[Ord. No. 888,
§ 1, 1-10-1983]
This article shall be known and may be cited as the "Plymouth
Township Emergency Police and Fire Alarm Ordinance."
[Ord. No. 888,
§ 1, 1-10-1983; Ord. No. 1039, § 1, 5-14-1990]
The following definitions shall apply in the interpretation
and enforcement of this article:
ALARM EQUIPMENT SUPPLIER
Any person, firm or corporation selling or leasing and/or
installing automatic protection devices.
ALARM VERIFICATION FEATURE
A fire alarm system component designed to allow a power down
period (processing delay) of not more than fifteen (15) seconds during
which time the detection of smoke is verified at least once before
an automatic protection device is activated.
ANSWERING SERVICE
A service whereby trained employees, in attendance at all
times, receive prerecorded voice messages from automatic protection
devices reporting an emergency at a stated location and who have the
duty to relay immediately by live voice only such emergency message
over a designated or direct trunkline to the communications center
of the Police or Fire Departments.
AUDIBLE ALARM
A device, bell, horn or siren attached to the interior or
exterior of a building which emits a warning signal audible outside
the building designed to attract attention when activated by a criminal
act or other emergency requiring police to respond.
AUTOMATIC PROTECTION DEVICE
An electrically operated instrument consisting of sensory
apparatus and related hardware which automatically transmits a prerecorded
voice alarm over regular telephone line by direct or indirect connection
to the Police Department or Fire Department upon receipt of a stimulus
from a sensory apparatus that has detected a physical force or condition
inherently characteristic of a fire or intrusion.
CENTRAL STATION PROTECTIVE SYSTEM
A protective system, or group of such systems, operated privately
for customers by a person, firm or corporation which maintains supervisors
and accepts recorded messages from automatic protection devices at
a central station where trained operators and guards are in attendance
at all times who have the duty to take appropriate action upon receipt
of a signal or message including the duty to relay messages by designated
or primary trunkline to the communications center of the Police or
Fire Departments.
CHIEF OF POLICE
The Chief of Police of the Plymouth Township Police Department.
COUNCIL
The Council of Plymouth Township.
DESIGNATED TRUNKLINE
A telephone line leading into the communications center of
the Police or Fire Department utilized primarily for handling emergency
messages originating from automatic protection devices and transmitted
directly or indirectly through an intermediary.
FALSE ALARM
Any signal activated by an automatic protection device, any
audible alarm or any other kind of direct or indirect signal given
the police or fire communications center to which police or firemen
respond, which is not the result of a fire, burglary, robbery or similar
emergency.
INTERMEDIARY
A central station protective system or an answering service,
as herein defined.
KEY
The use of a telephone line and equipment for transmitting
a message either directly or indirectly by an automatic protection
device.
MANAGER
The Manager of Plymouth Township.
PERMIT
Written permission duly granted to a qualified applicant
by the Township upon payment of the required fee.
PRIMARY TRUNKLINE
A telephone line leading into the communications center of
the Police or Fire Departments used for the purpose of handling emergency
calls on a person-to-person basis, and which line is identified by
a specific listing among the white pages in the telephone directory
issued by the Bell Telephone Company.
TOWNSHIP
Plymouth Township, Montgomery County, Pennsylvania.
[Ord. No. 888,
§ 1, 1-10-1983]
After the enactment of this article, owners or lessees must
equip audible alarms with a timing mechanism which will disengage
the audible alarm after a maximum period of fifteen (15) minutes.
Audible alarms without such a timing mechanism shall be unlawful in
the Township and all installations in existence which fail to meet
this requirement must be disconnected by the owner or lessee within
one year from the effective date of this article.
[Ord. No. 888,
§ 1, 1-10-1983]
(a) No automatic protection device installed after the effective date
of this article shall be keyed to a primary trunkline.
(b) After the effective date of this article, all automatic protection
devices which transmit recorded messages directly to the Police Department
or Fire Department shall be keyed only to a designated trunkline.
(c) Within sixty (6) days from the effective date of this article, existing
automatic protection devices in the Township shall be disconnected
from primary trunklines.
(d) Automatic protection devices disconnected as provided in Paragraph
(c) above, may be keyed to a designated trunkline.
(e) After the effective date of this article, a valid permit shall be
required from the Township to install an automatic protection device
or audible alarm within the confines of the Township.
