[HISTORY: Adopted by the Mayor and Council of the Borough of Dunellen 1-7-1980. Amendments noted where applicable.]
The purpose of this chapter is to provide standards and regulations for various types of intrusion, burglar, fire and other emergency alarm devices, whether by direct line, radio, telephone or other means actuating a device at the police headquarters of the Borough of Dunellen and requiring response thereto by the Police Department, Fire Department or other municipal agencies.
The provisions of this chapter shall apply to any person who operates, maintains or owns any alarm device or local alarm designed to summon the police, Fire Department or other municipal agencies to any location in response to any type of alarm signal. The terms of this chapter shall in no way prohibit alarm companies from providing service by private source to other offices within or without the Borough of Dunellen so long as such activity is not connected to the alarm console; except, however, that any person having a premises protected by an alarm device shall still be responsible for the registration thereof as required by the Chief of Police of the Borough of Dunellen.
As used in this chapter the following terms shall have the meanings indicated:
ALARM CONSOLE
The console or control panel of devices giving a visual or audio response, or both, and located within the confines of the Police Department of the Borough of Dunellen.
ALARM DEVICE
Any type of alarm system actuating equipment in the alarm console providing warning of intrusion, fire, smoke, flood or other peril.
ALARM INSTALLATION
Any alarm, device or combination of devices installed for one or more buildings at a location other than the alarm console.
DESIGNATED REPRESENTATIVE
Shall be limited to a member of the Police Department of the Borough of Dunellen.
DIAL ALARM
That type of device using telephone lines transmitting an alarm directly through the police switchboard.
FALSE ALARM
Any alarm actuated by inadvertence, negligence or unintentional act of someone other than an intruder and shall include, as well, alarms caused by malfunctioning of the alarm device or other relevant equipment.
LICENSEE
The person obtaining the license to maintain the alarm console as hereinafter set forth.
LOCAL ALARM
Any alarm or device which, when actuated, produces a signal not connected to the alarm console, such as store burglar alarms actuating bell devices.
PERSON
Includes any natural person, partnership, corporation or association.
PERMITTEE
Any person owning an alarm device or a local alarm within the scope of this chapter.
A. 
There is hereby established a police alarm console license, which shall be granted upon recommendation of the Chief of Police as set forth in this chapter. Any such licensee shall have exclusive use and control of the alarm console except for use by the Police Department of the Borough of Dunellen, and such licensee will be responsible, at no cost to the Borough of Dunellen, for the establishment, construction and installation of said console, containing equipment and being of a design approved by the Chief of Police and for the care, maintenance and management thereafter of said console. Said licensee shall locate said console and relocate said console if necessary under the supervision of the Chief of Police at no cost to the Borough of Dunellen. For any such license granted hereunder, the licensee will assume all liability and agree to indemnify and save harmless the Borough of Dunellen, its agents and the Borough of Dunellen Police Department for any acts in conjunction with the operation of said police alarm console, and, in conjunction therewith, he shall execute an indemnification agreement with the Borough of Dunellen, and he shall furnish annually to the Municipal Clerk a noncancelable insurance certificate indicating public liability coverage in an amount no less than $300,000 each person, $500,000 each accident and property damage $50,000 each accident.
B. 
Any connection to the police alarm console shall be of a type inspected and approved by the Chief of Police of the Borough of Dunellen or his designated representative, and any person aggrieved by said decision may appeal said decision in writing within 10 days to the Mayor and Council.
C. 
All alarms existing as of the date of the adoption of this chapter (except dial alarms) shall be connected hereunder to the alarm console by the licensee, and the connection charge for such transfer shall not exceed $5.
D. 
The licensee for the police alarm console shall be permitted to charge new subscribers a maximum installation fee of $5 payable to the Borough of Dunellen, and any subscriber a maximum monthly retainer or maintenance fee of $1; except, however, that no fee shall be charged to the Borough of Dunellen for monthly charges or console connection charges for any existing or future systems in public buildings, and any equipment or alarm devices installed by the alarm console licensee in such public buildings shall be at wholesale cost exclusive of labor charges.
E. 
The licensee shall install initially an annunciator or display console having no less than 25 zones available for present systems and future connections, which console shall be approved by the Underwriters' Laboratories.
F. 
