§ 19-186. Unlawful acts; regulations.

(a)

It shall be unlawful for any person to operate an alarm system without having first obtained a permit or without having renewed the permit as required by this article.

(b)

It is unlawful for any alarm user to have more than three false alarms in a calendar year after the grace period allowed by this article.

(c)

It is unlawful for any alarm system to emit a sound similar to that of an emergency vehicle siren or a civil defense warning system.

(d)

Local alarm systems or any alarm system which can be heard outside the alarm user's premises must be equipped to automatically discontinue emitting an audible sound within five minutes of activation for personal residence and motor vehicles and within 15 minutes of activation for commercial buildings, unless some other time period is specified by underwriters laboratory (UL), in which case, the UL specified time period applies.

(e)

Except for testing, it is unlawful for any person to activate any alarm system unless an actual emergency exists.

(f)

It is unlawful for any person to make an alarm dispatch request if the person knows that such activation was caused by a malfunction of the alarm system.

(g)

It is unlawful for any person to program an alarm system to automatically dial the city's 911 emergency telephone service line or to operate an alarm system that is automatically programmed to dial 911, except as permitted in section 22-383.

(h)

It is unlawful for an alarm user to have an alarm system on any premises without providing address numbers, as required by city ordinance.

(i)

It is unlawful for an alarm user to fail to pay any false alarm fee prescribed by this article.

(j)

The central station or answering service shall cancel any alarm dispatch request by notifying the police communication center or the fire department. If there is no central station or answering service monitoring the alarm, alarm cancellations will not be accepted.

(k)

If a central station or answering service cancels an alarm dispatch request before police or fire personnel have been dispatched, such false alarm will not be counted for purposes of determining chargeable false alarms.

(l)

Central stations and answering services must verify all alarm signals by telephone call to the alarm user before calling for a police department response, except if the alarm signal indicates a hostage or duress situation. Fire alarms need not be verified.

(m)

Central stations and answering service must report alarm signals to telephone numbers designated by the alarm coordinator.

(n)

An alarm business, alarm user, employee of a central station protective system or employee of an answering service charged with the responsibility of relaying a live voice request for police or fire response upon the activation of an alarm system shall give the following information to the police communications center or to the fire department personnel:

(1)

Address of alarmed location;

(2)

Type of alarm system that has been activated;

(3)

Name of commercial business or resident;

(4)

Specific location protected by the activated alarm;

(5)

Name of the alarm business making request, if applicable;

(6)

Name of person making the request; and

(7)

A phone number where the requesting party can be contacted.

(o)

The police chief and fire chief must adopt procedures to accept verified cancellations of alarm dispatch requests.

(p)

The alarm user must give written notice to the alarm coordinator within ten days whenever a change occurs in the written information on file with the alarm coordinator.

(q)

An alarm business that begins monitoring an alarm system previously monitored by another alarm business must notify the alarm coordinator within 48 hours after it begins the monitoring.

(r)

If an apartment complex provides alarm systems for its tenants, the owner or manager of the complex may either obtain one permit for the complex or may require each tenant to obtain a permit. The permit holder is responsible for payment of any false alarm fees incurred as a result of the operation of any alarm systems covered by the permit.

(s)

Alarm users of radio room alarm systems must pay a monthly fee to the city in an amount set by the county administrator.

(t)

If the alarm coordinator has reason to believe that an alarm system is not being used or maintained in a manner that ensures proper operation and suppresses false alarms, the alarm coordinator may require a conference with an alarm user and the alarm business responsible for monitoring or repair of the alarm system to review the circumstances of each false alarm.

(u)

The police chief or the fire chief may establish rules and regulations, subject to the provisions of this article, as he deems necessary for the implementation and application of this article. Violation of any rule and regulation is a violation of this article.

(v)

It is unlawful for any person to violate any of the provisions of this article.

(Code 1988, § 19-465; Ord. No. 65971, § 5, 12-22-1994)