CHAPTER 1074: EMERGENCY ALARMS
Section
   1074.01   Authority to install alarm
   1074.02   Automatic dialing devices
   1074.03   Alarms connected directly to police station (Repealed)
   1074.04   Local alarms
   1074.05   False alarms
   1074.06   Maintenance of devices; responsibilities of suppliers; authority of Police Chief; false alarms
   1074.07   Nonliability of city
   1074.08   Rules and regulations
   1074.09   Permits and fees; address markings; separate alarms
   1074.99   Penalty
   CROSS REFERENCES
   Automatic sprinkler systems, see Ch. 1442
   False alarms, see §§ 648.07, 648.08
   Police Department, see Ch. 240
   Theft alarms, see § 438.20
§ 1074.01 AUTHORITY TO INSTALL ALARM.
   (a)   Any premises located within the city may be equipped with an emergency alarm, upon compliance with this chapter, for the purpose of detecting and signaling the presence of a holdup or unauthorized intrusion. Existing installations, whether residential or otherwise, shall be subject to the requirements of this chapter, including those requirements pertaining to permits.
   (b)   No person shall install any alarm referred to in this chapter without first obtaining a permit therefor from the city, and no owner and/or tenant of a place shall suffer or allow such installation unless a permit has been obtained as provided herein. Prior to issuance of such a permit, the Chief of Police shall investigate the reliability of the applicant and the applicant’s equipment, and shall require, on forms to be provided by the Chief, relevant information as may be deemed necessary by the Chief to protect the integrity and confidentiality of alarm systems. The Chief shall issue a permit to a qualified applicant, provided that he or she shall refuse to issue a permit to any applicant whose equipment is incompatible with city equipment, whose officers and/or agents are unable to reasonably demonstrate that they will protect the confidentiality and integrity of the system, or who has failed to pay permit fees as required by this chapter.
(Ord. 1985-169, passed 1-6-1986)
§ 1074.02 AUTOMATIC DIALING DEVICES.
   (a)   The city may subscribe to one or more telephone lines for burglar alarms or for holdup alarm purposes or for similar purposes, and when any line is designated as provided for the above, persons may, upon proper application and compliance with applicable laws, be granted a permit to install a device or devices which automatically select the designated telephone line for the purpose of playing a recorded message or to otherwise report an intrusion or other emergency.
   (b)   No person shall use or cause to be used any telephone device or telephone attachment that automatically selects a telephone line allocated by the telephone company to the city or any of its departments or divisions, except a telephone line which may be specifically designated by the Police Department for such purpose. Such designated telephone line or lines shall terminate at the police station communications center.
   (c)   For alarms of the type described, the message shall comply with the following:
      (1)   Length of message: 15 seconds maximum;
      (2)   Message shall not be repeated more than three times for each dialing; and
      (3)   Contents: message shall first state: “This is a recording.” The balance of the message shall be appropriate to the purpose for which the alarm is installed and shall be subject to the approval of the Chief of Police. The entire message shall be intelligible.
   (d)   For alarms of the type described, each such device shall be programmed to first dial the police station, using an unlisted number assigned for that purpose.
   (e)   The cost of providing the service described above, including any fee or payment charged by the telephone company, shall be paid by the applicant.
   (f)   The fee to be charged by the city shall be determined on an annual basis by dividing the cost of phone service to the city by the number of holders of permits for alarms, as described, adding 15% for administration and rounding off to the next highest dollar, except that the minimum charge shall be $5 per month per subscriber. All fees shall be payable on a calendar month basis in advance. Delinquency in excess of ten days shall result in cancellation of the permit or permits.
(Ord. 1985-169, passed 1-6-1986)
§ 1074.03 ALARMS CONNECTED DIRECTLY TO POLICE STATION (REPEALED).
Editor’s note:
   Section 1074.03 was repealed by Ordinance 1998-119, passed July 6, 1998.
§ 1074.04 LOCAL ALARMS.
   A permit for the installation of a local alarm which, when activated, sounds a horn, bell, buzzer or other type of audible alarm, shall be required if the sound created by the alarm is audible beyond the premises being served. The Chief of Police or his or her authorized representatives shall issue a permit for such an alarm, provided the intensity of sound does not exceed 65 decibels at any location outside the premises being served and provided the alarm is equipped with an automatic reset device which resets the alarm within 15 minutes or the permit holder provides the names, addresses and phone numbers of three persons who will respond when called and reset the alarm within 30 minutes. Lists of names of persons who will respond to reset the alarm shall be kept current and correct by the permittee.
(Ord. 1998-119, passed 7-6-1998)
§ 1074.05 FALSE ALARMS.
   (a)   As used in this section, FALSE ALARM means an emergency alarm, activated by inadvertence, negligence or unintentional acts, including, but not limited to, malfunction of the alarm system, to which the City Police and/or Fire Department responds. The definition excludes false alarms caused by: malfunction, testing or repairing of telephone equipment or lines; malfunction, testing or repairing of the normal power supply source for alarms installed on residential subdivisions; acts of God, such as earthquake, flood, windstorm, thunder or lightning; an attempted illegal entry of which there is visible evidence; or the user acting under a sincere belief that a need exists to call the Police and/or Fire Department. If a doubt exists as to the cause of a false alarm, the Chief of Police and/or Fire shall resolve it in favor of the alarm user. Multiple alarms received by the Bureau of Emergency Communications before the system can be deactivated within a reasonable period of time shall be considered a single alarm.
   (b)   A charge in accordance with the following schedule shall be imposed for false alarms:
 
