[HISTORY: Adopted by the Borough Council of the Borough of
Florham Park 11-20-2012 by Ord. No. 12-16. Amendments noted where
applicable.]
GENERAL REFERENCES
Alarm systems — See Ch. 68.
For various reasons, false 9-1-1 calls have become an increasing
problem in the Borough of Florham Park. Each false call requires response
by emergency response personnel, involves unnecessary expenses to
the Borough and dilutes the Borough's ability to respond to legitimate
emergencies. Such false calls affect the health, safety and welfare
of the citizens.
As used in this chapter, the following terms shall have the
meanings indicated:
For purposes of this chapter, an emergency exists when a
person reasonably believes that immediate response by public safety
personnel is essential due to the risk or actual occurrence of death
or bodily harm, property damage, or any other situation which reasonably
requires the immediate response of public safety personnel.
It shall be a violation of this ordinance for any person, business
or entity to utilize and abuse the 9-1-1 emergency service for purposes
of eliciting response from the Police Department, Fire Department
or Rescue Squad in the absence of an actual police, fire and/or medical
emergency. Pursuant to this ordinance:
A.
No person shall use the 9-1-1 emergency telephone number system for
any purpose other than to report an emergency.
B.
No person shall use the 9-1-1 system to report an emergency knowing
that the fact situation which he/she reports does not exist.
C.
No person shall dial 9-1-1 and hang up without reporting an emergency
if, in fact, no emergency exists.
D.
No parent, guardian or other adult having the care and custody of
a person under the age of 18 years shall permit or by insufficient
control allow such person to violate the provisions of this ordinance.
E.
Any person convicted of improperly utilizing the 9-1-1 emergency
service as set forth above shall be guilty of abusing the service
and shall be subject to a fine not to exceed $1,250 or imprisonment
for a term not to exceed 90 days, or both.
A.
Unintentional calls to 9-1-1 made due to human error, equipment malfunctions,
or equipment programming shall be the joint responsibility of the
person or establishment dialing the unintentional 9-1-1 call and the
owner, tenant, business occupant, occupant or person in control of
a premises or telephone equipment, including wireless phones from
which such false 9-1-1 calls originate.
B.
The person dialing the unintentional 9-1-1 call, or the owner, tenant, business occupant, occupant or person in control of a premises or telephone equipment, including wireless phones, from which such false 9-1-1 calls originate, shall be subject to a forfeiture in an amount set forth in the schedule contained in Subsection C below, and which may be amended from time to time by resolution of the Mayor and Borough Council. No forfeiture shall be assessed for the first three unintentional false calls in a calendar year (January 1 through December 31).
C.
The forfeiture that shall be assessed for unintentional false 9-1-1
calls, as defined in this section, shall be as follows:
|
Number of Unintentional False 9-1-1 Calls In Calendar
Year
|
Fee to be Assessed
|
|---|---|
|
1 to 3
|
No fee
|
|
4 to 5
|
$250
|
|
6
|
$375
|
|
7
|
$500
|
|
8
|
$625
|
|
9
|
$800
|
|
10
|
$1,000
|
|
An additional $1,000 will be assessed for every unintentional
false 9-1-1 call made after the 10th unintentional false 9-1-1 call.
|
