Chapter 6.04 ALARM SYSTEMS
Sections:
6.04.010 Purpose and scope.
A. The purpose of this chapter is to protect the emergency services of the city from misuse.
B. This chapter governs burglary and robbery alarm systems, requires permits, establishes fees, provides for the allocation of revenues and deficits, provides for the punishment of violations, and establishes a system of administration.
(Prior code § 3-11.01)
6.04.020 Definitions.
For the purposes of this chapter, unless otherwise apparent from the context, certain words and phrases used in this chapter are defined as follows:
A. "Alarm system" shall mean any assembly of equipment, mechanical or electrical, arranged to signal the occurrence of an illegal entry or other activity requiring urgent attention and to which police personnel are expected to respond.
B. "Alarm business" shall mean the business of any individual, partnership, corporation, or other entity of selling, leasing, monitoring, maintaining, servicing, repairing, altering, replacing, moving, or installing any alarm system or causing to be sold, leased, maintained, serviced, repaired, altered, replaced, moved, or installed any alarm system in or on any building, structure, or facility.
C. "Audible alarm" shall mean an alarm system arranged so as to enable it to broadcast a loud sound throughout the neighborhood to signal the occurrence of an illegal entry or attempted illegal entry.
D. "Automatic dialing device" shall mean any device which is interconnected to a telephone line and is programmed to select a predetermined telephone number and transmit by voice message or code signal an emergency message indicating a need for emergency response.
E. "Emergency Communications Center" shall mean the facility of the city used to receive emergency and general information from the public to be dispatched to the responsible emergency service.
F. "Interconnect" shall mean to connect an alarm system, including an automatic dialing device, to a telephone line, either directly or through a mechanical device which utilizes a telephone for the purpose of using the telephone line to transmit a message upon the activation of the alarm system.
G. "Primary trunk line" shall mean a telephone line serving the Emergency Communications Center which is designated to receive emergency and non-emergency calls.
H. "Burglary alarm system" shall mean an alarm system signalling an entry or attempted entry into the area protected by the system.
I. "Robbery alarm system" shall mean an alarm system signaling a robbery or attempted robbery.
J. "False alarm" shall mean an alarm signal eliciting a response by police when a situation requiring a response by police does not in fact exist. "False alarm" shall not include an alarm signal caused by violent conditions of nature or other extraordinary circumstances not reasonably subject to control by the alarm business operator or alarm user.
K. "Alarm user" shall mean any person, firm, partnership, association, corporation, company, organization, or state, or subdivision thereof of any kind, in control of any building, structure, or facility wherein an alarm system is maintained.
L. "User permit" shall mean a nontransferable permit authorizing a city resident or merchant to install and operate an alarm system in accordance with the regulations of this chapter. A user permit shall be the first permit issued to a user, and shall be renewed annually.
M. "Special user permit" shall mean a nontransferable permit authorizing an entity which is required by federal, state, county, or municipal statutes, regulations, rules, or ordinances to install, maintain, and operate an alarm system in accordance with the regulations of this chapter.
N. "Permit year" shall mean a one-year period (twelve (12) full months) after the original date of issuance of the user permit. Permit year is the period used to monitor false alarms.
O. "Coordinator" shall mean the individual designated by the chief of police to issue permits and enforce the provisions of this chapter.
(Prior code § 3-11.02)
6.04.030 Alarm permits.
Alarm permits shall be required as follows:
A. User permits. Every alarm user shall obtain a user permit from the office of the chief of police.
Users of systems operating under the authority of a user permit shall be allowed two false alarms during the permit year without a penalty. The third false alarm and each subsequent false alarm during the permit year shall be cause for initiating a false alarm fee as set forth in the city fee schedule.
B. Special user permits. Alarm users who qualify for a special user permit shall apply to the office of the chief of police prior to the use of the alarm system.
Users of systems operating under the authority of a special user permit shall be subject to the false alarm fee schedule as set forth in Section 6.04.070 of this chapter. The payment of any fee shall not be deemed to extend the term of the permit.
C. Alarm systems on public property. Every alarm user who operates an alarm system on any federal, state, county, school district, special district or any other publicly owned property of any type or nature whatsoever shall be subject to this chapter. If the alarm user is a private person or entity, normal permit fees shall apply; otherwise, the permit shall be issued without charge. Additional fees and penalties shall apply to permits issued under this section.
D. Applications. Applications for alarm permits shall be filed in the office of the chief of police. The permit shall bear the signature of the alarm coordinator and the permit number issued. Permits shall be displayed on the premises using the alarm system and shall be presented upon the demand of any police officer or city official for inspection.
E. Renewal. Alarm permits shall be renewed annually by filing a renewal form in the office of the chief of police at least fifteen (15) days prior to the expiration date of the original permit.