Except as provided in this chapter, any license issued hereunder shall be for a term of five years from the date of approval by the Mayor and Council of the Borough of Dunellen. Such licensee shall post with the Municipal Clerk a performance bond in the amount of $15,000, noncancelable without notification to the Mayor and Council of the Borough of Dunellen, guaranteeing performance for five years of the obligation of the licensee and insuring maintenance of said console and alarm system during said period when such license is in force.
A. 
Nonwaiverable licensee qualifications shall be as follows:
(1) 
Said licensee has an office in the Borough of Dunellen or within a fifty-mile radius of the Borough Municipal Building with adequate personnel available on a twenty-four-hour basis to service said equipment.
(2) 
Said licensee is certified for installation and maintenance of said equipment by Underwriters' Laboratories.
(3) 
Said licensee is certified by the State of New Jersey Fire Marshal for installation and maintenance of said equipment.
B. 
Renewals of said license or award of new licenses, should any license be terminated in accordance with this chapter, shall be accomplished by application to the Mayor and Council and determination of that body.
A. 
Any person, firm or corporation which owns or operates a police alarm device or local alarm shall make application for the continuance thereof in writing to the Chief of Police within 90 days of the effective date of this chapter, which application shall contain at least the location of the device, the name of the installer of said device, the type of device, maintenance provisions, provisions relating to false alarms and testing procedures, a list of persons to be contacted in the event of an alarm and other information as may be required by the Chief of Police.
B. 
Local alarms shall be registered, but no fee shall be charged therefor.
The Borough of Dunellen shall be under no duty or obligation to any permittee hereunder or to any alarm console licensee hereunder, the alarm console and allied equipment being maintained at will and subject to termination at any time by cancellation of the system by resolution duly adopted by the Council of the Borough of Dunellen, and any individual permit issued hereunder may be revoked at any time by the Council upon the recommendation of the Chief of Police, provided that 30 days' notice is given in writing to said permittee.
A. 
All fire alarm devices shall be installed in accordance with the requirements of the State of New Jersey and with the approval of the Fire Inspector, Borough of Dunellen.
B. 
Any licensee for the alarm console and any permittee utilizing the services of any other alarm company connected to said alarm console shall correct any malfunction within eight hours of notification by the Police Department of any malfunctions of any equipment.
C. 
In the case of a false alarm, any person having knowledge thereof shall immediately notify the Police Department in a manner to be prescribed by rules and regulations in accordance with this chapter. In addition, in the case of false alarms, the Chief of Police shall cause an investigation to be made and keep a record of said alarms on file. For such false alarms, the Council prescribed the following penalties: For the first and second false alarm in any given calendar year, a warning shall be issued; for the third false alarm in the same calendar year a fine of $50 shall be paid to the Borough of Dunellen; for the fourth false alarm, a fine of $100 shall be paid to the Borough of Dunellen and for the fifth alarm, a fine of $200 shall be paid to the Borough of Dunellen. Where the investigation of the Police Department discloses continued abuse of the privilege of connection to the alarm console and a disregard of the permittee for taking remedial steps to avoid false alarms, the Council reserves the right to require disconnection from the alarm console for a limited or permanent time, provided that no such permit shall be revoked or suspended without giving the permittee an opportunity to show cause before the Council why such action should not be taken.
D. 
Any unauthorized equipment may be disconnected by the Chief of Police or his designated representative for noncompliance with this chapter, and any person installing or maintaining unauthorized equipment shall be prosecuted for violation of this chapter, and each and every day said equipment is in operation shall be considered a separate violation. Any permittee shall, by acceptance of the permit, be deemed as having consented to inspection of the premises on which said alarm devices are installed at reasonable hours by the Chief of Police or his designated representative.
E. 
Any persons seeking to establish a console in the police headquarters may make application to the Mayor and Council of the Borough of Dunellen to do so, and, if such permit is granted, said persons shall pay an additional license fee of $18, which shall run from January 1 to December 31 of each year of the operation thereof.
F. 
Dial alarm devices.
(1) 
Dial alarm devices shall be permitted only by special arrangement with the Chief of Police. Any dial alarm so permitted shall utilize a separate telephone line so as not to encumber the police emergency number and so that the primary lines of the Police Department will not be tied up by such equipment.
(2) 
Existing dial alarm devices for which special arrangements are not made to continue shall be discontinued within 30 days of notification by the Chief of Police.
The Chief of Police may, from time to time, promulgate rules and regulations supplementing this chapter in order to provide for recordkeeping and efficient management of said system; provided, however, that the Council must first approve said rules or any changes thereto.