(A) False alarms.
(1) Responsibility. Each person holding a permit for an automatic protection system or signaling device shall be responsible for any false alarm transmitted by the system or device.
(2) Records.
(a) The Police Department or Fire Department shall maintain a record of all false alarms transmitted and shall submit the record to the Town Manager.
(b) Pursuant to division (L), the permit may be revoked or suspended for the operation of any automatic protection system involved in the transmission of the false alarms in excess of three like alarms in a 30-day period.
(3) Charges.
(a) A permit holder shall be charged an additional fee, as specified in the regularly adopted fee schedule of the town, for each false alarm in excess of one in a 30-day period transmitted by any permitted automatic protection system.
(b) The charge shall be remitted to the town by the permit holder upon receipt of a statement for the charge.
(4) Deliberate false alarms.
(a) Any person who intentionally or deliberately and without just cause activates an automatic protection system in a non-emergency situation shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor pursuant to the North Carolina General Statutes.
(b) Nothing herein contained shall apply to the periodic testing of alarms after the appropriate coordination with and the approval of the Police or Fire Department, whichever is appropriate.
(c) Testing an automatic protection system without prior coordination and approval of the Police or Fire Department is unlawful.
(B) Liability.
(1) The town assumes no liability for any defects in the operation of automatic protection devices and signal devices systems, nor for any failure or neglect to respond appropriately upon receipt of an alarm from a like source, nor for the failure or neglect of any person in connection with the installation and operation of equipment, the transmission of alarm signals and prerecorded alarm messages or the relaying of the signals and messages.
(2) Neither the town, the Fire Department, Police Department nor any member thereof acting in an official capacity shall be liable for damage to any premises caused by entry to the premises in response to an alarm generated by an automatic protection system.
(C) Duties of automatic protection system users.
(1) Automatic protection system users shall instruct employees, tenants or others who may have occasion to activate an alarm that automatic protection systems are to be activated only in emergency situations to summon an immediate police or fire response and shall instruct as to the operation of the automatic protection system, including setting, activation, deactivation and resetting of the alarm.
(2) All instructions pertaining to alarm systems and procedures shall be in written form, suitable for distribution and shall be available for inspection by representatives of the Police or Fire Departments.
(3) The automatic system user shall be responsible for maintaining the alarm system in proper working order.
(4) An automatic protection system user or person authorized and capable of deactivating the alarm, who allows an alarm to continue to emit an audible signal for 30 minutes after notification of the alarm commencing to emit, shall be guilty of that action as to constitute the grounds for imposing a civil penalty under § 96.99(B).
(D) Permit required.
(1) No automatic protection system which utilizes a signaling device shall be installed and/or operated until a permit has been obtained in the name of the owner of the premises by either the owner of the premises or an alarm system business which services or maintains the automatic protection system.
(2) A civil penalty may be imposed under § 96.99(B) on any owner who installs or operates an automatic protection system without a valid current permit. Each day’s operation of a detection system without a valid permit as provided herein shall be a separate and distinct offense for which a civil penalty shall be imposed.
(E) Burglar alarm license. No person shall lease, service, install or maintain automatic burglar detection systems without a current North Carolina Private Protection Services License as required by G.S. Ch. 74C.
(F) Application.
(1) Applications for permits shall be filed with the town Police or Fire Department on a form supplied by the Fire Department and shall include, but not be limited to, the following information:
(a) The name, address, licensing number and telephone number of the alarm system business which leases, services, installs or maintains the system;
(b) The owner of the business or premises where the system will be installed; and
(c) The type of signaling device to be installed.
(2) Permit applications shall be filed by the alarm system business or property owner in the name of the owner of the premises where the system is to be installed.
(3) The Chief of Police or the Fire Chief, whichever is appropriate, shall approve the applications, prior to its approval, and the Police or Fire Department shall issue the permit if it is found that:
(a) The automatic protection system is to be installed, serviced and maintained by an alarm system business, the business maintains a service organization capable of promptly and effectively repairing, maintaining or otherwise servicing the automatic protection system sold or leased by it; and
(b) A burglar alarm is installed by an alarm system business, the business is licensed pursuant to G.S. Ch. 74D.
