[HISTORY: Adopted by the Town Meeting of the Town of Dartmouth 1-11-1984, approved 3-9-1984; amended 10-23-1984, approved 2-12-1985; 3-29-1994, approved 6-7-1994; 6-5-2007, approved 6-10-2007 (Art. 71 of the 2011 General By-Laws). Subsequent amendments
noted where applicable.]
This By-Law is to regulate the use of alarms in the Town, including
fire alarms and burglar alarms, and to further regulate and control
the false alarms that emanate therefrom.
A signaling device of any description which is designed for
the purpose of summonsing the police and/or fire department of the
Town, an including so-called "burglar alarms" and "fire alarms".
An alarm that is activated and causes the response of the
police and/or fire department of any district where there is no valid
cause or reason for the alarm to have been activated, an including
an alarm that is activated through mechanical failure, malfunction,
improper installation or negligence. An alarm shall not be considered
a false alarm where it is activated by an act of God, including, but
not limited to, power outages, hurricanes, earthquakes and other uncontrollable
circumstances.
Whenever an alarm is activated by whatever means with the result
that there is a response by the Police Department or one of the Fire
Districts, a record of the alarm shall be made and kept by the Police
Department. In the event the Police Department has not responded to
the alarm, the Fire District that responded shall report the same
to the Police Department for the purposes of the record.
Whenever three or more false alarms are caused within a twelve-month
period (within the fiscal year July 1 - June 30), the owner(s) or
person(s) in control of said alarm shall be subject to paying a fine
of $75 for each and every occurrence starting with the third false
alarm, be it a business or residential activation. Starting with the
fourth occurrence and including each and every occurrence up to the
ninth occurrence the fine shall be $100 be it a business or residential
activation. Starting with the 10th and subsequent alarm occurrences
for the remaining fiscal year the fine shall be $150 for each occurrence
thereafter. Any fines impose fines imposed and collected under this
section concerning false alarms where a Fire District of the Town
has responded to a fire alarm or smoke detection activation determined
to be false shall be turned over to the appropriate Fire District
after that fine has been remitted to the Town.
Any alarm installed after February 22, 1985, which is an audible
type alarm shall be equipped with an automatic shut-off device which
will shut off the audible component of the alarm within 30 minutes
of activation. Violation of this requirement shall subject both the
owner and the person responsible for the installation of the alarm
to a fine of $25, and if the situation is not corrected within 30
days after notification, a fine of $25 for each day thereafter shall
be imposed until corrective action is taken by either the owner or
installer.
It shall be unlawful to report any alarm to the Police Department
or to any of the Fire Districts by means of a recorded message. Violation
of this requirement shall subject the person responsible to a fine
of $25 and each occurrence shall be a separate offense.
