[HISTORY: Adopted by the Council of the City
of Pawtucket as indicated in article histories. Amendments noted where
applicable.]
[Approved 4-20-1989 by Ch. No. 2063]
The Pawtucket City Council has determined that
the number of false or needless alarms being generated in the City
of Pawtucket are causing a drain on both the manpower and the resources
of the Pawtucket Police Division. In order to reduce this drain the
Council has drafted and passed the following.
Unless the context clearly indicates otherwise,
the words and phrases used in this article shall have the following
meanings:
The business of any individual, partnership, corporation
or other entity engaged in selling, leasing, maintaining, servicing,
repairing, altering, replacing, moving or installing any alarm system
or in causing any alarm system to be sold, leased, maintained, serviced,
repaired, altered, replaced, moved or installed in or on any building,
structure or facility.
A permit issued by the City allowing the operation of an
alarm system within the City.
Any assembly of equipment, mechanical or electrical, arranged
to signal the occurrence of an illegal entry or other activity requiring
urgent attention and to which the Police Division is expected to respond,
but does not include alarms installed in conveyances or fire alarms.
The person, firm, partnership, association, corporation,
company or organization of any kind in control of any building, structure
or facility or portion thereof wherein an alarm system is maintained.
The Director of Public Safety or an individual designated
by the Director of Public Safety to act in the capacity as an impartial
arbitrator to review appeals related to the enforcement of this article.
The automatic dialing or any automatic telephone dialing
alarm system and shall include any system which, upon being activated,
automatically transmits by telephone or message or code signal indicating
a need for emergency response; or a system which, upon activation,
connects to an answering service whose function it is to transmit
to the Pawtucket Police Division a need for emergency response.
An alarm signal eliciting a response by police where a situation
requiring a response by the police does not in fact exist, but this
definition does not include an alarm signal caused by unusually violent
conditions of nature nor does it include other extraordinary circumstances
not reasonably subject to control by the alarm user.
[Amended 12-7-1989 by Ch. No. 2119]
A.
It shall be unlawful for any person to operate an
alarm system without a valid alarm user permit.
B.
All alarm user permits shall be acquired from the
City of Pawtucket upon the filing of an application with the office
of the Director of Public Safety or his/her designee.
[Amended 4-20-1990 by Ch. No. 2134]
C.
All alarm users shall report any changes on his/her
permit to the Director of Public Safety or his/her designee in order
to maintain a valid alarm permit.
[Amended 4-20-1990 by Ch. No. 2134]
D.
If a business has one or more alarm systems protecting
two or more separate structures having different addresses, a separate
permit will be required for each structure.
[Amended 8-6-2020 by Ch. No. 3229]
A.
Applications. Applications for alarm permits shall
be made via an online form accessed through the Police Department
website. Each application shall state the name, address and telephone
number of the applicant's property to be serviced by the alarm and
the name, address and telephone number of the applicant's residence,
if different. If the applicant's alarm is serviced by an alarm company,
the application shall also include the name, address and telephone
number of that company. Each permit shall be valid until the 30th
day of September of each year.
B.
Emergency notification. Each application shall list
an emergency telephone number, including a cell phone number, of the
user or his or her representative to permit prompt notification of
alarm calls and facilities assisting the police in the inspection
of the property. Changes in emergency telephone or cell phone numbers
shall be kept current, and failure to provide updated information
may constitute grounds for revocation of the permit.
A.
All alarm systems shall have a backup power supply
that will become effective in the event of a power failure or outage
in the source of electricity from the utility company.
B.
Audible bell/horn/siren or other sound emitting device.
All alarm systems which utilize an audible bell, horn, siren or other
sound emitting device shall be equipped with an automatic shutoff
device which will deactivate the alarm system within 15 minutes after
activation. All alarm users with audible bells, horns, sirens or other
sound emitting devices shall install and maintain such automatic shutoff
device within 90 days of the effective date of this article.
[Amended 4-20-1990 by Ch. No. 2134; 7-25-1996 by Ch. No. 2420; 8-6-2020 by Ch. No. 3229]
A.
There shall be a list known as the "alarm information
list" which will consist of the following information for each security
alarm system signal:
(1)
The street address, apartment number, if any, office,
suite number or the exact location of the security alarm system.
(2)
The name of the person, firm, partnership, association,
corporation, company or organization of any kind protected by the
alarm system.
(3)
The entire name, street address, city/town and state
of the subscriber as well as the area code and the telephone number.
(4)
The entire names, street addresses, cities/towns and states as well as the area codes and the telephone numbers of at least two separate individuals [aside from the subscriber as indicated in Subsection A(3) of this section] who can be reached 24 hours a day and who are authorized to respond to an alarm signal and who have access into the premises or location in which the alarm is located.
(5)
Any
additional pertinent information to include a cell phone number for
the site contact representative, email address for the site contact
representative, gate access code, direction to business if in a large
building, main point of entry, surveillance cameras on property, etc.
B.
Within 90 days of the effective date of this article,
every individual, partnership, corporation or other entity doing business
in the City of Pawtucket as an alarm service shall provide the Director
of Public Safety, or his or her designee, with an alarm information
list, setting forth all of their Pawtucket security alarm subscribers.
C.
Further, said companies shall notify the Director
of Public Safety, or his or her designee, by email or phone call,
of any change in status or additions or deletions to the alarm information
list within five working days.
D.
On January 1 of each year, said mentioned companies
doing business in the City of Pawtucket shall file a notice with the
Director of Public Safety, or his or her designee, certifying the
accuracy of the alarm information list.
E.
All information obtained and maintained by the City
of Pawtucket pursuant to this section shall be confidential, a matter
of public safety and shall not be subject to disclosure to a third
party unless specifically authorized in writing by the applicant or
the Director of Public Safety, or his or her designee, for good cause
shown or order of a court of competent jurisdiction.
