or industrial
property unless the alarm system is inspected and, if necessary, repaired, by a
licensed alarm company, at least once per calendar year.
f. Allow any audible alarm system to remain activated for more than one hour.
2. Alarm User permits:
a. Every alarm user shall have in his or her possession an alarm user permit
issued by the alarm officer at no charge. Such permit shall be issued upon filing
by the user with the police department a completed alarm permit application as
provided by section 4-2-c below. A separate permit shall be required for each
alarm site. The permit application shall be submitted to the alarm officer prior
to operation of the alarm system or prior to an existing alarm system being
taken over by a different alarm user or alarm company.
b. An alarm user permit shall continue in effect until there is a change in
ownership of the alarm system, a change in the alarm company servicing or
monitoring the alarm system, or any other meaningful change or upgrade to
the alarm system, at which time the permit shall expire and the current alarm
system owner must apply for a new alarm user permit. An alarm company shall
notify the alarm officer of any alarm user who has canceled or otherwise
terminated their alarm services with the alarm company.
c. The permit application shall set forth the full name, address, and telephone
number of both the owner or lessee on whose premises the system will be
installed, operated, connected, monitored, or maintained, and the name of the
licensed alarm company installing, monitoring, or maintaining the system. The
permit application shall further contain the names, addresses, and telephone
numbers of at least two individuals who may be contacted by police officers
responding to an alarm. The persons listed shall have authority to act for the
alarm user in granting police officers access to any portion of the premises
concerned and shall be knowledgeable in the basic operation of the alarm
system. The alarm permit application shall contain such additional information
as the alarm officer shall reasonably deem necessary to properly identify and
locate the alarm user, the alarm company monitoring or maintaining the alarm
system, and the persons to be contacted in the event of an alarm report.
SECTION V: FALSE ALARMS; PENALTIES
1. Following a police visit to any structure or property in the City in response to a
false alarm, the City shall be authorized to impose the following penalties and
requirements on the alarm user responsible for the alarm system that triggered the
false alarm:
a.' For a response to premises at which no other false alarm has occurred within
the preceding 12 -month period, no fine shall be assessed to the alarm user
owning the property where the alarm system is located, but the alarm user shall
be informed of the penalties associated with further false alarms.
b. For a second response to premises at which one false alarm has already been
recorded during the preceding 12 -month period, the alarm user shall be
assessed a $25.00 penalty. In addition, the alarm user shall, within five business
days of receiving notice to do so, make a written report on prescribed forms to
the alarm officer. This report shall include the cause of the false alarm, if
known, any corrective action taken, the last date the alarm system was
inspected by a licensed alarm company, any mitigating circumstances
surrounding the activation of the false alarm, and any other information the
alarm officer shall reasonably deem necessary to determine the cause of the
false alarm and any corrective actions required. The alarm officer may direct
the alarm user to have the alarm system inspected and repaired by a licensed
alarm company and/or to take other corrective action, including but not
limited to upgrading or changing the equipment or configuration of the alarm
system. All costs of inspection, repair, or other corrective action for the alarm
system shall be borne by the alarm user.
c. For a third response to premises within six months of a second response to
false alarms, the alarm user shall be assessed a $50.00 penalty. In addition, the
alarm user shall make a written report to the alarm officer as described in
section 5-1-b above. The alarm officer may order the alarm user to take
corrective action as described in section 5-1-b above. At the discretion of the
alarm officer, absent mitigating circumstances, the alarm officer may instead
revoke the alarm user's alarm permit and order the alarm user to deactivate the
alarm system. The alarm user may not reactivate the alarm system, or install
and operate a replacement system, unless he or she applies for a new alarm
user permit as described in section 4-2 above. The alarm officer has full
discretion to deny any reapplications. No deactivation will be ordered for any
structure or property required by law to have an operating alarm system.
d. For any further responses to false alarms within six months of the third
response, at premises either required by law to possess an operating alarm
system, or at premises which the alarm officer gave discretionary permission to
continue operating an alarm system following the third false alarm, the alarm
user shall be assessed a $50.00 fine. In addition, the alarm user shall make a
written report to the alarm officer as described in section 5-1-b above, and the
alarm officer shall again have discretion to order the deactivation of the alarm
system as described in section 5-1-c.
2. Other penalties:
a. If an alarm is triggered at a commercial or industrial property, and the alarm
user or his or her employee refuses to meet the responding officers as required
in section 4-1-d above, the alarm user shall be assessed a $50.00 penalty.
b. If an audible alarm continues unabated for longer than one hour in violation of
section 4-1-f above, the police department will abate the alarm, the alarm
system will be declared a public nuisance, and the alarm user will be assessed a
$50.00 penalty.
SECTION VI: VIOLATIONS:
1. Any person who violates any provision of this Chapter shall be guilty of a
misdemeanor.
SECTION VII: EFFECTIVE DATE: This ordinance shall take effect and be in full
force upon its passage, approval and publication in one (1) issue of the Rexburg Standard -
Journal, a newspaper of general circulation published within the City of Rexburg and the
official newspaper thereof.
PASSED BY THE CITY COUNCIL AND APPROVED BY THE MAYOR this 19`s
day of September, 2012.
3 lCOI�A_. D, ±f e7, .
--
Blair D. Kay, City Clerk
Gill (/C��,Tl�C"
Richard Woodland, Mayor
STATE OF IDAHO)
)ss
County of Madison )
I, BLAIR D. KAY, City Clerk of the city of Rexburg, Idaho, do hereby certify:
That the above and foregoing is a full, true and correct copy of the Ordinance Entitled:
AN ORDINANCE TO REDUCE THE NUMBER OF FALSE SECURITY
ALARMS, THEREBY REDUCING THE COSTS TO THE CITY AND
THE BURDEN ON POLICE SERVICES ARISING FROM AN
INCREASING NUMBER OF FALSE SECURITY ALARMS. BY
REGULATING SECURITY ALARM BUSINESSES AND SYSTEMS,
THE CITY SEEKS TO ENCOURAGE WELL-MAINTAINED AND
ACCURATE SECURITY ALARMS WHILE IMPROVING THE ABILITY
OF POLICE TO RESPOND QUICKLY TO CRITICAL CALLS;
REPEALING ALL ORDINANCES AND PARTS OF ORDINANCES IN
CONFLICT HEREWITH; AND PROVIDING AN EFFECTIVE DATE
HEREOF.
PASSED BY THE CITY COUNCIL AND APPROVED BY THE MAYOR this
Wday of SWtember, 2012.
Blair D. Kay, City Clerk