[HISTORY Adopted by the Board of Commissioners
of the Township of Upper Gwynedd 7-25-1977 by Ord. No. 77-7. Amendments
noted where applicable.]
This chapter shall be known and may be cited
as an "Ordinance Regulating Police and Fire Alarm Users."
The purpose of this chapter is to provide minimum
standards and regulations applicable to police and fire alarm systems,
alarm installers and alarm users, as defined in this chapter.
A.Â
For the purpose of this chapter, the following terms,
phrases, words and their derivations shall have the meanings given
herein. When not inconsistent with the context, words used in the
present tense include the future; words used in the plural number
include the singular number; and words in the singular number include
the plural number. The word "shall" is always mandatory and not merely
directory.
B.Â
ALARM EQUIPMENT SUPPLIER
ALARM INSTALLER
ANSWERING SERVICE
AUDIBLE ALARM
AUTOMATIC PROTECTIVE DEVICE
CENTRAL STATION PROTECTIVE SYSTEM
CHIEF OF FIRE DEPARTMENT
CHIEF OF POLICE
DESIGNATED TRUNK LINE
DIRECT TRUNK LINE
FALSE ALARM
FIRE DEPARTMENT
INTERMEDIARY
KEY
PERMIT
POLICE DEPARTMENT
PRIMARY TRUNK LINE
SECONDARY TRUNK LINE
SECRETARY
TOWNSHIP
TREASURER
As used in this chapter, the following terms shall
have the meanings indicated:
Any person, firm or corporation who sells or leases or installs
automatic protective devices.
Any individual who engages in the altering, installing, leasing,
maintaining, repairing, replacing, selling or servicing of emergency
police and fire alarm systems (automatic protective devices). Also,
any business entity which is so engaged.
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 communications center of the Township
Police or Fire Department.
Any device, bell, horn or siren which is attached to the
interior or exterior of a building and emits a warning signal audible
outside the building and designed to attract attention when activated
by criminal act or other emergency requiring the Police or Fire Department
to respond.
An electrically operated instrument composed of sensory apparatus
and related hardware which automatically transmits a prerecorded voice
alarm over regular telephone line by indirect connection to the Police
or Fire Department upon receipt of a stimulus from a sensory apparatus
that has detected a physical force or condition inherently characteristic
of an intrusion or other emergency.
A protective system, or group of such systems, operated privately
for customers by a person, firm or corporation, which maintains, supervises
and accepts recorded messages from automatic protective devices at
a central station having trained operators and guards in attendance
at all times that have the duty to take appropriate action upon receipt
of a signal or message, including the relaying of messages by designated
or direct trunk line to the communications center of the Police or
Fire Department.
Chief of Fire Department shall mean the Chief of the West
Point Volunteer Fire Company in Upper Gwynedd Township or the person
in charge.
The Chief of the Upper Gwynedd Township Police Department
or the person in charge.
A telephone line leading into the communications center of
the Police or Fire Department that is for the primary purpose of handling
emergency messages which originate from automatic protective devices
and are transmitted directly or indirectly through an intermediary.
A nonlisted, directly connected telephone line leading from
an intermediary to the communications center of the Police or Fire
Department that is for the primary purpose of handling emergency messages
on a person-to-person basis.
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. Such terminology
does not include, for example, alarms caused by hurricanes, tornadoes,
earthquakes or other violent conditions.
The West Point Volunteer Fire Company in Upper Gwynedd Township.
A central station protective system or an answering service,
as herein defined.
To use a telephone line and equipment for transmitting a
message either directly or indirectly by an automatic protective device.
Written permission duly granted to an applicant by the Chief
of Police upon payment of the required fee.
The Upper Gwynedd Township Police Department.
A telephone line leading into the communications center of
the Police or Fire Department that is for the purpose of handling
emergency calls and no other calls on a person-to-person basis, and
which line is identified by a specific listing among the white pages
in the telephone directory.[1]
A telephone line leading into the communications center of
the Police or Fire Department that is for the purpose of handling
administrative and other calls on a person-to-person basis, and which
line is identified by a specific listing among the white pages in
the telephone directory.[2]
The Secretary of the Township of Upper Gwynedd.