Business, commercial, industrial
 
   First three false alarms in a calendar year
No charge
   Four or more false alarms in a calendar year
$50 per false alarm
Residential
   First three false alarms in a calendar year
No charge
   Four or more false alarms in a calendar year
$25 per false alarm
 
   (c)   Notwithstanding the fee to be assessed, as set forth above, no charge shall be made for the first three false alarms in a calendar year, nor shall there be any charge for a false alarm to which there is no response by the Police and/or Fire Department, nor when the cause has been proven to be an act of God.
   (d)   A grace period of 30 days from the date of installation shall be granted to new permittees. During this period, no false alarms shall be counted towards the three allowable false alarms before charges are assessed.
   (e)   Any charge for a false alarm, as provided for in division (b) hereof, which remains unpaid 30 days after date of invoice, shall result in a certified letter being mailed to the owner, and tenant if applicable, stating that they will have ten days from the date of receiving the certified letter to pay the amount due or it will be added to their property tax bill with a penalty of 10%. If the amount due is not paid by then, the Director of Finance shall certify the amount due to the County Auditor for collection on the owner’s property tax bill.
(Ord. 1998-119, passed 7-6-1998; Ord. 2007-77, passed 4-16-2007)
§ 1074.06 MAINTENANCE OF DEVICES; RESPONSIBILITIES OF SUPPLIERS; AUTHORITY OF POLICE CHIEF; FALSE ALARMS.
   (a)   All components comprising such a device shall be maintained by the owner in good repair to assure reliability of operation.
   (b)   Each alarm equipment supplier that sells or leases to a person an automatic protection device, which is installed on such person’s premises in the city, shall furnish that person with instructions as to the way the device operates, along with maintenance instructions.
   (c)   Each alarm equipment supplier that sells or leases to a person an automatic protection device, which is installed on such person’s premises in the city, for which a permit is required, shall provide for receiving calls for service, directly or through an agent, on a 24 hour basis, seven days a week, and shall respond to such calls within eight hours of the time they are received.
   (d)   Each alarm equipment supplier described in divisions (b) and (c) hereof shall be required to register with the Police Department and to provide such information concerning his or her business and operation as is deemed necessary by the Police Department.
   (e)   At the time of installation, each alarm equipment supplier shall furnish to the person for whom an automatic protection device has been installed, written information as to how services can be obtained at any time, including the telephone number to call for service, and such person shall be responsible for having the device repaired as quickly as possible after he or she learns, either from his or her own sources or from notification by the city, that the device is not working properly.
   (f)   The Chief of Police or any officer designated by him or her shall have the authority, at reasonable times and upon oral notice, to enter upon any premises within the city to inspect the installation and operation of an automatic protection device or signaling device, the purpose of which is to report an emergency to the Police Department.
   (g)   All equipment, the use or installation of which is subject to this chapter, shall be maintained in good operating condition. The Chief of Police or his or her representative may require that repairs be made whenever he or she has determined that such are necessary to assure proper operation.
   (h)   All alarms installed on business premises in the city must be provided with an auxiliary power source to preclude false alarms due to power failures in the normal power supply source for the premises.
   (i)   Permits may be revoked for noncompliance with any provision of this chapter. Upon permit revocation, the Chief of Police shall notify the permit holder, in writing, by certified mail, of the effective date of such revocation and that the Police Department will no longer respond to any alarms transmitted from that installation.
   (j)   Revoked permits may be reinstated by the Chief of Police as a new installation permit only under the following conditions:
      (1)   Payment of the entire balance; and
      (2)   Full compliance with this chapter.
   (k)   Permits may be cancelled by the Chief of Police with the approval of the Director of Public Safety for violation of any provision of this chapter or for failure to property maintain an installation.
(Ord. 1998-119, passed 7-6-1998)
§ 1074.07 NONLIABILITY OF CITY.
   The issuance of any permit or permits in conjunction with this chapter shall not constitute acceptance by the city of any liability to maintain any equipment, to answer alarms or for anything in connection therewith.
(Ord. 1985-169, passed 1-6-1986)
§ 1074.08 RULES AND REGULATIONS.
   The Mayor or his or her authorized representative shall make and enforce such rules and regulations as he or she may deem necessary for the enforcement of the provisions hereof and for the proper determination and collection of the fees and charges herein provided for.
(Ord. 1985-169, passed 1-6-1986)
§ 1074.09 PERMITS AND FEES; ADDRESS MARKINGS; SEPARATE ALARMS.
   (a)   A fee of $10 shall be paid to the city for each permit issued as provided herein to cover administrative and inspection costs. A separate permit and permit fee shall be required for a holdup and an intrusion alarm emanating from the same premises. No permit issued pursuant to any provision of this chapter shall be transferable to any person, firm or corporation.
   (b)   All premises where an alarm permit has been issued shall have a conspicuous address marking, a minimum of six inches high, located on the side of the building facing the street, in clear view from the street.
   (c)   Where there is more than one alarm system in a building, or separate alarms for a particular part or section, this constitutes another alarm. All separate alarms shall be so coded on the outside of the building so as to designate areas for that particular alarm only.
(Ord. 1985-169, passed 1-6-1986)
§ 1074.99 PENALTY.
   Whoever willfully violates any of the provisions of this chapter is guilty of a misdemeanor of the third degree for a first offense and shall be fined not more than $500 or imprisoned not more than 60 days, or both. For any subsequent offense, such person is guilty of a misdemeanor of the second degree and shall be fined not more than $750 or imprisoned not more than 90 days, or both.
(Ord. 1985-169, passed 1-6-1986)