[Ord. No. 888,
§ 1, 1-10-1983]
(a) Any person who has an automatic protection device in the Township
may arrange to have such device keyed to an intermediary authorized
to relay emergency messages to the Police or Fire Departments.
(b) The relay of messages by authorized intermediaries shall be over
a designated trunkline.
(c) Automatic protection devices keyed to an authorized intermediary
may also be keyed to another telephone which is available to the owner
or lessee of the automatic protection device or to his representative
at some other location.
[Ord. No. 888,
§ 1, 1-10-1983]
(a) Within ninety (90) days from the effective date of this article,
every alarm equipment supplier who has keyed an automatic protection
device in the Township to the designated trunkline shall furnish to
the Chief of Police and to the Fire Marshal a current list of such
installations, which list shall include:
(1)
The telephone number of the owner or lessee.
(2)
The address where the device is installed and the telephone
number of that address.
(3)
The name, address and telephone number of a central station
protective system or other person or firm authorized to respond to
an emergency and gain access to the address where the device is installed.
(4)
The name and telephone number of the person, firm or corporation,
if any, other than the alarm equipment supplier, responsible for maintenance
and repair of the automatic protection device.
(b) By the fifth (5th) working day of each month following the submission
of the initial list, every alarm equipment supplier shall furnish
to the Police Department and the Fire Department a supplemental list
of any additional installations keyed to designated trunklines, along
with any corrections to or deletions from lists previously furnished.
An alarm equipment supplier who enters into business after the effective
date of this article shall furnish a list containing the information
specified in this section by the fifth (5th) working day of the month
following a first installation and shall, thereafter, furnish supplemental
lists as required by this section.
(c) Information furnished pursuant hereto shall be kept confidential
and shall be for the use of the designated personnel of the Police
Department and the Fire Department only.
[Ord. No. 888,
§ 1, 1-10-1983; Ord. No. 1039, § 2, 5-14-1990; Ord.
No. 1062, § 1, 4-8-1991]
Automatic protection devices installed in the Township keyed
to designated trunklines shall meet the following requirements:
(a) The type and content of recorded messages must be intelligible and
in a format approved prior to installation by the Chief of Police
or the Fire Marshal as appropriate for the type of emergency.
(b) No more than one call shall be made over a designated trunkline or
transmitted over a regular telephone line to the Police Department
or Fire Department as a result of a single activation of the automatic
protection device.
(c) The time for transmitting the recorded message shall not exceed fifteen
(15) seconds.
(d) Recorded messages may be repeated during the call, but the interval
between each recorded message shall be no less than four (4) seconds.
(e) The sensory mechanism used in connection with an automatic protection
device must be adjusted to suppress false indications of fire or 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 other force not related to genuine alarms.
(f) All component parts of such a device must be maintained by the owner
or lessee in good repair to assure maximum reliability of operation.
(g) Every automatic protection device, with the exception of such devices
installed in one- and two-family dwellings, shall contain an alarm
verification feature. The owner of every applicable automatic protection
device in existence on the effective date of this ordinance [Ordinance
No. 1039] shall install an alarm verification feature within one (1)
year after the effective date of this ordinance.
[Ord. No. 888,
§ 1, 1-10-1983; Ord. No. 1039, § 3, 5-14-1990]
(a) After the effective date of this article, each alarm equipment supplier
who sells or leases an automatic protection device in the Township
which is keyed to a designated trunkline or transmitted over regular
telephone lines shall furnish operating instructions, a circuit diagram
and maintenance manual to the buyer or lessee.
(b) Each alarm equipment supplier referred to in this section shall furnish
operating instructions, circuit diagram and maintenance manual for
each type of automatic protection device dealt in and installed in
the Township to the Chief of Police and to the Fire Marshal. If the
instructions are not clear, the alarm equipment supplier may be required
to revise the instructions to the Chief of Police and the Fire Marshal,
and all buyers and lessees of the particular automatic protection
device.
[Ord. No. 888,
§ 1, 1-10-1983; Ord. No. 1039, § 4, 5-14-1990]
(a) Each alarm equipment supplier who sells or leases an automatic protection
device in the Township which is keyed to a designated trunkline, or
transmits an alarm over regular telephone lines, shall make service
available directly or through an agent on a twenty-four-hour-per-day
basis, seven (7) days a week, to repair such device or to correct
any malfunction that may occur. Such service shall be made available
for any person using an automatic protection device supplied.
