[HISTORY: Adopted by the Board of Commissioners
of the Township of Caln 9-27-1979 by Ord. No. 1979-11. Amendments
noted where applicable.]
As used in this chapter, the following terms
shall have the meanings indicated:
Any assembly of equipment, mechanical or electrical, arranged
to signal the occurrence of any emergency requiring the response of
emergency personnel and to which they are expected to respond.
Any person, firm, partnership, association, corporation,
company or organization of any kind, as well as the partners, officers,
managers, trustees and directors of any of the foregoing, in control
of any building, structure or facility within which an alarm system
is maintained.
Any Township employee, state police officer, police officer
of Caln Township, police officer of any other local municipality,
special police, fire police, personnel of a volunteer fire company,
whether or not compensated, ambulance drivers and medical personnel
and any other persons, be they Township, municipal or governmental
employees or volunteers or paid personnel associated with volunteer
groups which respond to emergencies.
An alarm signal from an alarm system soliciting a response
by emergency personnel when a situation requiring such response does
not, in fact, exist.
The Board of Commissioners of Caln Township
has declared and does hereby declare that a false alarm, as hereinbefore
described, from the misuse or malfunction of automatic protection
devices, is a public nuisance.
It shall be a violation of this chapter:
A.
For any alarm user to cause or permit a false alarm
to occur upon any premises owned or controlled by such alarm user.
B.
For any alarm system to be installed directly into
police, fire or other emergency lines or departments without first
passing through a filtering or monitoring station.
C.
To install or maintain any alarm system of a type or brand or manufacturer declared by the Board of Commissioners, pursuant to § 52-7 hereof, to be unsatisfactory.
D.
To sell, offer for sale, install, lease or continue to lease to any alarm user or prospective alarm user within Caln Township an alarm system of the type, brand or manufacturer after the same has been declared by the Board of Commissioners to be an unsatisfactory type, brand or manufacturer under the provisions of § 52-7 hereof.
If, at the time of arrival of emergency personnel
or while they are upon the premises in response to a call requested
by an alarm system, it shall become apparent upon investigation that
there does not then exist a condition upon the premises for which
such response by emergency personnel would be required and there are
no signs upon the premises such as signs of forcible entry or attempt
thereof or signs of fire or other such cause, which are the types
of emergencies or conditions for which the alarm system is designed
to call for such assistance, then and in such event there shall be
a presumption that the alarm was a false alarm, and the burden shall
be upon the alarm user to prove that the alarm was not a false alarm,
as herein defined.
[Amended 4-30-1987 by Ord. No. 1987-2; 12-18-2008 by Ord. No. 2008-10]
Any alarm user who shall violate any provisions
of this chapter shall, upon summary conviction before any issuing
authority having jurisdiction thereof, be punished by a fine of no
less than $25 plus costs of prosecution for violation; provided, however,
that the first false alarm within a twelve-month period shall not
be deemed a violation nor subject such user to such fine or prosecution.
Beginning with the fourth false alarm (within a twelve-month period),
any alarm user who shall violate any provisions of this chapter shall,
upon summary conviction before any issuing authority having jurisdiction
thereof, be punished by a fine of no less than $50 plus costs of prosecution
for violation. Each false alarm shall constitute a separate offense
which shall be punishable as herein described. Any violator, upon
notification of same by the Township and in the manner prescribed
by law, may pay a fine of $25 or $50 per violation providing same
is paid within seven days of such notification. Failure to pay the
aforesaid fine within the aforesaid seven days shall result in the
summary proceedings as set forth above. In determining the number
of prior offenses, only those within the immediately preceding 12
months or subsequent to the date of this chapter, whichever is the
shorter period, shall be included in such computation.
In addition to the penalties provided in § 52-5 hereof, such user shall be liable in a civil proceeding for the cost to the Township or other local municipality or volunteer agency of answering the false alarm.
Whenever any emergency personnel respond to
a false alarm, they shall record the type, model, brand and manufacturer
of the alarm system and shall also record a full report of the circumstances
and findings concerning the false alarm, the response thereto and
the cost thereof if determinable. Upon the occurrence within the Township
of five false alarms from the same type, model, brand or manufacturer
of an alarm system within a period of 12 succeeding months, they shall
report the same to the Township Manager, who shall thereupon notify
the manufacturer or distributor thereof that in the event of two more
such occurrences the Board of Commissioners of Caln Township may declare
the type, brand, model or manufacturer to be unsatisfactory. Upon
the occurrence of two more such incidents, the same shall be reported
to the Township Manager, who shall transmit such report to the Board
of Commissioners, together with all reports incident thereto. The
Board of Commissioners may thereupon at a public meeting declare such
model, type, brand or manufacturer to be unsatisfactory, whereupon
all users, distributors and the manufacturer shall be so notified
and that alarm system shall thereupon be removed from the premises
of all alarm users within the Township. Any person aggrieved by the
declaration of the Commissioners that such model, brand, type or manufacturer
is unsatisfactory may appeal within 30 days of such declaration to
the Board of Administrative Appeals of Caln Township, which shall
hear and determine such appeal under the Local Agency Law.
