Plumas County Municipal Code Ch. 8 Alarm Systems

In this chapter the following terms and phrases shall have the following meanings:

(a) Alarm Dispatch Request means a notification to the Sheriff's Office that an alarm, either manual or automatic, has been activated at a particular alarm site.

(b) Alarm Registration (or Permit) means authorization granted by the Sheriff to an alarm user to operate an alarm system.

(c) Alarm Site means a single fixed premises or location served by an alarm system or systems. Each unit, if served by a separate alarm system in a multi-unit building or complex, shall be considered a separate alarm site.

(d) Alarm System means a device or series of devices, including but not limited to, hardwired systems and systems interconnected with a radio frequency method such as cellular or private radio signals, which emit or transmit a remote or local audible, visual or electronic signal indicating an alarm condition and intended to summon law enforcement response, including local alarm systems.

(e) Alarm User means any private person or non-public entity, who (which) has contracted for monitoring, repair, installation, or maintenance service from an alarm company for an alarm system, or who (which) owns or operates an alarm system which is not monitored, maintained or repaired under contract.

(f) Cancellation means the process where response is terminated when a monitoring company for the alarm site notifies the Sheriff's Office that there is not an existing situation at the alarm site requiring law enforcement response prior to an alarm dispatch request.

(g) False Alarm means an alarm incident where there is no evidence that an unauthorized entry or unlawful act has been attempted or made into, on or respecting a building, structure or premises and includes but is not limited to:

(1) The activation of a security alarm during its testing;

(2) A security alarm system activated by mechanical failure, malfunction, or faulty equipment;

(3) A security alarm system activated by atmospheric conditions, vibrations, or power failure; and

(4) A security alarm activated by user error.

(h) False Alarm Dispatch means notification of an alarm incident to the Sheriff's Office and there is no evidence of a criminal offense or attempted criminal offense.

(i) Local Alarm System means an alarm system, which is not monitored, that annunciates an alarm only at the alarm site.

(j) Monitoring means the process by which an alarm company receives signals from an alarm system and relays an alarm dispatch request to the Sheriff's Office for the purpose of summoning law enforcement to the alarm site.

(k) Monitoring Company means any person in the business of providing monitoring services for alarm systems.

(§ 2, Ord. 04-1019, adopted September 14, 2004)

(a) No alarm user shall operate, or cause to be operated, an alarm system without a valid alarm registration.

(b) The initial alarm registration and the registration fee must be submitted to the Sheriff's Office within fifteen (15) calendar days after the alarm system installation or takeover of the alarm system by a different owner.

(c) The alarm registration application shall request such information from the alarm user as the Sheriff's Office requires to respond to alarms and to implement the provisions of this chapter. The alarm registration application shall include an acknowledgment by the alarm user that law enforcement response may be influenced by factors such as the availability of deputies, priority of calls, weather conditions, traffic conditions, emergency conditions, staffing levels, and prior response history.

(d) The Board of Supervisors shall establish registration and renewal fees as part of the County's master fee ordinance.

(e) An alarm registration (permit) cannot be transferred to another person or alarm site. An alarm user shall inform the Sheriff's Office of any change that alters any of the information listed on the alarm registration application within five (5) business days of such change.

(§ 2, Ord. 04-1019, adopted September 14, 2004)

An alarm registration (permit) shall expire one year from the date of issuance, and must be renewed annually by submitting an updated application and renewal fee to the Sheriff's Office. The Sheriff's Office shall notify each alarm user of the need to renew thirty (30) days prior to the expiration of the registration. It is the responsibility of the alarm user to submit an application prior to the registration expiration date. Failure to renew will be classified as use of a non-registered alarm system and service fees for false alarms shall be assessed as set forth in Section 4-8.07. An additional Ten and no/100ths ($10.00) Dollars late fee may be assessed if the renewal is more than thirty (30) days late.

(§ 2, Ord. 04-1019, adopted September 14, 2004)

An alarm user shall:

(1) Maintain the alarm site and the alarm system in a manner that will minimize or eliminate false alarms;

(2) Make every reasonable effort to have a responder to the alarm system's location within thirty (30) minutes when requested by the alarm company in order to deactivate the alarm system, provide access to the alarm site, and/or provide alternative security for the alarm site;

(3) Not activate an alarm system for any reason other than an occurrence of an event that the alarm system was intended to report;

(4) Not use automatic voice dialers; and

(5) Maintain at each alarm site a set of written operating instructions for each alarm system.

