For the purposes of this Chapter, the following definitions shall apply:
A. "Alarm agent" means any person who is self-employed or employed either directly or indirectly by an alarm business whose duties include any of the following: selling, maintaining, leasing, servicing, repairing, altering, replacing, moving or installing an alarm system in or on any building, place or premises.
B. "Alarm business" means any person, firm or corporation conducting or engaged in the business of selling, leasing, maintaining, servicing, repairing, altering, replacing, moving, installing or monitoring an alarm system in or on any building, place or premises. A business which only sells or leases alarm devices from a fixed location and does not service, install, monitor or respond to alarm systems at the protected premises or call upon police to do so is not an "alarm business" for the purposes of this Chapter.
C. "Alarm system" means any device arranged to signal the presence of a hazard requiring urgent attention and to which police are expected to respond.
D. "Alarm user" means any person who has an alarm system installed at his or her place of business or residence.
E. "Audible alarm" means a device designed for the detection of the unauthorized entry on or attempted entry into a premise or structure or for alerting others of the commission of an unlawful act or both, and which, when actuated, generates an audible sound.
F. "Automatic dialing system" means any device which automatically sends over regular telephone lines, by direct connection or otherwise, a prerecorded message indicating the existence of a hazard requiring urgent attention and to which police are expected to respond.
G. "False alarm" means an alarm system signal which necessitates or causes response by police when an emergency does not exist. This does not include alarms caused by acts of nature.
H. "Intrusion alarm" means an alarm system signaling an entry or attempted entry into the area protected by the systems.
I. "Panic alarm" means an alarm system by which the signal transmission is initiated by the direct action of a person.
J. "Robbery alarm" means an alarm system signaling a robbery or attempted robbery.
K. "Subscriber" means any person who purchases, leases, contracts for or otherwise obtains an alarm system or for the servicing or maintenance of an alarm system.
L. Common Cause. A common technical difficulty or malfunction which causes an alarm system to generate a series of false alarms, all of which occur within a 72 hour period. The series of false alarms shall be counted as one false alarm only if the cause of the series of false alarms is repaired before it generates additional false alarms beyond the 72 hour period, documentation of the repair is provided to the Police Chief, and during the 30-day period following the repair, the alarm system generates no additional false alarms from the documented cause.
(Ord. MC-1037, 12-22-98; Ord. MC-773, 3-12-91; Ord. MC-201, 8-17-82; Ord. MC-125, 1-07-82)