[HISTORY: Adopted by the Town Council of
the Town of West Hartford 9-27-1983. Amendments noted where applicable.]
[Amended 6-28-1994; 1-9-1996]
As used in this chapter, the following terms
shall have the meanings indicated:
Any business operated for a profit which engages in the activity
of altering, installing, leasing, maintaining, repairing, replacing,
selling, servicing or responding to a burglar or holdup alarm system
or fire alarm system or which causes any of these activities to take
place.
An assembly of equipment and devices (or a single device,
such as a solid-state unit, which plugs directly into a one-hundred-ten-volt
AC line) arranged to signal the presence of a hazard requiring urgent
attention and to which police or fire are expected to respond. In
this chapter, the term "alarm system" shall include but not be limited
to the terms "automatic holdup alarm systems," "burglar alarm systems,"
"holdup alarm systems," "manual holdup alarm systems," "audible alarm
systems" and "fire alarm systems" or similar systems. Alarm systems
which monitor temperature, humidity or any other condition not directly
related to the detection of an unauthorized intrusion into a premises
or an attempted robbery or a fire or smoke condition at a premises
are specifically excluded from the provisions of this chapter.
An alarm system which gives alarm by means of a bell, siren,
buzzer or similar sound-producing device mounted at some location
other than wholly within a building or which, when activated, is clearly
audible at a distance of 50 feet or more outside of any building in
which it is mounted.
Refers to an alarm system which automatically sends over
regular telephone lines, by direct connection or otherwise, a prerecorded
voice message or coded signal indicating the existence of the emergency
situation that the alarm system is designed to detect.
An office to which remote alarm and supervisory signaling
devices are connected, where operators supervise the circuits and
where operators transmit the alarm to the West Hartford Emergency
Reporting Center or direct security guards to investigate the alarm.
An alarm system which has the capability of transmitting
system signals to and receiving them at any agency maintained by the
Town, such as the communication center.
A telephone line leading directly from a central station
to the communication center of the Police Department that is for use
only to report emergency signals on a person-to-person basis.
An activation of a fire, burglar, holdup or security system
or combination of burglar/fire system that is caused by some accidental,
malicious or intentional act on the part of the system owner, employee,
worker or person other than an intruder, some internal fault of the
system or in its communication device or by carelessness or mistakes.
Refers to a signal or message from a person or device indicating
the existence of a fire or other emergency which requires Fire Department
action.
To connect an alarm system to a voice-grade telephone line,
either directly or through a mechanical device that utilizes a standard
telephone, for the purpose of using the telephone line to transmit
an emergency message upon the activation of the alarm system.
A telephone line providing voice communication with the West
Hartford Emergency Reporting Center which is for the purpose of sending
and receiving person-to-person telephone calls and which is listed
as an emergency or nonemergency telephone number assigned to the West
Hartford Police Department or West Hartford Fire Department in the
telephone directory issued by the telephone company.
An alarm system sounding and/or recording alarm and supervisory
signals at a control center located within the protected premises,
the control center being under the supervision of the proprietor of
the protected premises. If a proprietary system includes a signal
line connected directly or by means of an automatic dialing device
to a police communication center, a central station, modified central
station or answering service, it thereby becomes an alarm system,
as defined in this chapter.
An alarm signaling system which, when activated by an alarm
device, transmits a signal from an alarm signaling device to the Police
Department or other central location, where appropriate action is
taken to investigate and respond to the signal.
A telephone line leading into the communication center of
the Police Department and having the primary purpose of handling emergency
signals or messages originating either directly or through a central
location from automatic dialing devices.
A person who buys and/or leases or otherwise obtains an alarm
system and thereafter installs it or has it installed. The term "subscriber"
shall also mean a person who has control of a premises in which an
operable alarm system exists.
[Amended 1-9-1996]
A.
The Police Chief may promulgate rules and regulations
to implement this chapter and may promulgate standards and specifications
to be met by burglar alarm systems which are registered in accord
with the provisions of this chapter.
