[HISTORY: Adopted by the Board of Supervisors of the Township
of West Bradford as indicated in article histories. Amendments noted
where applicable.]
[Adopted 12-10-1985 by Ord. No. 1985-07]
As used in this article, the following terms shall have the
meanings indicated:
Any assembly of equipment, mechanical or electrical, arranged
to signal the occurrence of any emergency requiring the response of
emergency personnel and to which they are expected to respond.
Any person, firm, partnership, association, corporation,
company or organization of any kind, as well as the partners, officers,
managers, trustees and directors of any of the foregoing, in control
of any building, structure or facility within which an alarm system
is maintained.
Any Township employee, State Police officer, police officer
of any other local municipality, special police, fire police, personnel
of a volunteer fire company whether or not compensated, ambulance
drivers and medical personnel and any other persons, be they Township,
municipal or governmental employees or volunteers or paid personnel
associated with volunteer groups which respond to emergencies.
An alarm activated in the absence of an emergency, whether willfully
or by inadvertence, negligence or unintentional act, to which the
Police Department or Fire Department responds. The definition excludes
alarms caused by malfunctions of the County Department of Emergency
Services' receiving equipment; alarms for which the user has attempted
to cancel response; testing or repairing of telephone or electrical
lines or equipment outside the premises; acts of God, such as earthquake,
flood, windstorm, thunder or lightning; an attempted illegal entry;
a crime in progress; or in the case of emergency medical alarm, an
actual medical emergency requiring police, fire and/or medical personnel.
If doubt exists as to the cause of the false alarm, the Chief of Police
or his designee shall make a decision regarding the circumstances
of the activation.
Multiple alarms received by the Police Department or Fire Department
before the system can be deactivated or repaired within a reasonable
period of time shall be considered a single alarm.
The definition of a false alarm also includes the intentional
activation of a holdup alarm for other than a holdup in progress;
the intentional activation of a burglary alarm for other than a burglary;
the intentional activation of a medical alarm for other than a medical
emergency; or the intentional activation of a fire alarm for other
than a fire or hazard.
The Township of West Bradford, Chester County, Pennsylvania.
The Board of Supervisors of West Bradford Township has declared
and does hereby declare that a false alarm, as hereinbefore described,
from the misuse or malfunction of automatic protection devices is
a public nuisance.
If at the time of arrival of emergency personnel or while they
are upon the premises in response to a call requested by an alarm
system it shall become apparent upon investigation that there does
not then exist a condition upon the premises for which such response
by emergency personnel would be required and there are no signs upon
the premises, such as signs of forcible entry or attempt thereof or
signs of fire or other such cause, which are the types of emergencies
or conditions for which the alarm system is designed to call for such
assistance, then and in such event there shall be a presumption that
the alarm was a false alarm, and the burden shall be upon the alarm
user to prove that the alarm was not a false alarm as herein defined.
A.Â
It shall be a violation of this section for any alarm user to cause
or permit a false alarm to occur upon any premises owned or controlled
by such alarm user.
B.Â
It shall be the responsibility of all persons, entities, firms and
corporations installing such systems within the Township to prevent
the transmission of false alarms through a program of training and
periodic inspection and maintenance of the system. The maximum permissible
number of false alarms from any one location or facility shall be
as follows:
A.Â
Violation and enforcement provision. Any person who violates or permits
a violation of this article shall, upon conviction in a summary proceeding
brought before a Magisterial District Judge under the Pennsylvania
Rules of Criminal Procedure, be guilty of a summary offense and shall
be punishable by a fine of not more than $1,000, plus costs of prosecution.
In default of payment thereof, the defendant may be sentenced to imprisonment
for a term not exceeding 90 days. Each day or portion thereof that
such violation continues or is permitted to continue shall constitute
a separate offense, and each section of this article that is violated
shall also constitute a separate offense.
