[HISTORY: Adopted by the Village Board of the Village of
Randolph 10-7-1998 by Ord. No. 351 as Title 5, Ch. 4, of the 1998 Code.
Amendments noted where applicable.]
This chapter shall be known as the "Village of Randolph Alarm
Systems Ordinance."
The purpose of this chapter is to provide minimum standards
and regulations applicable to burglar, fire and holdup alarm systems,
alarm businesses and alarm users. Both society in general and public
safety in particular will be aided by providing a useful and usable
system of private security which properly balances quick response
by law enforcement with minimization of law enforcement time spent
on alarms which are false or otherwise not the intended function of
private security systems.
Within this chapter, the following terms, phrases and words
and their derivations have the meanings given herein:
Any business in which the owners or employees engage in the
activity of altering, installing, leasing, maintaining, repairing,
replacing, selling, or servicing alarm systems.
An assembly of equipment and devices or a single device such
as a solid-state unit which plugs directly into a one-hundred-ten-volt
AC line or otherwise receives electrical energy arranged to signal
the presence of a hazard requiring urgent attention and to which the
Police or Fire Department is expected to respond. In this chapter,
the term "alarm system" shall include the terms "automatic holdup
alarm system," "burglar alarm system" and "manual holdup alarm system,"
as those terms are hereinafter defined, and fire alarm systems which
monitor temperature, humidity or any other condition directly related
to the detection of fire. Excluded from this definition and from the
coverage of this chapter are alarm systems used to alert or signal
persons within the premises in which the alarm system is located of
an attempted unauthorized intrusion or holdup attempt or fire.[1], [2]
A telephone answering service providing among its services
the service of receiving, on a continuous basis through trained employees,
emergency signals from alarm systems and thereafter immediately relaying
the message by live voice to the dispatch center of the Police or
Fire Department.
An alarm system which automatically sends over regular telephone
lines by direct connection or otherwise a prerecorded voice message
or coded signal indicating the existence of the emergency situation
that the alarm system is designed to detect.
An alarm system in which the signal transmission is initiated
by the action of the robber.
An alarm system which signals an entry or attempted entry
into the area protected by the system.
An office to which remote alarm and supervisory signaling
devices are connected, where operators supervise the circuits.
An alarm system which has the capability of transmitting
system signals to the Police or Fire Department.
The activation of an alarm system through mechanical failure,
malfunction, improper installation or the negligence of the owner
or lessee of an alarm system or of his employees or agents or other
undetermined cause. "False alarm" does not include alarms caused by
tornadoes or other violent climatic conditions.
To connect an alarm system to a voice-grade telephone line,
either directly or through a mechanical device that utilizes a standard
telephone, for the purpose of using the telephone line to transmit
an emergency message upon the activation of the alarm system.
An alarm system in which the signal transmission is initiated
by the direct action of the person attacked or by an observer thereof.
A telephone line leading directly into the dispatch center
of the Police or Fire Department that is for the purpose of handling
emergency calls on a person-to-person basis and which is identified
as such by a specific number included among the emergency numbers
listed in the telephone directory or numbers in sequence therewith.
A person who buys or leases or otherwise obtains an alarm
system and thereafter contracts with or hires an alarm business to
monitor and/or service the alarm system.
The Chief of Police shall promulgate such rules as may be necessary
for the implementation of this chapter. Such rules shall require the
approval of the Village Board and shall be open to inspection by the
public.
No person shall interconnect any automatic dialing device to
a Police or Fire Department primary trunk line. No person shall permit
such devices, which were installed prior to the effective date of
this chapter, to remain interconnected from any property owned or
controlled by that person. Such devices may be connected to a central
station or an answering service. Relaying messages so received to
the Police or Fire Department shall only be done person to person
on the telephone line.
Direct connections to the Police or Fire Department are prohibited
but may be authorized pursuant to the direct connection policies of
each Department, a copy of which is on file with the Chief of Police
and Fire Chief.
A.
No alarm business or alarm system designed to transmit emergency
messages to the Police Department shall be tested or demonstrated
without prior notification and approval of the Police Department dispatcher.
Alarm businesses or alarm system owners or lessors will be advised
on proper test procedure.
B.
No alarm system relayed through intermediate services to the Police
Department will be tested to determine the Police Department's
response without first notifying the appropriate authority. However,
the Police Department may inspect or test on-site alarm systems authorized
under this chapter.
C.
Alarm systems shall be in compliance with all pertinent response
policies of the Police Department.
When the service provided by an alarm business to its subscribers
is disrupted for any reason by the alarm business or the alarm business
becomes aware of such disruption, it shall promptly notify its subscribers
by telephone that protection is no longer being provided. If, however,
the alarm business has written instructions from its subscriber not
to make such notification by telephone during certain hours, the alarm
business may comply with such instructions.
A.
Generally. Each false alarm requires response of public safety personnel,
involves unnecessary expense to the Village, increases the risk of
injury to persons or damage to property and dilutes the overall public
safety protection to the Village. Such false alarms constitute a public
nuisance and must be abated.
C.
False alarms; administrative charges.
(1)
Any person, business, corporation or other entity having a permissible
alarm system with alarm device(s) at one or more locations in accordance
with this chapter shall pay to the Departments a charge for false
alarms responded to by the Police or Fire Department according to
the following schedule for each calendar year for each location connected,
separate accounts to be kept for false alarms as to criminal activity
and false alarms for fire or other emergencies. The cost of false
alarms outside of Village limits shall be billed by the Village as
a service of the Departments to the responsible party(s).[2]
(2)
This subsection is intended to impose a strict liability on the person, business, corporation or other entity responsible for alarm connection to either the police alarm panel or to an alarm receiving firm to which the Police or Fire Department has responded and shall be applied regardless of the cause of the false alarm, excepting those alarms excluded from the definition of "false alarm." Failure to pay such administrative charge(s) in and of itself shall constitute a violation of this section, and such charge(s) shall be collectible as a forfeiture upon prosecution and conviction thereof, together with an additional forfeiture(s) which may be imposed under the next Subsection D hereof for violation of this section for allowing or maintaining a condition(s) or act(s) violative of the intent of this section of eliminating and minimizing the occurrence of false alarms, together with costs of prosecution.
D.
Other violations. Any person, corporation or other entity violating this chapter in any manner, other than for collection of unpaid administrative charges treated in the preceding Subsection C of this section, shall be subject to forfeiture as provided in § 1-4 of this Code. When any premises located in the Village is owned, leased or occupied by two or more persons as joint tenants, tenants in common, joint lessees, or in any other manner, each person shall see that the provisions of this chapter are complied with, and each person may be subjected to a penalty on violation of this section.
E.
Default of payment for forfeiture and/or costs. On default of payment of forfeiture and/or costs under the immediately preceding Subsections C and/or D, such person or responsible officer of the violating corporation or other entity shall be confined in the county jail until the same are paid, but not to exceed a length of time specified by the court, which length of time shall not exceed six months. Upon nonpayment of the fee, the amount due may be placed on the tax roll as a special charge pursuant to § 66.0627, Wis. Stats.
The Village of Randolph shall be under no duty or obligation
to a subscriber or to any other person concerning any provision of
this chapter, including, but not limited to, any defects in an alarm
system or any delays in transmission or response to any alarm; however,
this in no way shall be construed that it is not the proper function
of law enforcement to respond to alarms.[1]