(A) It shall be a violation of this section for an alarm system to be activated, resulting in police, fire or any other emergency services being dispatched to the alarm location, when no burglary, robbery, fire or other crime dangerous to life or property is being committed or attempted on the premises, i.e. a false alarm.
(B) It is hereby determined that three or more false alarms within a calendar year (January 1- December 31) is excessive, a public nuisance and constitutes a danger to the public and shall be unlawful.
(C) Violation of this section shall be punishable by the following fines, for which the business/individual owner of the alarm system is responsible:
False alarms 3-5 | $50 for each offense |
False alarms 6 - 9 | $100 for each offense |
False alarms 10 and over | $250 for each offense |
(D) It shall also be a violation of this section for an individual to knowingly and intentionally cause a false alarm. Any individual who knowing or intentionally causes a false alarm shall be fined in an amount not less than $100 for each offense. If the individual who causes a false alarm is also the owner of the alarm, the false alarm shall count against the yearly false alarm totals referenced in divisions (B) and (C) above.
(E) Citations under this section may be issued at the discretion of the Chief of Police or the Fire Chief.
(F) Funds received as a result of this section shall be placed in an equipment fund for the Police and Fire Departments to share equally.
(G) This section shall take effect immediately upon its passage and publication, pursuant to law.
(Ord. 11-2015-1, passed 12-15-2015)