(A) The self-installer or monitoring company shall not make an alarm dispatch request of a law enforcement agency in response to a burglar alarm signal, excluding panic, duress and holdup signals, during the first seven (7) days following an alarm system installation. The Alarm Coordinator may grant an alarm user’s request for an exemption from this waiting period based upon a determination that special circumstances substantiate the need for the exemption.
(B) Any alarm system which has more than two false alarms during July 1 through June 30 shall be subject to assessment fee according to the false alarm assessment fee schedule set by the City Manager. The Alarm Coordinator will review the false alarm assessment fee schedule on a yearly basis for best practices and forward a recommendation for the fee schedule to the City Manager through the Chief of Police.
(1) The Alarm Coordinator shall notify the alarm subscriber or user by regular mail when Police Department records indicate that an alarm system has produced two false alarms.
(2) When an alarm system produces three or more false alarms, the City of Sierra Vista will mail a false alarm assessment fee per the false alarm assessment schedule by regular mail to the alarm user’s address on record. The alarm user has 10 days to request an Alarm Coordinator’s review of the assessment fee per § 117.05(E) or pay the assessment fee wihtin the allotted time specified.
(3) The Alarm Coordinator may, with the approval of the Chief of Police, revoke the alarm user’s privilege to have a police response for burglary/intrusion alarms at any time after the 10th false alarm. This revocation will not affect a police response for panic/holdup, medical, or fire alarms. The alarm user has 10 days to request an Alarm Coordinator’s review of the revocation per § 117.05(E).
(4) All such assessment monies shall be deposited into the City of Sierra Vista General Fund.
(C) If the alarm subscriber or user fails to pay the assessment within the time provided after receipt of written notification from the city as provided in this section, the Coordinator, with the approval of the Chief of Police, may revoke the alarm subscriber or user’s privilege to have a police response for burglary/intrusion alarms. This revocation will not affect a police response for panic/holdup, medical, or fire alarm.
(1) An alarm subscriber or user whose privilege has been revoked shall be furnished written notification, certified mail, of such revocation, and shall, within three days after the receipt of such written notification, discontinue the use of the alarm system. The alarm subscriber or user has 10 days to request an Alarm Coordinator’s review of the revocation per § 117.05(E) or pay the assessment fee.
(D) Alarm Coordinator’s review. If the alarm subscriber, user or alarm company wishes the Alarm Coordinator to conduct a review of the alarm assessment or privilege revocation, they shall submit a report to the Alarm Coordinator within 10 business days of receiving the notification. The report shall contain the following:
(1) If applicable, a description of the action taken, or to be taken, to discover and eliminate the cause of the false alarms;
(2) If applicable, specify why the alleged false alarms should not be considered false alarms. Evidence that a false alarm was caused by Acts of God, common cause, or action of die telephone company shall constitute affirmative defenses to an assessment for the particular false alarm;
(3) If the report above is not received by the Alarm Coordinator, any notified party shall be deemed to have waived their rights to any further review, as provided herein, and the alarm subscriber or proprietor operating the offending alarm system will be assessed pursuant to this section;
(4) If the report is submitted, the Alarm Coordinator shall review the corrective action taken, or to be taken, to discover and eliminate the cause of the false alarms, and the specific defenses, if any, set forth in the report. If it is determined that the corrective action taken, or to be taken, will substantially reduce the likelihood of false alarms, or that a valid defense to the initial determination of false alarm has been accepted, a notice will be sent to the alarm subscriber or user that no assessment will be made at that time. The notice shall specifically set forth the findings and conclusions of the Coordinator with respect to the review of the report submitted;
(5) If the Alarm Coordinator determines that the action taken, or to be taken, will not substantially reduce the likelihood of false alarms, or that a defense to the initial determination of false alarms has not been alleged or accepted, a notice shall be sent by certified mail to the alarm subscriber or user that they will be assessed a false alarm assessment pursuant to this section. The notice of decision shall contain the specific findings and conclusions of the Alarm Coordinator with respect to the review report submitted.
(6) Decisions by the Alarm Coordinator during the Alarm Coordinator’s review may be appealed as per § 117.06.
(E) Business license revocation.
(1) The Chief of Police, or his designee, upon recommendation of the Alarm Coordinator, may recommend to the City Clerk the revocation of the alarm company’s business license for the following reasons:
(a) Failure to pay assessments resulting, from the findings the Alarm Coordinator;
(b) The alarm company owner or employees are convicted of a felony;
(c) The alarm company is not registered with the State Board of Technical Registration; or
(d) The Alarm Coordinator has reasonable grounds to believe that the licensee has shown a pattern of repeated non-compliance or disregard for the provisions of this chapter.
(2) Actual business license revocation will follow the procedure outlined in Chapter 110.
(Ord. 1002, passed 3-14-96; Am. Ord. 2008-003, passed 1-10-08; Am. Ord. 2015-001, passed 5-14-15)