A. Statement Of Purpose And Objectives: The police and fire departments respond to many false alarms each year, at a level that places burdens upon the time and resources of these entities. False alarms also create an increased level of risks on the safety of responding personnel and to the public. Therefore, the justification of this section is to reduce the high level of risks and expenses by reducing the frequency of occurrence of these false alarms and establishes a system of administration. This section shall apply to all types of alarms that require law enforcement or fire response.
B. Definitions: The following words, terms and phrases, when used in this section, shall have the meanings ascribed to them in this subsection, except where the context clearly indicates a different meaning:
ALARM ADMINISTRATOR: A person or persons designated by the city to administer, control and review false alarm reduction efforts and administer the provisions of this section.
ALARM AGENT: Includes any person who is employed by an alarm business, either directly or indirectly, including an owner, corporate officer or director, whose duties include any of the following: selling, maintaining, leasing, servicing, repairing, altering, replacing, moving or installing on any building, place or premises, any police or fire alarm system, central station system or burglary alarm systems.
ALARM BUSINESS: Includes the business of selling, leasing, maintaining, servicing, repairing, altering, replacing, moving or installing any police and/or fire alarm system.
ALARM SIGNAL: A detectable signal, audible or visual, generated by an alarm system to which law enforcement and/or firefighting personnel are requested to respond.
ALARM SYSTEM: Any electronic device used for the purpose of notifying the general public or public safety personnel of the existence of an emergency situation to which public safety personnel respond, including, but not limited to, automatic dialing devices, burglary alarm systems, control station systems, fire alarm systems, or police and/or fire alarm systems.
ALARM USER: Any person, corporation, partnership, proprietorship, governmental, educational entity or any other entity owning, leasing or operating an alarm system, using the services of an automatic dialing device, police alarm system, fire alarm system, central station system or a burglar alarm system.
ANSWERING SERVICE: A telephone answering service, which receives signals from any alarm system and thereafter immediately relaying the message by live voice to the communications center of the sheriff's office.
AUTOMATIC DIALING DEVICE: An automated alarm system, which sends a prerecorded voice message or coded signal indicating the existence of the emergency situation, which the alarm system is designed to detect.
BURGLAR ALARM SYSTEM: An alarm system signaling an entry or attempted entry into an area protected by the system, but which system is not connected to a police alarm or central station system.
CENTRAL STATION: An office to which remote alarm and supervisory signaling devices are connected, where operators supervise the circuits, and where guards are maintained continuously to investigate signals.
CENTRAL STATION SYSTEM: A system in which the operation of electrical protection circuits and devices are signaled automatically to, recorded in, maintained and supervised from a central station having operators and security personnel on duty at all times.
CITY OR COUNTY: The city of Little Falls or the county of Morrison.
DIRECT LINE: A telephone line leading directly from a central station to the communications center of the sheriff's office that is for use only to report emergency signals on a person to person basis.
EXCESSIVE ALARMS: Three (3) or more false alarms signaled by any police or fire alarm system within a calendar year.
FALSE ALARMS: The activation of an alarm system through mechanical failure, malfunction, improper installation, or the negligence of the owner or lessee of an alarm system, or of his/her employees or agents, to which the police or fire department has been dispatched, where an emergency situation does not exist. Such terminology does not include alarms caused by hurricanes, tornadoes, earthquakes, lightening, power failure, damage to power lines or severe weather conditions.
FIRE ALARM SYSTEM: Any device designed for the detection of fires on the premises for alerting others of a fire, and when activated emits a sound or transmits a signal or message which system is connected to or monitored by the county sheriff's office.
KEY HOLDER: A person who has your permission and is able to gain entry into your property.
LOCAL ALARM: An alarm system that emits a signal at an alarm site that is audible or visible from the exterior of a structure and is not monitored by a remote monitoring facility, whether installed by an alarm company or user.
POLICE ALARM SYSTEM: Any device designed for the detection of an unauthorized entry on the premises or alerting others of an unlawful act, or both, and when activated, emits a sound or transmits a signal or message which system is connected to or monitored by the county sheriff's office.
PRIMARY TRUNK LINE: Any telephone line leading directly into the communications center of the sheriff's office that is for the purpose of handling emergency calls on a person to person basis, and which is identified as such by a specific number included in the emergency numbers listed in the telephone directory issued by the telephone companies within the sheriff's office jurisdiction.
PROPRIETARY SYSTEM: An alarm system sounding and/or recording alarm and supervisory signals at a control center located within the protected premises, the control center being under the supervision of the proprietor of the protected premises. A "proprietary system" includes a signal line connected directly to the sheriff's office communications center, a central station or answering service; it thereby becomes an "alarm system" as defined in this section.
VERIFY: An attempt by the monitoring company or its representative, to contact the alarm site and/or user by telephone and/or other electronic means, whether or not actual contact with a person is made, to attempt to determine whether an alarm signal is valid before requesting law enforcement and/or firefighting personnel be dispatched in an attempt to avoid an unnecessary alarm dispatch request. For the purpose of this section, telephone verification shall require at a minimum that a second call be made to a different number if the first attempt fails to reach an alarm user who can properly identify themselves to attempt to determine whether an alarm signal is valid before requesting law enforcement and/or firefighting personnel be dispatched.
C. Prohibited Acts: It shall be unlawful to activate an alarm system for the purpose of summoning law enforcement or fire department personnel when no crime or danger to life or property is being committed or attempted or otherwise to cause a false alarm. It shall be unlawful to install, maintain or use an audible alarm system, which can sound continually for more than ten (10) minutes. It shall also be unlawful to install, maintain or use an automatic dial protection device that reports or causes to be reported, any recorded message to the police or fire departments.
D. Fee For False Alarms: The owner of property upon which an automatic alarm device is located and/or each owner of an automatic alarm device shall pay a fee as established by resolution upon the response of a third and subsequent false alarms by the fire and/or police departments in a calendar year. Continued responses to false alarms by the department will be billed at a rate set forth by resolution. (Ord. 5, 6th Series, eff. 3-5-2008)