[Amended 4-20-1990 by Ch. No. 2134; 8-6-2020 by Ch. No. 3229]
Every security alarm user must notify the Director of Public Safety, or his or her designee, by email or phone call at least two days but not more than 15 days in advance of testing of security alarm equipment. Failure to notify the Director of Public Safety, or his or her designee, in advance of a testing, as established, shall constitute a false alarm and be subject to the assessment schedule contained herein in § 104-9.
A.
Whenever an alarm is activated in the City, thereby
requiring an emergency response to the location by the Police Division,
and the Police Division does respond, a police officer on the scene
of the activated alarm system shall inspect the area protected by
the system and shall determine whether the emergency response was
in fact required as indicated by the alarm system or whether in some
way the alarm system malfunctioned and thereby activated a false alarm.
B.
If the police officer at the scene of the activated
alarm system determines the alarm to be false, said officer shall
make a report of the false alarm, a notification of which shall be
mailed, emailed or delivered to the alarm user, at the address or
email address of said alarm system installation location, advising
the alarm user of the false alarm.
[Amended 8-6-2020 by Ch. No. 3229]
C.
The Chief of Police, or his or her designee, shall
have the right to inspect any alarm system on the premises to which
a response has been made, and he or she may cause an inspection of
such system to be made at any reasonable time thereafter to determine
whether it is being used in conformity with the terms of this article.
A.
After the Director of Public Safety, or his or her
designee, has recorded two separate false alarms from a security alarm
system, then the alarm user will be notified by the Director of Public
Safety, or his or her designee, via first class mail, of such facts,
and the alarm user shall be required to submit within 10 working days
a report describing the alarm user's efforts to discover and eliminate
the cause or causes of the false alarms. This notice shall contain
the dates and times of each alleged false alarm.
[Amended 8-6-2020 by Ch. No. 3229]
B.
Fees and charges.
[Amended 4-20-1990 by Ch. No. 2134; 8-6-2020 by Ch. No. 3229]
(1)
In the event that the Director of Public Safety, or his or her designee, determines that a report submitted in accordance with the preceding Subsection A is unsatisfactory or that the alarm user has failed to show by the report that reasonable steps have been taken to eliminate or reduce false alarms, then the Director of Public Safety, or his or her designee, will inform the alarm user that subsequent false alarms will cause the alarm user to be assessed annual monetary charges as follows:
|
Incidents
|
Fees
|
|---|---|
|
0 to 2
|
$0
|
|
3 to 5
|
$150 per incident
|
|
6 to 10
|
$200 per incident
|
|
In excess of 10
|
$300 per incident
|
(2)
In addition, an alarm user shall also be assessed
a monetary charge of $50 for failure to obtain and maintain a valid
alarm permit within seven days subsequent to written notification
by the Director of Public Safety or his/her designee.
C.
All charges assessed hereunder shall be made payable
to the City of Pawtucket for deposit into the general fund.
D.
If the alarm user submits a report as required, the
Director of Public Safety, or his or her designee, shall determine
if the action taken or to be taken within reasonable time constraints
will substantially reduce the likelihood of false alarms. If so, then
the Director of Public Safety, or his or her designee, shall notify
the alarm user, in writing, that no assessment will be made at the
time. The alarm user will, however, be subject to assessment procedures
on the next false alarm signal transmitted.
[Amended 8-6-2020 by Ch. No. 3229]
E.
The provisions of this section shall not apply to
security alarm systems owned and/or operated by agencies of the City
of Pawtucket.
[Amended 4-20-1990 by Ch. No. 2134; 8-6-2020 by Ch. No. 3229]
A.
Any alarm user who is aggrieved by a decision of the Director of Public Safety, or his or her designee, may, within five working days of notice receipt, appeal in writing to the Director of Public Safety, or his or her designee, for consideration to be waived from the assessment. The Director of Public Safety or his/her designee (see definition in § 104-2) will review the appeal with the requested consideration of waiver. If still unsatisfied, the alarm user may, within 30 days of the final decision of the Director of Public Safety, or his or her designee, appeal to the Pawtucket Municipal Court.
B.
Failure to pay any monetary charge under § 104-9 or to file an appeal to the Municipal Court following 30 days of the final decision of the Director of Public Safety, or his or her designee, shall constitute a violation of this article punishable by fines of two times the amount of the monetary charge.
The Director of Public Safety may promulgate
such regulations as may be necessary for the implementation of this
article.
[Approved 7-23-1992 by Ch. No. 2271]
[Amended 7-25-1996 by Ch. No. 2420]
Manual emergency alarm systems shall be installed
in all retail and commercial businesses operating between the hours
of 1:30 a.m. and 5:00 a.m. and having only one employee on duty during
those hours.
All such emergency alarm systems shall be directly
connected to a central station burglar alarm company that is duly
licensed by the State of Rhode Island which meets or exceeds the requirements
for certification by Underwriters Laboratories, Inc., for a central
station burglar alarm system. The burden of showing compliance with
the aforementioned standards shall be upon the business establishment(s).
The Department of Public Safety is authorized
to adopt and promulgate rules and regulations governing the location
and installation of the emergency alarm systems.
Retail or commercial businesses in operation
prior to the effective date of this article shall fully comply with
the provisions of this article not later than six months from the
effective date hereof.
[Amended 5-24-2018 by Ch. No. 3160]
It shall be unlawful for any person, association,
corporation, partnership, franchisee, leaseholder or agent or any
other entity of the foregoing to operate, or permit to be operated,
any retail or commercial business in violation of this article. A
violation of this article shall be punishable by a fine of not more
than $100. Each day any violation of this article shall continue shall
constitute a separate offense.