(Prior code § 3-11.03)
6.04.040 Alarm permit fees.
The following fee schedule shall be applied to alarm permits:
A. A fee as set forth in the city fee schedule shall be paid when an application is submitted to the office of the chief of police for an alarm user permit and an annual fee shall be paid upon renewal of the permit.
B. There will be no false alarm fee imposed on the first and second false alarm in the alarm user's permit year. The third and each subsequent false alarm in the permit year will be cause to impose a false alarm fee as set forth in the city of Los Altos fee schedule.
C. Any alarm user who fails to renew their alarm permit prior to its expiration date shall be subject to a late fee of double the existing alarm renewal fee.
(Prior code § 3-11.04)
6.04.050 User instructions.
A. Every alarm business selling, leasing, or furnishing to any user an alarm system which is installed on premises located in the area subject to this chapter shall furnish the user with instructions which provide information to enable the user to operate the alarm system properly and to obtain service for the alarm system at any time.
B. Standard form instructions shall be submitted by every alarm business to the chief of police. If he/she finds such instructions to be incomplete, unclear, or inadequate, he/she may require the alarm business to revise the instructions to comply with subsection A of this section and then to distribute the revised instructions to its alarm users.
C. Every audible alarm system shall have a timing device which automatically shuts off the alarm within eight minutes after it is activated.
D. The provisions of this chapter shall not be applicable to audible alarms affixed to motor vehicles or to the facilities of the city, with the exception of independent contractors leasing city facilities.
E. The chief of police or his/her designated representative is authorized to inspect the premises whereon any alarm system is located to determine if all applicable sections of this chapter, and all applicable standards and regulations for the construction and maintenance of alarm systems, are being complied with.
F. The city reserves the right to alter and amend its regulations regarding alarm systems from time to time, including the right to prohibit any alarm system permitted by this chapter, and no person shall have or gain any vested right in the continued use of any alarm system.
(Prior code § 3-11.05)
6.04.060 Automatic dialers and monitoring panels.
The following certain interconnections of automatic dialing devices to the Emergency Communications Center shall be prohibited:
A. It shall be unlawful for any person to program an automatic dialing device to select any telephone line assigned to the city, and it shall be unlawful for an alarm user to fail to disconnect or reprogram such device within twelve (12) hours after the receipt of written notice from the chief of police that an automatic dialing device is so programmed.
(Prior code § 3-11.06)
6.04.070 False alarms.
If the Emergency Communications Center records six or more false alarms within a permit year for any alarm system:
A. The office of the chief of police shall notify the alarm user and alarm business providing service or inspection to the user by certified mail of such fact and direct the user to submit a report to the office of the chief of police within ten (10) days after the receipt of the notice describing the actions taken to discover and eliminate the cause of the false alarms. The operation of the alarm system shall be disconnected at the time of the receipt of the notice from the office of the chief of police and shall not be reconnected until authorized to do so by the office of the chief of police or the city Manager.
B. If the alarm user submits a report as directed, the chief of police, or his/her designee, shall review the report and determine if the actions taken, or to be taken, will prevent the reoccurrence of false alarms. If he/she determines that the action will prevent the occurrence of false alarms, he/she shall notify the alarm user and the relevant alarm business in writing that the alarm system may be reconnected.
C. If no report is submitted, or if the chief of police, or his/her designee, determines that the actions taken, or to be taken, will not prevent the occurrence of false alarms, the chief of police shall give notice by certified mail to the alarm user that the alarm system shall remain disconnected until satisfactory action has been taken to prevent further false alarms.
D. Alarms received from premises where alarm systems have been ordered disconnected pursuant to subsection A of this section shall receive a low priority response from the city police department until such time as the provisions of subsection B of this section have been met.
(Prior code § 3-11.07)
6.04.080 Confidentiality and statistics.
A. All information submitted in compliance with this chapter shall be held in the strictest of confidence and shall be deemed a public record exempt from disclosure pursuant to State statutes, and any violation of confidentiality shall be deemed a violation of this chapter. The chief of police shall be charged with the sole responsibility for the maintenance of all records of any kind whatsoever under this chapter.
B. Subject to the requirements of confidentiality, the chief of police shall develop and maintain statistics having the purpose of assisting alarm system evaluations for use by members of the public.
(Prior code § 3-11.08)
6.04.090 Allocation of revenues and expenses.
A. All fees, fines, and forfeitures of bail collected pursuant to this chapter shall be General Fund revenue of the city; provided, however, the city shall maintain records sufficient to identify the sources and amounts of such revenue.
B. The city shall maintain records in accordance with sound accounting principles sufficient to determine on a fiscal year basis the direct costs of administration of the provisions of this chapter by the officers and employees of the city, including salaries and wages (excluding the chief of police and city Manager individually), travel, office supplies, postage, printing, facilities, office equipment, and other properly chargeable costs.
(Prior code § 3-11.09)