[Added 8-24-1992 by Ord. No. 92-14]
The Township of Upper Gwynedd, Montgomery County, Pennsylvania.
[Added 8-24-1992 by Ord. No. 92-14]
The Treasurer of the Township of Upper Gwynedd, Montgomery
County, Pennsylvania.
[Added 8-24-1992 by Ord. No. 92-14]
[Amended 8-24-1992 by Ord. No. 92-14]
Except as provided in Subsections A and B of
this section, owners or lessees of premises equipped with audible
alarms must equip such audible alarms with a timing mechanism that
will disengage the audible alarm after a maximum period of 15 minutes
and remain disengaged until the alarm is serviced or reset. Audible
alarms without such a timing mechanism shall be unlawful in the Township
and must be deactivated by the owners or lessees of the premises within
60 days from the effective date of this chapter. The following shall
be excepted from the provisions of this section:
A.Â
No automatic protective device shall be programmed
to call a primary or secondary trunk line after the effective date
of this chapter.
B.Â
Within 90 days after the effective date of this chapter,
all automatic protective devices programmed to call a primary or secondary
trunk line shall be disconnected. The owner or lessee of such device
shall be responsible for having the device disconnected within the
ninety-day time period.
B.Â
The relaying of messages by intermediate services
to the Police or Fire Department shall be over primary trunk lines.
C.Â
Automatic protective devices may also be interconnected
to one or more telephone numbers available to the owner or lessee
of the devices, or their designated representatives, at another location.
[Amended 8-24-1992 by Ord. No. 92-14]
Owners or lessees of premises equipped with
gates, fences or other similar apparatus designed to prevent entry,
which are electronically controlled from a location such as a residence
or other principal building, shall ensure that, when an audible alarm
or automatic protection device is activated, the gate, fence or other
apparatus shall open to allow entry of the police, Fire Department
or rescue company.
Automatic protective devices installed in the
Township shall meet the following requirements:
A.Â
The type and content of recorded messages must be
intelligible and in a format approved prior to installation by the
Chief of Police.
B.Â
No more than one completed call shall be made as a
result of a single activation of the automatic protective device.
C.Â
The time for transmitting each recorded message shall
not exceed 15 seconds.
D.Â
Recorded messages may be repeated during one call,
but the interval between each recorded message shall be no less than
eight seconds nor more than 12 seconds.
E.Â
The sensory mechanism used in connection with an automatic
protective device must be adjusted to suppress false indications of
intrusion so that the device will not be activated by impulses due
to fleeting pressure changes in water pipes, short flashes of light,
the rattling or vibrating of doors and windows, vibrations to the
premises caused by the passing of vehicles or any other force not
related to genuine alarms.
F.Â
All components comprising such a device must be maintained
by the user in good repair to assure maximum reliability of operation
and shall be inspected at least one time per year.
Each alarm equipment supplier who sells or leases
an automatic protective device in the Township after the effective
date of this chapter shall furnish operating instructions, a circuit
diagram and a maintenance manual to the user, unless the supplier
maintains the system under a maintenance contract.
[Amended 8-24-1992 by Ord. No. 92-14]
It shall be unlawful for a property owner, lessee of a property or a person otherwise occupying any premises within the Township of Upper Gwynedd to put an automatic protection device or audible alarm system into operation on his premises or to allow an automatic protection device or audible alarm system to be put into operation on his premises without first registering the alarm system with the Township in accordance with the provisions of § 49-13.
[Amended 8-24-1992 by Ord. No. 92-14]
A.Â
In order to defray the costs to the Township resulting
from responding to false alarms, the following fees shall be imposed
against the alarm user after response to each false alarm:
|
Number of False Alarms Within One Calendar
Year
|
Fee
| |
|---|---|---|
|
3
|
$50
| |
|
4 to 5 (each)
|
$100
| |
|
6 or more (each)
|
$300
|
B.Â
After the alarm user has accumulated two responded-to
false alarms, the Police Department shall bill the alarm user. The
alarm user shall promptly forward payment to the Treasurer of the
Township within 10 days of the date of the bill.
[Amended 8-24-1992 by Ord. No. 92-14]
Nothing in this chapter shall be construed to
affect any suit or proceeding pending in any court or any rights acquired
or liability incurred or any permit issued or any cause or causes
of action existing under the ordinances of the Township of Upper Gwynedd
prior to this enactment.
