[HISTORY: Adopted by the Village Board of the Village of Cambria 3-7-1988 as Title 7, Ch. 10 of the 1988 Code. Amendments noted where applicable.]
GENERAL REFERENCES
Law enforcement — See Ch. 80.
Fire prevention — See Ch. 238.
This chapter shall be known as the "Village of Cambria Alarm System Chapter."
The purpose of this chapter is to provide minimum standards of regulations applicable to burglar, fire and holdup alarm systems, alarm business 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 shall have the meaning given herein:
ALARM BUSINESS
Any business in which the owners or employees engage in the activity of altering, installing, leasing, maintaining, repairing, replacing, selling, or servicing alarm systems.
ALARM SYSTEM
An assembly of equipment and devices or a single device such as a solid-state unit which plugs directly into 110-volt AC line or otherwise receives electrical energy arranged to signal the presence of a hazard requiring urgent attention and to which the County Sheriff's Department or Cambria law enforcement or fire departments are 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 systems," 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.
ANNUNCIATOR
The instrumentation on an alarm console at the receiving terminal of a signal line through which both visual and audible signals show when an alarm device at a particular location has been activated or which, in the event of malfunction, may also indicate line trouble.
ANSWERING SERVICE
Refers to 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 County Sheriff's Department or Cambria law enforcement and fire departments.
AUTOMATIC DIALING DEVICE
Refers to 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.
AUTOMATIC HOLDUP ALARM SYSTEM
An alarm system in which the signal transmission is initiated by the action of the robber.
BURGLAR ALARM SYSTEM
Refers to an alarm system which signals an entry or attempted entry into the area protected by the system.
CENTRAL STATION
An office to which remote alarm and supervisory signaling devices are connected, where operators supervise the circuits.
DIRECT CONNECT
An alarm system which has the capability of transmitting system signals to law enforcement or fire department or County Sheriff's Department dispatch center.
FALSE ALARM
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.
INTERCONNECT
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.
MANUAL HOLDUP ALARM SYSTEM
Refers to an alarm system in which the signal transmission is initiated by the direct action of the person attacked or by an observer thereof.
PRIMARY TRUNK LINE
A telephone line leading directly into the dispatch center of the County Sheriff's Department or Cambria law enforcement and fire departments 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.
SUBSCRIBER
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.
[1]
Editor's Note: In this section and throughout the chapter, references to the Village Police Department or Chief of Police, which were abolished by ordinance 8-3-2009, have been revised to reference “law enforcement” or the “Village Board,” as applicable, at time of adoption of Code (see Ch. 1, General Provisions, Art. II).
Local law enforcement, in cooperation with the County Sheriff's Department, 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 law enforcement department's 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 Cambria law enforcement or fire department shall only be done person to person on the telephone line.
Direct connections to Village law enforcement or fire department are prohibited.
A. 
No alarm business or alarm system designed to transmit emergency messages to law enforcement or fire department shall be tested or demonstrated without prior notification of the law enforcement or fire department dispatcher. Alarm business or alarm system owners or lessors will be advised on proper test procedure.
B. 
No alarm system relayed through intermediate services to the law enforcement or fire department will be tested to determine law enforcement or fire department response without first notifying the appropriate authority.
When the service provided by an alarm business to its subscriber 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.
There is hereby imposed a fee for law enforcement response to any alarm resulting from the activation of an alarm system, except when law enforcement finds that an unauthorized person is on the premises, was seen on the premises immediately before the alarm was activated or that there is fresh evidence of forceful entry or attempted forceful entry. There shall be no fee for the first and second response in a twelve-month period. Any fees for subsequent responses are as set by the Village Board. The fee is inapplicable when the alarm is caused by a tornado or other violent climatic conditions. This fee is imposed whether law enforcement or fire department receives the alarm by direct notice or through an intermediary such as an answering service or central station. Failure to pay the stated fee within 30 days of receipt of the bill shall be grounds for a refusal of law enforcement services in regards to future alarms being received. However, before any refusal or notification of "no service" is given, that action shall receive approval from the Village Board.[2]
[1]
Editor's Note: Amended at time of adoption of Code (see Ch. 1, General Provisions, Art. II).
[2]
Editor's Note: Original Sec. 7-10-10, Termination of direct connections, which immediately followed this section, was deleted at time of adoption of Code (see Ch. 1, General Provisions, Art. II).
The Village of Cambria 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.
A. 
Permit required. A permit is required for each private alarm system on premises within the Village. There shall be a permit fee as set by the Village Board.[1]
[1]
Editor's Note: Amended at time of adoption of Code (see Ch. 1, General Provisions, Art. II).
B. 
Interior alarms. A permit under this chapter is not required for an alarm system which gives a signal, visual or audible, or both, solely within the interior of the building in which it is located.
C. 
Issuing authority. The issuing authority for permits shall be the Village Board.
D. 
Application. Application for permit required under this chapter shall be filed with the Village Board. The Village Board shall prescribe the form of the application and request such information as is necessary to evaluate and act upon the permit application. The Village Board shall deny a permit if the alarm system for which it is sought does not comply with this chapter.
E. 
Appeal. Any person required by this chapter to have a permit who has been denied such a permit by the Village Board shall have a right to appeal that decision to the Village Board. The procedure for this appeal shall be as set forth in § 154-12.
A. 
Hearing. Before a permit issued pursuant to this chapter may be revoked, a hearing shall be held before the Village Board. Notice setting forth the time, place and nature of the hearing shall be sent by mail or delivered to the permittee at the address shown on the permit application not less than seven days prior to the hearing.
B. 
Grounds for revocation. The Village Board may revoke a permit on the following grounds:
(1) 
The application for a permit contains a false statement of a material fact.
(2) 
A licensee has repeatedly failed to comply with the provisions of this chapter.
(3) 
An alarm system repeatedly actuates false alarms.
C. 
Appeals. Any permittee may appeal the decision of the Village Board by filing a written notice of appeal with the Village Clerk/Treasurer within 10 days after the decision. Such appeal shall be heard by the Village Board within 30 days after filing the appeal. The Village Board may affirm, amend or reverse the decision or take other action deemed appropriate. An appeal timely taken suspends the revocation until the Board gives its decision. The Clerk/Treasurer shall give written notice of the time and place of the hearing to the appellant by certified mail or personal delivery not less than seven days before the hearing. In conducting the hearing, the Village Board shall not be limited by the technical rules of evidence.
A. 
Any person who shall violate any section of this chapter shall be subject to a penalty as provided in § 1-5 of this Code.
B. 
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 chapter.
C. 
In addition to a forfeiture, any person using a private alarm system whose false alarm requires a response to the premises by the County Sheriff's Department, local law enforcement, fire department or Village personnel shall be subject to payment of false alarm fees as provided in § 154-9.