15.60.180 Alarm systems.
A. It is required that alarm system users and alarm system monitoring companies properly maintain and use alarm systems in order to reduce unnecessary police and fire responses to false alarms, and to require in-person or other independent verification before the city will respond to alarms at premises where an automatic property and/or automatic burglary alarm system has a record of unreliability.
B. The express purpose of alarm systems is to provide for and promote the health, safety and welfare of the general public, and not to protect individuals or create or otherwise establish or designate any particular class or group of persons who will or should be especially affected by the terms of this chapter. This chapter imposes or creates no duties on the part of the city or any of its departments, and the obligation of complying with the requirements of this chapter, and any liability for failing to do so, is placed solely upon the parties responsible for owning, operating, monitoring or maintaining automatic alarm systems.
C. This chapter shall apply only to alarm systems or equipment designed to be monitored so as to convey to a monitoring service center, either electronically or by voice, a message for the purpose of evoking a municipal emergency response. None of the provisions of this chapter shall apply to the installation or maintenance of alarms which are not so monitored.
D. Any person, firm or corporation desiring to originate an alarm system to evoke a municipal emergency response within the city shall first sign an indemnity agreement holding the city harmless from any liability involving the failure of any agency alarm, circuit or equipment or the discontinuance of emergency response actions ordered because of such failure.
E. Alarm testing shall be the responsibility of the subscriber and/or the alarm company. No alarm verifications will be conducted by either the police or the fire departments.
1. Alarm subscribers shall provide to their alarm monitoring service a notice of telephone numbers where persons authorized to enter the premises of the subscriber can be reached at all times so that one (1) of said persons is able to respond to the premises within thirty (30) minutes after being notified by the police to do so. If the subscriber fails to so respond to a location upon request by shift supervisor, further police responses may be terminated.
2. Alarms shall not be activated to summon a municipal emergency response for any purpose other than burglar alarms for burglaries, robbery alarms for robberies, or fire-related emergencies.
F. Proprietary alarm equipment designed to alert any municipal emergency service by providing unattended automatic dialing of any public telephone number of any municipal emergency service for the purpose of transmitting a prerecorded message is prohibited.
G. Combination alarms designed to alert any municipal emergency service will not be allowed within the city unless there is a distinct separation in the transmittal of any specific alarm activation. For purposes of this section, combination alarms shall include but not be limited to devices combining burglary and fire alarms, devices combining burglary and holdup alarms, and devices combining burglary and trouble alarms.
H. All monitored alarm systems to summon a municipal emergency response shall be installed in accordance with the ordinances and building codes of the city. Alarms will not be reset by either the police department or the fire department.
I. All alarm companies who sell, install, service or maintain municipal emergency response alarm systems within the city must have a valid city business license.
J. Service charges for false alarms from any one (1) location shall be assessed as follows:
1. For the first two (2) false alarms within any continuous ninety (90) day period, no charge will be assessed and warning letter issued;
2. For the third false alarm within a continuous ninety (90) day period, a charge of fifty dollars ($50.00) will be assessed;
3. For the fourth false alarm within a continuous ninety (90) day period, a charge of seventy-five dollars ($75.00) will be assessed;
4. For the fifth false alarm and every false alarm thereafter within a continuous ninety (90) day period, a charge of one hundred fifty dollars ($150.00) per such false alarm will be assessed.
5. If the fire chief determines that a new system has been installed or adequate repairs have been made to an existing alarm system, a new continuous ninety (90) day period, for purposes of Section 15.60.050 and this section, shall commence. The subscriber shall be responsible to provide documentation of corrective action.
6. Any false alarm involving a municipal emergency response will be considered a billable alarm. If a question arises as to the validity of an alarm, the final determination will be made by the police chief or his designee, or by the fire chief or his designee.
7. False alarm penalties referred to in this section will be billed directly by the city to the alarm customer involved in the false alarm.