B.
The Fire Chief may promulgate rules and regulations
to implement this chapter relating to fire alarms and may promulgate
standards and specifications to be met by fire alarm systems which
are registered in accord with the provisions of this chapter. Said
regulations relating to fire alarms shall be consistent with any regulations
adopted by the Police Chief to implement this chapter to the extent
possible without jeopardizing public safety.
[Amended 1-9-1996]
[Amended 11-14-1989; 1-9-1996]
Any alarm system which is regulated pursuant to this chapter may be registered with the Police Chief or, in the case of fire alarm systems, the Fire Chief. Any property owner who registers such an alarm system with the Police Chief and/or Fire Chief shall be exempt from all fines established pursuant to § 44-11 for a period of six months from the date of said registration, provided that said system meets the standards and specifications established by those authorities.
[Amended 2-26-1985; 1-9-1996]
A.
Interconnecting to primary trunk lines prohibited.
No automatic dialing device shall be interconnected to a primary trunk
line.
B.
Interconnecting to special trunk line permitted. Automatic
dialing devices designed to transmit signals directly to the Police
Department shall be interconnected to a special trunk line into the
Police Department according to standards and procedures established
by the Chief of Police.
[Amended 1-9-1996; 10-9-2001]
[1]
Editor's Note: Former § 44-7, Connection
to Police Department, was repealed 1-9-1996.
Each subscriber is required to maintain all
components of the alarm system in good working order at all times
to ensure that the sensory mechanism is adjusted to suppress false
indications of holdups or intrusions or fire or smoke conditions so
that the alarm system will not be activated by impulses due to short
flashes of light, wind, noises, vehicular noise or other forces unrelated
to genuine alarms.
No alarm system designed to transmit emergency
messages directly or to be relayed to the Police Department shall
be tested or demonstrated without first obtaining permission from
the Police Chief.
[Amended 1-9-1996; 5-22-2001; 9-9-2008]
A.
The Police Chief shall enforce and administer this
chapter and any rules and regulations promulgated thereunder, except
that the Fire Chief shall have jurisdiction over fire alarms systems.
B.
Fire alarms.
(1)
No more than three false alarms from any one protected
property per calendar year shall be permitted.
(2)
Written order and fines.
(a)
After the second false alarm in any calendar
year, the Police Chief, or, in cases involving fire alarms, the Fire
Chief, shall send a written order to the subscriber instructing the
subscriber to:
(b)
Within five days after this order is sent, the
subscriber shall forward to the Police Chief, or, in cases involving
fire alarms, the Fire Chief, proof that the alarm system has been
inspected and is in good working order.
(3)
A subscriber shall be fined $100 for the fourth false
burglar alarm and each false alarm thereafter, in any one calendar
year.
(4)
A subscriber shall be fined $200 for the fourth false
fire alarm and each false alarm thereafter in any one calendar year.
[1]
Editor's Note: Former § 44-11, Penalties
for fourth and more false alarms; enforcement, as amended, was repealed
10-9-2001.
The Police Chief and the Fire Chief shall jointly
compile a continuous record of all false alarms and of all written
notices and orders given to subscribers and alarm businesses. Such
record shall indicate the number and frequency of false alarms and
shall separately state the number of false alarms received from residences
and from businesses. Said record shall not contain the names of persons
or entities from whom false alarms are received or to whom notices
and/or orders are issued. At least semiannually the Police Chief and
the Fire Chief shall appear before the Public Safety Committee of
the Town Council and present said record to the Committee for review
and comment.
The Town of West Hartford shall not be liable
for any defects in operation of any signal line system for any failure
or neglect to respond appropriately upon receipt of an alarm from
such a source, for any failure or neglect of any person in connection
with the installation, operation, disconnection or removal of equipment,
the transmission of alarm signals or the relaying of such signals
or messages.