[Amended 8-24-1992 by Ord. No. 92-14]
A.Â
Within 30 days after the effective date of this chapter,
every alarm user shall register each alarm system he operates within
this Township with the Township. The Township shall set, by resolution,
a registration fee. This subsection does not require that alarm equipment
suppliers register under this section when such alarm equipment supplier
leases or provides services to alarm system users. If an alarm equipment
supplier does, however, use an alarm system to protect its own premises,
it shall register such system as required in this section.
B.Â
The alarm user making the registration required in Subsection A of this section shall complete the registration form provided by the Township, which shall include the alarm user's name; the address of the residence or business or businesses in or upon which the alarm system has or will be installed; the alarm user's telephone number; the type of alarm system; the alarm equipment supplier selling, installing, monitoring, inspecting, responding to and/or maintaining the alarm system; the central station protective system utilized, if any; and the name and telephone number of at least two persons who can be reached at any time and who are authorized to respond to an alarm system and who shall respond and open the premises in which the system is installed.
C.Â
If the alarm system is to be leased or rented from
or is to be serviced pursuant to a service agreement by a person other
than the person making application for an alarm user permit, the name,
address and telephone number of that person must be stated in the
application.
D.Â
Each person submitting an application for an alarm
user permit shall submit a signed statement in the following form:
|
I/We, the undersigned applicant(s) for an alarm
user permit, intending to be legally bound hereby, agree with the
Township of Upper Gwynedd that neither I/we nor anyone claiming by,
through or under me/us shall make any claim against the Township of
Upper Gwynedd or its officials or agents for any damage caused to
the premises at which the automatic protective device or audible alarm
system is located at a time when said premises are or appear to be
unattended or when, in the discretion of said employees, the circumstances
appear to warrant a forced entry.
|
[Amended 8-24-1992 by Ord. No. 92-14]
Any alarm user who installs an automatic protection
device or audible alarm system 30 days or more after the effective
date of this chapter shall submit with the registration a certificate
of an alarm equipment supplier stating that, in the opinion of such
alarm equipment supplier, the automatic protection device or audible
alarm system complies with this chapter.
[Amended 8-24-1992 by Ord. No. 92-14]
Any alarm user who has registered under this
chapter shall promptly notify the Township of Upper Gwynedd of any
change in the information supplied on the alarm user permit application.
[Added 8-24-1992 by Ord. No. 92-14]
Should any section or provision of this chapter
be declared by a court of competent jurisdiction to be invalid, such
section or provision shall be deemed deleted and shall not affect
the validity of the chapter as a whole or of any other part thereof.
A.Â
Any person who shall fail to comply with the requirements
of a written notice of a violation of any provision of this chapter
within 10 days of receipt of such notice, exclusive of Saturdays,
Sundays and holidays, shall be liable, on conviction thereof, to a
fine or penalty of not more than $300. Such fine or penalty shall
be collected as like fines or penalties are now by law collected.
Such notice shall continue in force and effect until there is full
compliance with the requirements stated therein, and each and every
failure to comply with such notice within 24 hours after the 10 days
allowed for such compliance shall constitute a separate offense.
B.Â
Any person who owns, uses or possesses an alarm device
or an automatic protective device may not, after causing or permitting
three false alarms to occur in a consecutive twelve-month period,
cause or permit a subsequent false alarm to occur in this same consecutive
twelve-month period. Any person who violates this provision commits
a summary offense and shall, upon conviction, be sentenced to pay
a fine of not more than $300. Such fine shall be collected as like
fines or penalties which are now by law collected. Each such false
alarm shall constitute a separate offense.
[Amended 12-28-1998 by Ord. No. 98-8]
C.Â
Any alarm user who has installed or who has permitted
to be installed an alarm system in violation of any of the provisions
of this chapter shall be liable, on conviction thereof, to a fine
or penalty of not more than $1,000 for each and every offense, together
with the costs of prosecution. Such fine or penalty shall be collected
as like fines or penalties are now by law collected. Each day that
a violation continues after due notice has been given constitutes
a separate offense.
[Amended 11-23-1992 by Ord. No. 92-15]
