For the purposes of this chapter, the following definitions shall apply unless the context clearly indicates or requires a different meaning.
ALARM ADMINISTRATOR. A person or persons designated by the chief of police to administer, control and review false alarm reduction efforts and administer the provisions of this chapter.
ALARM DISPATCH REQUEST. A notification to a law enforcement agency that an alarm, either manual or automatic, has been activated at a particular alarm site.
ALARM INSTALLATION COMPANY. A person in the business of selling, providing, maintaining, servicing, repairing, altering, replacing, moving or installing an alarm system in an alarm site. This definition shall also include individuals or firms that install and service the alarm systems that will be used in their private or proprietary facilities. This does not include persons doing installation or repair work where the work is performed without compensation of any kind (i.e., “do-it-yourselfers”).
ALARM RESPONSE MANAGER (ARM). A person designated by an alarm installation company to handle alarm issues for the company, and act as the primary point of contact for the jurisdiction’s alarm administrator.
ALARM SITE. A single fixed premises or location served by an alarm system or systems. Each unit, if served by a separate alarm system in a multi-unit building or complex, shall be considered a SEPARATE ALARM SITE.
ALARM SYSTEM. A device or series of devices, including, but not limited to, hardwired systems and systems interconnected with a radio frequency method such as cellular or private radio signals, which emit or transmit a remote or local audible, visual or electronic signal indicating an alarm condition and intended to summon law enforcement response, including local alarm systems. ALARM SYSTEM does not include an alarm installed in a vehicle or on someone’s person unless the vehicle or the personal alarm is permanently located at a site.
ALARM USER. Any person, who (which) has contracted for monitoring, repair, installation or maintenance service from an alarm installation company or monitoring company for an alarm system, or who (which) owns or operates an alarm system which is not monitored, maintained or repaired under contract.
ALARM USER AWARENESS CLASS. A class conducted for the purpose of educating alarm users about the responsible use, operation and maintenance of alarm systems, and the problems created by false alarms.
ARMING STATION. A device from which the alarm system is turned “on” (armed) and “off” (disarmed).
AUDIO VERIFICATION. The transfer of sounds from the protected premises to the monitoring company, as a result of activation of one or more devices, to confirm or deny the validity of the alarm signal.
AUTOMATIC VOICE DIALER. Any electrical, electronic, mechanical or other device capable of being programmed to send a prerecorded voice message, when activated, over a telephone line, radio or other communication system to a law enforcement, public safety or emergency services agency requesting dispatch.
CANCELLATION. The process where response is terminated when a monitoring company (designated by the alarm user) for the alarm site notifies the responding law enforcement agency that there is not an existing situation at the alarm site requiring law enforcement agency response after an alarm dispatch request.
CHIEF OF POLICE. The chief of police of the city or his or her designee.
CONVERSION. The transaction or process by which one alarm installation company or monitoring company begins the servicing and/or monitoring of a previously unmonitored alarm system or an alarm system previously serviced and/or monitored by another alarm company.
DURESS ALARM. A silent alarm system signal generated by the entry of a designated code into an arming station in order to signal that the alarm user is being forced to turn off the system and requires law enforcement response.
ENHANCED CALL VERIFICATION (ECV). A monitoring procedure requiring that a minimum of two calls be made prior to making an alarm dispatch request. The two calls must be made to different phone numbers where a responsible party can typically be reached.
FALSE ALARM. An alarm dispatch request to a law enforcement agency, when the responding law enforcement officer finds no evidence of a criminal offense or attempted criminal offense after having completed a timely investigation of the alarm site.
GOVERNMENT FACILITY. Any alarmed location where the primary owner, operator, renter or lessee is the city of Sioux Falls, county of Minnehaha, state of South Dakota, agency of the United States or public school district.
HOLDUP ALARM. A silent alarm signal generated by the manual activation of a device intended to signal a robbery in progress, or immediately after it has occurred.
LAW ENFORCEMENT AUTHORITY. The chief of police, director or other authorized representative of a law enforcement agency.
LICENSE. A license issued by the city to an alarm installation company and monitoring company to sell, install, monitor, repair or replace alarm systems.
LOCAL ALARM SYSTEM. Any alarm system, which is not monitored, that annunciates an alarm only at the alarm site.
MONITORING. The process by which a monitoring company receives signals from an alarm system and relays an alarm dispatch request to the municipality for the purpose of summoning law enforcement to the alarm site.
MONITORING COMPANY. A person in the business of providing monitoring services.
ONE PLUS DURESS ALARM. The manual activation of a silent alarm signal by entering a code at an arming station that adds one number higher to the last digit of the normal arm/disarm code (e.g., normal code = 1234, one plus duress code = 1235).
OTHER ELECTRONIC MEANS. The real-time audio/video surveillance of an alarm site by the monitoring company by means of devices that permit either the direct, live listening in or viewing of an alarm site or portions thereof.
PANIC ALARM. An audible alarm system signal generated by the manual activation of a device intended to signal a life threatening or emergency situation requiring law enforcement response.
PERSON. An individual, corporation, partnership, association, organization or similar entity.
RESPONDER. An individual capable of reaching and having access to the alarm site, the code to the alarm system, and the authority to approve repairs to the alarm system.
ROBBERY ALARM. See HOLDUP ALARM.
SIA/ANSI CONTROL PANEL STANDARD CP-01. The SIA-Security Industry Association, American National Standard Institute approved-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 the incidence of false alarms. Control panels built and tested to this standard by Underwriters Laboratory (UL), or other nationally recognized testing organizations, will be marked to state: “Design evaluated in accordance with SIA CP-01 control panel standard features for false alarm reduction.”
SUSPENSION OF RESPONSE. The termination of police response to alarms at a specified alarm site as a result of false alarms or other violation of this alarm chapter.
TAKE OVER. The transaction or process by which an alarm user takes over control of an existing alarm system, which was previously controlled by another alarm user.
TELEPHONE VERIFICATION. See VERIFY.
VERIFY. An attempt by the monitoring company to determine the validity of an alarm signal prior to initiating an alarm dispatch request.
VIDEO VERIFICATION. The transfer of video images to the monitoring company reflecting conditions existing at the protected premises at the time an alarm was activated through the use of video technology.
ZONE. The capability of an alarm system to separate and report incidents or alarms by area. (Example: zone 1—front door contact; zone 2—front entry motion detector.)
(Ord. 72-12, passed 9-4-2012)