For the purpose of this chapter, the following definitions shall apply:
A. "Alarm agent" means any person who is employed by an alarm business, whether directly or indirectly, whose duties include any of the following: selling, maintaining, leasing, servicing, repairing, altering, replacing, moving, installing or monitoring on any building, place or premises any alarm system.
B. "Alarm business" means any person, firm or corporation engaged in selling, leasing, maintaining, servicing, repairing, altering, replacing, moving, installing or monitoring any alarm system or causing to be sold, maintained, serviced, repaired, altered, replaced, moved, installed or monitored an alarm system in or on any building, place or premises.
C. "Alarm dispatch request" means a request made to the police department to respond to an alarm site.
D. "Alarm site" means the location where an alarm system has been activated.
E. "Alarm system" means any mechanical or electrical device or assembly of devices designed or used for the detection of an unauthorized entry into a building, structure or facility; or for alerting others to the commission of an unlawful act within a building, structure or facility; or for alerting others to the commission of an unlawful act within a building, structure or facility; or to signal the presence of a hazard or emergency situation; and which, when activated, emits a sound or transmits a signal which is intended to either directly or indirectly summon police, fire or emergency service response.
F. "Alarm user" means the owner of a structure or facility equipped with an alarm system, a person contracting with an alarm business for the leasing, servicing or maintaining of an alarm system, or other person who has responsibility for or control over alarm system activations, or maintains a proprietary alarm system.
G. "Audible alarm" means a device designed for the detection of intrusion on premises which generates an audible sound on the premises when it is activated.
H. "Cancellation" means a notification made by an alarm business after an alarm dispatch request has been made, that notifies the responding emergency agency that there is not an emergency situation at the alarm site requiring a response by a law enforcement agency or other emergency response provider. The alarm business, as used in this subsection, must be the same service that made the alarm dispatch request.
I. "Chief of police" means the police chief of the Signal Hill police department, or his or her designee.
J. "Disconnect order" means an order by the chief of police that the alarm system has been deemed a public nuisance and the alarm permit has been revoked.
K. "False alarm" means the use or activation of an alarm system in the absence of an actual emergency situation, which results in the response of police or other public emergency service provider; or use or activation of an alarm system to summon police or emergency service personnel in any situation other than an emergency situation; or the use or activation of an alarm system to summon police to incidents of shoplifting, petty theft, disturbances, prowlers, suspicious circumstances or to any incident where all suspects are believed to have left the scene. The use or activation may be caused intentionally or unintentionally, including by mechanical failure, accident, misoperation, malfunction, misuse, or negligence, of either the owner or lessee of the alarm system or their employees or agents. A false alarm does not include any of the following:
1. A cancellation made within three (3) minutes after the alarm dispatch request is made and prior to the responding police officer(s) or other emergency response provider(s) arriving at the alarm site.
2. An activation of an alarm system that can be reasonably associated by the responding officer(s) with an actual or attempted criminal offense at the alarm site.
3. An activation of an alarm system that is determined by the responding officer(s) to be the result of an earthquake, hurricane, tornado, or other unusual meteorological event.
L. "Proprietary alarm systems" means an alarm system which is monitored directly by the alarm user or by an alarm business, and which is not designed to directly summon police or other public emergency service response. Activations of proprietary alarms shall be investigated by the alarm user, the alarm user's alarm business or some other person, with police or emergency service personnel being notified only after confirmation that an emergency situation requiring public emergency services exists.
M. "Silent alarm" means a system which is monitored remotely by an alarm agent or alarm user and, when activated, sounds a bell, buzzer or light at a location other than where the alarm system has been installed.
N. "Emergency situation" means a situation which does or reasonably may be suspected to pose an actual, imminent threat to human health or safety, or actual, imminent threat of severe property damage.
O. "SIA Control Panel Standard CP-01" means the American National Standard Institute (ANSI) approved Security Industry Association (SIA) CP-01 Control Panel Standard, as may be updated from time to time, that details recommended design features for security system control panels and their associated arming and disarming devices to reduce false alarms. Control panels built and tested to this standard by a nationally recognized testing organization, shall be officially marked to state: "Design evaluated in accordance with SIA CP-01 Control Panel Standard Features for False Alarm Reduction."
P. "Verify" means an attempt by an alarm business that monitors alarms to contact the alarm site and/or alarm user by telephone and/or other electronic means (such as video or audio transmissions), whether or not actual contact with a person is made, to determine whether an alarm signal is valid before requesting alarm dispatch. To verify by telephone 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.
(Ord. 2014-01-1465 § 1; Ord. 2013-07-1456 § 1 (part))