[HISTORY: Adopted by the Common Council of the City of St. Francis
as §§ 9.24 and 9.50 of the 1981 Code. Amendments noted where
applicable.]
The purpose of this chapter is to allow businesses in the City of St.
Francis to have alarm connections with the City Police and Fire Departments,
as well as to provide minimum standards and regulations applicable to burglar,
fire and holdup alarm systems, alarm businesses and alarm users. Both society
in general and public safety in particular will be aided by providing a useful
and usable system of private security which properly balances quick response
by the Fire and Police Departments with minimization of time spent on alarms
which are false or otherwise not the intended function of private security
systems.
In this chapter, the following terms, phrases and words and their derivations
have the meanings given herein:
Any business in which the owners or employees engage in the activity
of altering, installing, leasing, maintaining, repairing, replacing, selling,
or servicing alarm systems.
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
or otherwise receives electrical energy, arranged to signal the presence of
a hazard requiring urgent attention and to which the St. Francis Fire or Police
Department is expected to respond. The term "alarm system" shall include the
terms "automatic holdup alarm system," "burglar alarm system" and "manual
holdup alarm system" as those terms are hereinafter defined and fire alarm
systems which monitor temperature, humidity or any other condition directly
related to the detection of fire. Excluded from this definition are alarm
systems used to alert or signal persons within the premises in which the alarm
system is located of an attempted unauthorized intrusion or holdup attempt
or fire.[1]
The instrumentation on an alarm console at the receiving terminal
of a signal line through which both visual and audible signals show when an
alarm device at a particular location has been activated or which, in the
event of malfunction, may also indicate line trouble.
A telephone answering service providing among its services the service
of receiving on a continuous basis, through trained employees, emergency signals
from alarm systems and thereafter immediately relaying the message by live
voice to the dispatch center of the St. Francis Police Department.
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 alarm system in which the signal transmission is initiated by
the action of the robber.
An alarm system which signals an entry or attempted entry into the
area protected by the system.
An office to which remote alarm and supervisory signaling devices
are connected, where operators supervise the circuits.
An alarm system which has the capability of transmitting system signals
to the St. Francis Police Department.
The activation of an alarm system through mechanical failure, malfunction,
improper installation, or the negligence of the owner or lessee of an alarm
system or of his employees or agents or other undetermined cause. "False alarm"
does not include alarms caused by tornadoes, other violent climatic conditions,
or other excusable causes as determined by the Fire or Police Chief.
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.
An alarm system in which the signal transmission is initiated by
the direct action of a person.
A telephone line leading directly into the dispatch center of the
St. Francis Fire or Police Department that is for the purpose of handling
emergency calls on a person-to-person basis and which is identified as such
by a specific number included among the emergency numbers listed in the telephone
directory, or numbers in sequence therewith.
A person who buys or leases or otherwise obtains an alarm system
and thereafter contracts with or hires an alarm business to monitor and/or
service the alarm system.
No person shall interconnect any automatic dialing device to the St.
Francis Fire or Police Department primary trunk line. Any such devices interconnected
before March 28, 1986, shall be disconnected within 30 days of such date.
Such devices may be connected to a central station or an answering service.
Any messages so received shall be relayed to the St. Francis Fire and Police
Department person to person by telephone.
The Fire and Police Chiefs may, on behalf of the City, contract with
an alarm business for installation of a master system. Such master system
shall be installed according to the direction of the Police Chief. Each such
contract shall not run for more than five years. Each such contract shall
provide that such system shall be installed at no cost to the City, and the
City shall not be liable for any damage to such system.
A.
No alarm business shall remove the master system without
six months' prior notice to its subscribers and the City. The alarm business
chosen shall permit, through intercompany agreements, other alarm businesses
to terminate alarms to the master system.
B.
Individual businesses, public or private schools, and
other municipal and institutional premises that desire to have direct connections
must contract separately with the provider of the master system. This service
shall be available only to the above and not to residences or apartments.
Where a business is combined with a residence in one building (excluding purely
residential residence rental business), an alarm system for the business portion
may be directly connected.
It shall be unlawful for any person, firm, or corporation to install
an alarm system unless a permit has been applied for and granted. This applies
to all types of alarms, whether the signal leaves the premises or not, if
the alarm would alert anyone outside the building visually, audibly or electronically.
All alarm systems installed within the City shall have the Underwriters' Laboratories,
Inc., or comparable organization approval. The Fire or Police Chief may grant
an exception to this requirement when the alarm system is under testing by
the above, in which case the alarm system may be installed for a period not
to exceed six months and shall then be removed or disconnected unless an extension
of time is granted by the Fire or Police Chief or the testing agency's approval
has, where applicable, been received. The alarm subscriber, in the permit
application, shall provide the names and telephone numbers of at least two
persons who can be reached at any time, day or night, and who are authorized
to respond to an emergency signal transmitted by the alarm system and who
can open the premises wherein the device is installed.
Any person, firm or corporation must first apply for and obtain a permit
from City Hall before installing an alarm system.
A.
The fee for such permit shall be a one-time charge as
provided by the current fee schedule on file with the City Clerk, except for
those persons holding a valid permit as of July 5, 1988, who shall pay no
additional fees.
B.
Should the permit holder change or, after a period of disconnection, reapply for a permit the fee stated in Subsection A above must be paid.
C.
Every permit holder shall furnish the Chief of Police an updated list of emergency call numbers and such other information as deemed necessary for a proper police response no later then January 31 of each year. If there is not a valid permit applied for, any direct connections to the master system shall be disconnected. If the permit is for a fire alarm system, such permit application shall be signed by the Fire Chief before the permit shall be issued. Any person, firm or corporation holding a permit issued prior to July 5, 1988, shall not be required to reapply or pay any additional fees but shall be subject to Subsection B above and the informational requirements of this subsection. Failure to provide timely information shall cause such license to expire.
Where the owner of an alarm system that is directly connected wishes
to test such system, he shall first notify the St. Francis Police Department
by telephone of such testing. The test shall be completed within 15 minutes
of such notification.
A.
Determination of whether an alarm is false or excusable
shall be made by the Fire or Police Chief.
B.
Charges.
(1)
There shall be no charge for the first five false alarms.
After the fifth such alarm, a letter shall be sent to the permit applicant,
by first-class mail, warning that there shall be a service charge imposed
on every further false alarm.
(2)
If within a calendar year of any false alarms there are:
(3)
The service charge shall be billed by the Police Department
to the person or entity in charge of the alarm system. If such person is an
owner of the pertinent real estate and if the invoice for service is not paid
within 90 days from the mailing of the invoice, the amount of such invoice
shall constitute a lien upon the real property affected and shall be collected
as a special assessment against real estate in connection with the collection
of general real estate taxes, if allowed by law. The City may use any legal
means to effectuate collection. Also, upon the expiration of such 90 days
unpaid, the Police Chief shall, upon 10 days' notice in writing, disconnect
any direct connection. Reconnection of such will occur only upon full payment
and reapplication.
C.
Any false alarms within the first 30 days of a new installation
of an alarm system shall not be counted in any way toward either the above
service charge or the number of alarms in the above service charge.
The City of St. Francis shall be under no duty or obligation to a subscriber
or to any other person concerning any provision of this chapter, including
but not limited to any defects in an alarm system or any delays in transmission
or response to any alarm; however, this in no way shall be construed that
it is not the proper function of the Fire or Police Department to respond
to alarms.
Any person who shall violate any provision of this chapter shall be subject to a penalty as provided in § 1-4 of this Code.