(4) It shall be the responsibility of the automatic protection system user to notify the town’s Police or Fire Department, in writing, of any subsequent changes in the information provided on the permit application.
(G) Issuance. Upon approval of the application for a permit, the permit shall be issued in the name of the property owner which identifies the type of signaling device utilized by the automatic protection system, the address of the location of the system and containing the following hold harmless statement:
“The owner of the premises for which this permit is issued, by his or her acceptance thereof, agrees for himself or herself, his or her lessees, agents, heirs, successors and assigns that for so long as an automatic protection system is installed on the premises he or she shall hold the Town of Duck harmless and the Town of Duck, its agents and employees shall not be liable for any damage to the premises caused by the entry of any member of the Duck Police Department or the Duck Fire Department or its members in response to an alarm initiated by the automatic protection system.”
(H) Renewal. Permits held by persons or businesses operating automatic detection systems shall be renewed on an annual basis on the anniversary date as specified on the permit but shall not be charged a renewal fee.
(I) Fees.
(1) Initial applications. A non-refundable initial application fee, as specified in the regularly adopted fee schedule of the town, shall accompany any permit application under this section; provided, that no initial application fee shall be required for an automatic protection system utilizing a signaling device which transmits a signal only on the premises itself.
(2) Annual renewal. There is no annual renewal fee if the documentation is received prior to the anniversary date. If the documentation is not received by the anniversary date, the permit shall be considered void and a new application must be obtained. This replacement application will be subject to the initial alarm permit fee as specified in the adopted fee schedule of the town.
(3) Other. All service fees and civil penalties assessed against the automatic protection system user shall be due and owing to the town. In the event legal action is necessary to collect the service fees and civil penalties, the automatic protection system user shall be required to pay the service fees and any and all legal fees, attorney’s fees and court costs required to collect the monies.
(J) Right of inspection. The Chief of Police and Fire Chief, or their designee shall have the right to inspect any automatic protection system on the premises where it is installed at reasonable times.
(K) Restricted numbers. It shall be unlawful for any person to install, maintain or operate an automatic protection system except to the telephone numbers as designated by the approved permit.
(L) Revocation.
(1) The Town Manager, upon approval of the Chief of Police or the Fire Chief, whichever is appropriate, may revoke or suspend any permit issued for an automatic protection system, after giving written notice, by certified mail, to the permit holder and an opportunity for the permit holder to be heard, if he or she determines the automatic protection system has been installed or operated in violation of the provisions of this section.
(2) The failure to pay any outstanding services fees and/or expenses of collection shall constitute grounds for the revocation of an automatic protection system user’s permit.
(3) The continued operation of an automatic protection system after notification that the permit has been revoked shall constitute the grounds for imposing a civil penalty, and each day of continued operation of the automatic protection system shall constitute a separate and distinct offense.
(4) An automatic protection system user’s permit that has been revoked pursuant to divisions (L)(2) and (3) above may be reinstated by the Town Manager upon payment of all outstanding service fees and expenses of collection, plus a reinstatement fee, as specified in the regularly adopted fee schedule of the town.
(M) Uniform monitoring service. The town may require all automatic protection systems to be compatible with a uniform monitoring system designed to receive visual and/or audible signals over a signal line or by electronic transmissions from permit holders.
(N) Subscription charges.
(1) Nothing in this chapter shall preclude the alarm equipment supplier from charging a permit holder for all equipment at their location and connection fees to the monitoring system and maintenance charges necessitated by the installation and operation of the signaling device receiver in the monitoring system.
(2) The contractor supplying and maintaining the monitoring system shall have the right to charge subscribers a reasonable fee for connection to and maintenance of the system.
(Ord. 20-04, passed 7-1-2020) Penalty, § 96.99