(§ 2, Ord. 04-1019, adopted September 14, 2004)

(a) Any person installing an alarm system shall provide written and oral instructions to each alarm user.

(b) An alarm company shall not use automatic voice dialers.

(c) The alarm monitoring company shall attempt to verify every alarm signal, except a duress or holdup alarm activation, before requesting a law enforcement response to an alarm system signal. The attempt to verify the alarm signal must include a phone call to the alarm user.

(d) The alarm monitoring company shall communicate any available information (north, south, front, back, floor, etc.) about the location on all alarm signals related to the alarm dispatch request.

(e) The alarm monitoring company shall communicate the type of alarm activation (silent or audible, interior or perimeter).

(f) After an alarm dispatch request, the alarm monitoring company shall promptly advise the law enforcement agency if it knows that the alarm user or a designated responder is on the way to the alarm site.

(g) An alarm company that purchases alarm system accounts from another party shall notify the Sheriff's Office of such purchase and provide details as may be reasonably requested by the Sheriff's Office.

(§ 2, Ord. 04-1019, adopted September 14, 2004)

(a) The Sheriff's Office shall establish a procedure to record such information on alarm dispatch requests as necessary to maintain records and otherwise implement the provisions of this chapter.

(b) The Sheriff's Office shall establish a procedure to notify the alarm user or alarm company of a false alarm. The notice shall include the following minimum information:

(1) The date and time of law enforcement response to the false alarm;

(2) The identification number of the responding law enforcement officer; and

(3) If a service fee or fine is assessed, the amount of the assessment and a description of the appeal procedure available.

(§ 2, Ord. 04-1019, adopted September 14, 2004)

(a) An alarm user shall be subject to service fees depending on the number of false alarms within any consecutive twelve-month period, as established by the County's master fee ordinance. In determining the number of false alarms, multiple alarms occurring in any twenty-four-hour period shall be counted as one false alarm, unless the false alarms are directly caused by the alarm user.

(b) Any person operating a non-registered alarm system will be subject to a fine of Fifty and no/100ths ($50.00) Dollars for each false alarm in addition to any service fee. The Sheriff may waive the fine for a non-registered system if the alarm user submits an application for alarm registration within ten (10) days after notification of such violation.

(c) If cancellation occurs prior to law enforcement being dispatched to the alarm site, the incident is not a false alarm for the purpose of service fees, and no service fees will be assessed.

(d) The alarm company shall be assessed a service fee, at the same level as the alarm user, if the officer responding to the false alarm determines that the false alarm was caused by the alarm company.

(e) The alarm company shall be issued a fine of Fifty and no/100ths ($50.00) Dollars for each failure to verify alarm system signals as required by Section 4-8.05(c).

(§ 2, Ord. 04-1019, adopted September 14, 2004)

(a) The alarm user or alarm company may appeal an assessment of a service fee or fine to the Sheriff by setting forth in writing the reasons for the appeal within fifteen (15) days after the receipt of the assessment notice. Receipt of the notice shall be presumed five days after mailing to the address on the alarm registration or, if the alarm is unregistered, to the address where the alarm system is located.

(b) Filing of a request for appeal shall stay the imposition of any fee or fine by the Sheriff until a review is completed.

(c) The Sheriff may adjust the count of false alarms under Section 4-8.07(a) based on evidence that a false alarm was caused by an event or circumstances beyond the control of the alarm user or alarm company or evidence that the alarm dispatch request was not a false alarm.

(§ 2, Ord. 04-1019, adopted September 14, 2004)

Violation of this chapter is an infraction and may be enforced as provided in Government Code section 25132. Service fees may be collected by civil action as provided in Section 1-2.10 of the Plumas County Code.

(§ 2, Ord. 04-1019, adopted September 14, 2004)

Alarm registration is not intended to, nor will it, create a contract, duty or obligation, either expressed or implied, of response by the Sheriff's Department. Any and all liability and consequential damage resulting from the failure to respond to a notification is hereby disclaimed and governmental immunity as provided by law is retained by the County and its Sheriff's Department.

(§ 2, Ord. 04-1019, adopted September 14, 2004)

The provisions of this chapter are severable. If a court determines that a word, phrase, clause, sentence, paragraph, subsection, section, or other provision is invalid or that the application of any part of the provision to any person or circumstance is invalid, the remaining provisions and the application of those provisions to other persons or circumstances are not affected by that decision.

(§ 2, Ord. 04-1019, adopted September 14, 2004)