[HISTORY: Adopted by the Borough Council
of the Borough of Florham Park as indicated in article histories.
Amendments noted where applicable.]
[Adopted 10-24-1970 by Ord. No. 14-70;
amended in its entirety 3-24-2016 by Ord. No. 16-4]
A.
Any individual who intentionally, willfully, recklessly or maliciously destroys or injures any pole, alarm box, wiring, sensors or any other apparatus of any alarm system located within the Borough, or who willfully or maliciously interferes with the same or any part thereof or who hinders or impedes any of the operations intended to be accomplished thereby or who intentionally or recklessly causes or assists in causing a false alarm or fire, burglary or other emergency to be given in any manner shall, upon conviction thereof before the Municipal Court of the Borough, be punishable as provided in Chapter 1, § 1-16, of this Code.
B.
Fees
for excessive false alarms (fire, burglar or other).
(1)
The owner of any alarm system located within the Borough which transmits
more than three false alarms in any one calendar year shall be fined,
in accordance with a fee schedule established annually by the Mayor
and Council, by the Borough of Florham Park Police or Fire Department,
whichever department responded to the alarm. An owner shall not be
fined in connection with any false alarms transmitted while an alarm
is being repaired or serviced if, prior to the transmission of an
alarm, the owner has notified the Police Department of said service
or repair.
(2)
An alarm company or alarm servicing agency shall be fined, in accordance
with a fee schedule established annually by the Mayor and Council
for each false alarm that is transmitted in connection with the repair
or service of an alarm, unless prior to the transmission of an alarm,
the alarm company or alarm servicing agency has notified the Police
Department of said service or repair.
(3)
If the fine is disputed or is not satisfied within 10 days of receipt of the notice of fine from the Police or Fire Department, a formal summons shall be issued by the Police or Fire Department, and the person or persons in violation of this section shall be prosecuted in the Borough Municipal Court and shall be subject to all penalties set forth in Chapter 1, § 1-16, of this Code, in addition to the unpaid fine.
(4)
There shall be no waiver of rights under this article because of
the Borough's failure to prosecute or decision not to prosecute in
any specific instance.
(5)
A "false alarm" means the activation of an alarm system through mechanical
failure, malfunction, improper installation or maintenance, or the
negligence, or reckless or intentional act or behavior of the owner
or lessee of an alarm system, or his guests, tenants, employees, students
or agents. This shall be determined at the sole discretion of the
superior officer on the scene from either the Fire or Police Department.
(6)
In the instance of false alarms in any building other than a residence,
the fine and associated penalties shall be assessed on the commercial
enterprise, college or university.
(a)
The fine that shall be assessed for false alarms, as defined
in this section, shall be as follows:
|
Number of Unintentional False Fire Alarms in Calendar
Year
|
Fee To Be Assessed
|
|---|---|
|
1 to 3
|
$200
|
|
4 to 5
|
$300
|
|
6
|
$375
|
|
7
|
$500
|
|
8
|
$625
|
|
9
|
$800
|
|
10
|
$1,000
|
(b)
An additional $1,000 will be assessed for every unintentional
false alarm call made after the 10th unintentional false alarm.[1]
[1]
Editor's Note: Former Art. II, Radio Transmitter Alarm Box,
adopted 11-10-1970 by Ord. No. 15-70, as amended, which immediately
followed this section, was repealed 6-16-1998 by Ord. No. 8-98.
