[HISTORY: Adopted by the Township Committee of the Township of South Harrison 6-13-2007 by Ord. No. 0-07-10. Amendments noted where applicable.]
The purpose of this chapter is to establish regulations concerning the operation and maintenance of certain alarm systems within the Township of South Harrison and to provide penalties upon conviction for violations of any of the provisions set forth herein.
For the purpose of this chapter, certain words and phrases are defined as follows:
ALARM SYSTEM
Any mechanical, electrical or electronic device which is designed or used for the detection of an unauthorized entry into a building, structure or facility or for alerting others about the commission of an unlawful act in a building, structure or facility or for alerting others about the existence of any other condition requiring response of police, fire or ambulance personnel.
FALSE ALARM
The activation of an alarm where an emergency does not exist or an alarm activated by inadvertence, negligence or an unintentional or intentional act of someone other than an intruder, and shall include alarms caused by malfunctioning of the alarm, device, alarm system or its related equipment. The term "false alarm" shall not include alarms created by malfunctioning of the Police Department alarm console or other Police Department equipment or activations caused by public utility interruptions, where such interruptions have been reported to the police, or activations caused by natural disaster or activations caused by testing or repair of any alarm system or device.
FIRE OR AMBULANCE PERSONNEL
Any one or more units of the South Harrison volunteer fire companies and/or South Harrison Volunteer Ambulance Corps.
POLICE
South Harrison Police Department.
TOWNSHIP
Township of South Harrison, County of Gloucester and State of New Jersey.
A. 
It shall be the responsibility of all persons, entities, firms, corporations or other groups that maintain alarm systems within the Township to provide current information to the police, consisting of the names and telephone numbers of responsible persons who may be contacted in case of emergency or who are authorized to provide services to the alarm systems. This information is to be filed with the South Harrison Police Department when the alarm system is initially placed into service and must be revised immediately whenever changes are necessary. Likewise, it shall be the responsibility of all persons, entities, firms, corporations or other groups that maintain alarm systems within the Township to provide current information to the Bureau of Fire Safety of the Township of South Harrison which includes the names and telephone numbers of responsible persons who may be contacted in the case of emergency or who are authorized to provide services to the alarm systems.
B. 
It shall be a violation of this section for each occasion when the police, fire or ambulance are required to respond to a false alarm as defined herein.
C. 
It shall be the responsibility of all persons, entities, firms, corporations or other groups that maintain alarm systems within the Township to prevent the transmission of false alarms through a program of training and periodic inspection and maintenance of their respective alarm system.
D. 
This chapter may be enforced by the Police Department of the Township of South Harrison and/or the Fire Official of the Township of South Harrison.
A. 
For any false alarm, the following penalties shall be applied:
(1) 
For the first, second and third false alarm in any given calendar year, a warning shall be issued by the Township of South Harrison through a letter to the owner and/or resident of the premises on which the false alarm was sounded.
(2) 
For the fourth false alarm in the same calendar year, a fine of $50 shall be paid to the Township of South Harrison.
(3) 
For a fifth false alarm in the same calendar year, a fine of $100 shall be paid to the Township of South Harrison.
B. 
Any person, entity, firm, corporation or other group that is found guilty of violating any of the other provisions of this chapter or guilty of a sixth or more false alarms in the same calendar year shall be subject to a fine of not more than $1,000. This chapter shall be enforceable in the Municipal Court of the Township of South Harrison.
The provision of this chapter shall not apply to the general alerting alarms that may be used by fire companies, ambulance squads or civil defense agencies to summon response of their members. The provisions of this chapter further shall not apply to alarm systems that are affixed to motor vehicles such as police, ambulance and/or fire vehicles.
The provisions contained herein shall apply equally to those alarm systems that were placed in service prior to or subsequent to the effective date of this chapter. Existing alarm owners shall have 60 days from the effective date of this chapter to register such alarm devices with the South Harrison Police Department in accordance with this chapter.