(b) At the time of installation, an alarm equipment supplier shall furnish
to a buyer or lessee using a repair service written information as
to how service may be obtained at any time, including the telephone
number of the alarm equipment supplier or agent responsible for service.
The buyer or lessee and the alarm equipment supplier or agent supplying
a service shall be responsible for having the device disconnected
or repaired as promptly as possible after receipt of notice that the
automatic protection device is not functioning properly.
[Ord. No. 888,
§ 1, 1-10-1983]
Upon receipt of information from the Police or Fire Departments that an automatic protection device installation fails to comply with the operational requirements of Section
14-41 hereof, the Council may determine that the automatic protection device sending such messages should be disconnected in order to relieve those departments of the burden of responding to false alarms. In the event of such a determination the Council is authorized to cause notice to be given to the owner or the lessee of the device to disconnect it until the device can be made to comply with those operational requirements.
[Ord. No. 888,
§ 1, 1-10-1983; Ord. No. 906, § 1, 11-14-1983]
Alarm equipment suppliers and the owners or lessees thereof
shall be responsible for obtaining a permit to install an automatic
protection device from the Township Police Department, which permit
shall be issued upon the payment of a fee of five dollars ($5.00).
[Ord. No. 888,
§ 1, 1-10-1983]
For the purpose of enforcing this article, and as a condition
of installing and maintaining an automatic protection device, the
owner or lessee thereof shall execute a consent in such form as may
be prescribed by the Township, which consent will authorize the building
official, the Chief of Police and the Fire Marshal to enter upon a
lessee's or owner's premises within the Township, at reasonable times
and upon reasonable notice, to inspect the installation and operation
of an automatic protection device.
[Ord. No. 888,
§ 1, 1-10-1983]
No person shall conduct any test or demonstration of an automatic
protection device without first obtaining permission from the Police
and Fire Departments. Where the equipment is keyed through an intermediary,
no such permission shall be necessary unless the alarm or signal is
to be relayed to the Police Department or the Fire Department.
[Ord. No. 888,
§ 1, 1-10-1983]
At or prior to the time a contract for equipment or service
is executed, alarm equipment suppliers, installers of audible alarms
and intermediaries shall, without charge, furnish a copy of this article
to owners, lessees or users of the equipment or services to be supplied.
[Ord. No. 888,
§ 1, 1-10-1983; Ord. No. 1031, § 1, 4-9-1990; Ord.
No. 1402, § 1, 5-12-2003]
(a) For the purpose of defraying the costs to the Township of responding to a false alarm, the owner or lessee of an automatic protection device, and persons using the services of intermediaries, and users of audible alarms, and users of any other kind of direct or indirect connection with the police or fire communications center, except persons using the two-way live voice communication by telephone, shall, as a condition to installation and continued operation of such equipment or service, execute a consent in such form as may be prescribed by the Manager agreeing that such owner, lessee or user shall pay to the Township a charge for false alarms as established from time to time by resolution of Township Council. These sums shall be a civil claim by the Township and shall not affect the penalty provisions prescribed by Section
14-50 hereof.
(b) Any such owner, lessee or user who fails to execute the consent described
in Paragraph (a) above within ninety (90) days from the effective
date of this article, shall, within that ninety-day period, disconnect
the alarm, automatic protection device or other kind of direct or
indirect connection with the police or fire communications center
and shall discontinue using the services of any intermediaries.
[Ord. No. 888,
§ 1, 1-10-1983; Ord. No. 1000, § 3, 11-14-1988; Ord. No. 1031, § 2, 4-9-1990]
(a) Failure to comply with written notice of violation. Failure of a
person, corporation or other business entity to comply with the requirements
of the written notice of violation of a provision of this article
within three (3) days of receipt of such notice, exclusive of Saturday,
Sundays and holidays, shall constitute a violation of this article
punishable by a fine of not less than fifty ($50.00) nor more than
one thousand dollars ($1,000.00), or in default thereof by imprisonment
for not more than thirty (30) days. Each day of violation shall constitute
a separate offense, punishable by fine or imprisonment as provided
herein.
(b) False alarm violation. Amy person found guilty of misuse, false activation
or continual accidental activation of an automatic protection device
shall be guilty of a summary offense punishable by a fine of not less
than fifty dollars ($50.00) nor more than one thousand dollars ($1,000.00)
for each and every activation or, in default thereof, by imprisonment
for not more than thirty (30) days.
