1329.09 FALSE ALARMS; WARNING; ADMINISTRATIVE FEE; PERMIT REVOCATION; ORDER; NUISANCE.
(a) No person shall fail to maintain equipment under his control designed to give alarms of any type at less than the level of maintenance necessary to prevent false alarms from being emitted.
(b) The Chief of Police or his designee shall issue warnings and order the assessment of administrative fees against the user and/or provider upon the following schedule: The administrative fee is a partial reimbursement to the City for the cost of receiving and responding to the false alarm. The number of false alarms shall be counted within the twelve month calendar year. The Chief of Police shall issue the guidelines which he intends to follow in the administration of this section.
False Alarms
Number | Action Taken |
1 through 3 | Warning letter to user/provider, no charge |
4 through 6 | $25.00 fee to user and/or provider |
7 through 9 | $50.00 fee to user and/or provider |
10 through 12 | $100.00 fee to user and/or provider |
More than 10 | Permit revocation |
(c) The Chief of Police may waive all or parts of the above schedule for a newly installed alarm system during the thirty days immediately following the completion of the installation to a maximum of three false alarms.
(d) Notwithstanding the fine to be assessed, as set forth above, no charge shall be made for a false alarm to which there is no response by the Police or Fire Departments; nor when the cause has been proven to be an act of God.
(e) The Chief of Police may order that the user or provider prove that the cause of the false alarm notification has been remedied.
(f) If the user fails to pay the administrative fee within thirty days thereof, the Chief of Police shall report the delinquency to the Director of Finance, who shall report the same to Council, which may thereupon assess the cost, together with the expense of assessing and collecting the same, upon the property upon which the alarm system is located; and cause the assessment to be certified to the County Auditor for collection.
(g) For violation of this chapter, for failure to properly maintain an installation or when the number of false alarms for any installation equals ten in any twelve month period, the Chief of Police shall serve written notice upon a permit holder of intent to revoke his permit. Such notice shall be given not less than seven days prior to revocation and shall be made by certified mail or hand delivered. Such notice shall state the right of the permit holder to appeal to the Mayor.
(h) Any device designed to emit an alarm upon detection smoke, fire or unauthorized intrusion shall constitute a nuisance if ten or more false alarms are emitted and reported to the Police or Fire Departments, or both, in any twelve month period. The Law Director may take appropriate civil or criminal action to abate such nuisance.
(Ord. 13-2002. Passed 3-26-02.)