[HISTORY: Adopted by the Board of Commissioners of the Township
of Rochester as indicated in article histories. Amendments noted where
applicable.]
[Adopted 4-15-2021 by Ord. No. 483]
As used in this article, the following terms shall have the
meanings indicated:
Any single device or assembly of equipment and devices, mechanical
or electrical, designed for the detection of fire or of unauthorized
entry on or into any premises, or for alerting others of the commission
of an unlawful act, and when activated causes an audible and/or visible
signal and/or transmits a signal or message to which public safety
personnel are expected to respond or which would imply to a reasonable
person that public safety personnel are needed at the alarm source
to address a potential public safety concern.
A person, firm, partnership, company, association, corporation,
other legal entity, or owner, tenant, lessee, or occupant, or their
agent(s) owning, leasing, or operating an alarm system, or who is/are
in control of any building, structure or facility where an alarm system
is present. Two alarm users and their contact information must be
provided to the Township under this article.
The activation of a fire, burglar, robbery, or other similar
alarm system through inadvertence, electronic or mechanical failure,
malfunction, improper installation, improper maintenance, or the negligence
of the owner, lessee, or anyone otherwise in control of the system,
or of his/her employees or agents, resulting in a response by Rochester
Township safety personnel. This does not include alarms caused by
unusually violent conditions of nature, other extraordinary circumstances
beyond the control of the alarm user, or by unauthorized tampering
with an alarm system by anyone other than the alarm user or his agent(s).
An alarm is false when, upon determination of the responding public
safety official(s), there is no evidence of the existence of the condition
or activity the alarm was designed to detect when the alarm activated,
and no evidence of violent conditions or other extraordinary circumstances
as noted above.
The dispatch of public safety personnel to the premises where
an alarm system has been activated.
A twelve-month period beginning with January 1 and ending
on December 31 of each year.
The duties of alarm users shall be as follows:
A.
To ensure
the proper installation and functioning of alarms and alarm systems;
B.
To maintain
the premises and the alarm system in a manner that will reduce or
eliminate false alarms;
C.
To respond
or cause a representative or other responsible party to respond to
the alarm system's location within 30 minutes upon notification from
public safety officials of the need to deactivate a malfunctioning
alarm system; and
D.
To ensure
that an alarm is not manually activated by the alarm user or any other
person for any reason other than an occurrence of an event that the
alarm system was intended to report.
A.
Whenever
the Rochester Township public safety personnel respond to an activated
alarm system, the official in charge of the incident shall determine
if the response was caused by a false alarm and shall indicate that
fact upon the incident report and communicate to dispatch that it
be noted in the dispatch records.
B.
The Fire
Chief and Police Chief designee shall regularly review incident reports
to monitor the activation of false alarms at any one location and
forward any violation to the Code Enforcement Department. When two
false alarms have occurred at the same location within one year, Rochester
Township Code Enforcement shall notify the alarm user by letter, citing
the location and date of each false alarm. The letter shall recommend
that appropriate action be taken on the part of the alarm user to
alleviate the causes of false alarms and shall include a statement
that an activation of more than two false alarms within a year shall
result in violation of this article.
C.
There is
no charge for the first two false alarms within a year; however, the
following charges will be applicable for subsequent false alarms:
An alarm user may submit, within 10 days of the date of notification
of an infraction, evidence that a malfunctioning system has been repaired
in lieu of paying the infraction fine. Evidence such as a receipt
from a licensed alarm business with a statement of repairs made to
the system is acceptable. If satisfactory to the Township, the fine
may be waived. Only one such waiver may be granted within a year.
Individuals and businesses will have 30 days to pay an invoice
generated as the result of a false alarm. Invoices not paid within
30 days are subject to a $25 additional late fee for each outstanding
invoice. Invoices not paid within 60 days, including any late fees
or penalties, will be referred to the courts.
If any section, subsection, paragraph, clause, or provision
of this article shall be deemed to be unconstitutional, unenforceable,
or otherwise invalid by the final decision of a court of competent
jurisdiction, the validity of the remaining sections, subsections,
paragraphs, clauses, or provisions shall not be affected thereby.
All ordinances or parts of ordinances in conflict with the provisions
of this article are hereby repealed.
This article shall take effect upon adoption by the Township
Commissioners at a public meeting.
Anyone violating the provisions of this article shall be guilty
of a summary offense, and, upon conviction, shall be subject to a
fine of not more than $600 for each violation.
