(A) Registration.
(1) No alarm company operator or alarm agent, as defined by the Cal. Business and Professions Code § 7590, shall install, maintain, or repair any alarm system within the city unless the alarm company operator or alarm agent has, prior to performing such work, obtained a city business license.
(2) Each alarm installation company and alarm monitoring company must designate one individual as the alarm response manager (ARM) for the company. The individual designated as the ARM must be knowledgeable of the provisions of this chapter, as well as have the knowledge and authority to deal with false alarm issues and respond to requests from the Alarm Administrator. The name, contact number, and email address of the ARM shall be provided to the Alarm Administrator. Failure to comply within 30 days after being notified in writing from the Alarm Administrator may result in the suspension of Police Department response to alarm dispatch requests from the non-complying alarm installation company or monitoring company.
(3) Each alarm installation company shall provide the name, address and phone number of any monitoring company it is using to monitor its alarm sites within the city, and monitoring companies shall do the same for alarm installation companies that use their monitoring services within the city. Each alarm installation company conducting business in the city and each monitoring company conducting business in the city shall possess a current city business license as required by this code.
(B) Alarm installation companies shall:
(1) Upon the installation or activation of an alarm system, the alarm installation company shall distribute to the alarm user information summarizing:
(a) The applicable law relating to false alarms, including the registration fee and the potential for fines and suspension of an alarm registration;
(b) How to prevent false alarms; and
(c) How to operate the alarm system.
(2) After the effective date of this chapter, alarm installation companies shall not program alarm systems so that they are capable of sending one plus duress alarms. Monitoring companies may continue to report one plus duress alarms received from alarm systems programmed with one plus duress alarms installed prior to the effective date of this chapter.
(3) After the effective date of this chapter, alarm installation companies shall not install, modify or repair “single action” devices for the activation of hold-up, robbery or panic alarms. New devices shall require two actions or an activation time delay to provide more positive assurance that the user intends to activate the device.
(4) All audible alarm systems shall include a device which will limit the duration of the audible alarm to a period of not more than 15 minutes per activation.
(5) An alarm installation company shall not use an automatic voice dialer for any alarm system which, when activated, uses a telephone device or attachment to automatically dial a telephone line leading into the Police Department or the city and then transmit any pre-recorded message or signal.
(6) Ensure that alarm users of alarm systems equipped with a duress, robbery, holdup or panic alarm have been provided adequate training as to the proper use of the alarm system’s operation and function.
(7) All alarm systems shall be supplied with an uninterrupted power supply in such a manner that the failure or interruption of the normal electric utility service for a period of up to four hours will not activate the alarm system.
(C) A monitoring company shall:
(1) Report alarm signals by using telephone numbers or procedure designated by the Alarm Administrator or other approved communication processes.
(2) Immediately make an alarm dispatch request on all robbery, holdup, and duress alarm signals.
(3) Employ alarm confirmation (AC) on all burglar alarm dispatch requests. Failure to employ AC shall result in a fine as established by resolution of the City Council. Alarm confirmation may be one of the following:
(a) The monitoring company has contacted the alarm site and/or alarm user and/or the alarm user’s designated representatives by telephone and/or other electronic means and spoken to a person who believes the alarm signal is not a false alarm and is requesting a police response; or
(b) The alarm site is equipped with an interior or exterior video or audio monitored remotely by the monitoring company or the alarm user, and it can be seen or heard that a criminal act has occurred or is occurring, requiring a police response; or
(c) The alarm site is equipped with a control panel which has confirmed that a glass break sensor has been triggered or at least two independent zones, (e.g., an exterior perimeter and an interior zone) have been triggered and the monitoring company has completed enhanced call confirmation (ECC) to the alarm user; or
(d) The alarm is an older system and not in compliance with the two independent zone standards, therefore, the monitoring company has received two or more alarm signals during the same alarm event period and has completed the enhanced call confirmation (ECC).
The City Police Department may refuse to accept an alarm dispatch request from a monitoring company that has failed to comply with the procedures required by alarm confirmation. This division becomes effective 90 days after the effective date of this chapter.
(4) On all panic alarms make a least one attempt to contact the alarm site and/or alarm user by telephone and/or other electronic means, whether or not actual contact with a person is made, to determine whether a panic alarm signal is valid before requesting an alarm dispatch, in an attempt to avoid an unnecessary panic alarm dispatch request.
(5) Communicate alarm dispatch requests to the Police Department in a manner and form determined by the Alarm Administrator.
(6) Communicate cancellations to the Police Department in a manner and form determined by the Alarm Administrator.
(7) Communicate all available zone activations information (north, south, front, back, door, window etc.) about the location of an alarm signal(s) as part of an alarm dispatch request.
(8) Communicate the type of alarm activation (silent or audible, interior or perimeter), if available, on any alarm dispatch request.
(9) Notify communications (dispatch) of any alarm site that it knows, or reasonably should know has guard dog(s), pets or is fitted with a protective-reactive alarm system. During any alarm at such a site, a responsible party must be contacted and confirm that he or she will respond to the alarm site to disarm the device or take control of the guard dog(s).
(10) After an alarm dispatch request, promptly advise the Police Department if the monitoring company knows that the alarm user or a responsible party is on the way to the alarm site;
(11) Each monitoring company must maintain, for a period of at least one year after the date of an alarm dispatch request, all records relating to the alarm dispatch request. Records must include the name, address and telephone number of the alarm user, each alarm system zone activated, the time of alarm dispatch request and evidence of all attempts to verify. The Alarm Administrator may request copies of such records for any individual alarm user. If the request is made within 60 days after an alarm dispatch request, the monitoring company shall furnish requested records within three business days after receiving the request. If the records are requested between 60 days and one year after an alarm dispatch request, the monitoring company shall furnish the requested records within 30 days after receiving the request.
(12) Each monitoring company shall, upon request, immediately provide the Police Department with the names and phone numbers of the alarm user’s emergency contacts at the time of each alarm dispatch request.
(D) Conversion of alarm users. An alarm installation company or monitoring company that converts the servicing of any alarm system account from another company shall notify the Alarm Administrator of such conversion and shall make a reasonable effort to provide to the Alarm Administrator, within 60 days from the date of conversion, an alarm user list of the converted accounts, in a format acceptable to the Alarm Administrator.
(Ord. 2161-C-S, passed 2-26-19)