Chapter XIV — MISCELLANEOUS

The following words and phrases, when used in the context of this article, shall have the following meanings: ALARM BUSINESS: The business by an individual, partnership, corporation or other entity of selling, leasing, maintaining, servicing, repairing, altering, moving, installing or monitoring an alarm system at an alarm site. ALARM DISPATCH REQUEST: A notification to the police by the alarm business that an alarm, either manual or automatic, has been activated at a particular alarm site.

ALARM PERMIT: A permit issued by the city authorizing an alarm user to operate an alarm system at an alarm site. ALARM SITE: A location served by an alarm system or systems.

ALARM SYSTEM: A device used for the detection of a burglary, robbery or medical emergency, including devices which emit a signal on the property or have a direct dial service which is connected to a telephone line and, upon activation, automatically dials a predetermined number and transmits a message to the police department either directly or indirectly.

ALARM USER: Any person, firm, partnership, corporation or other entity who (which) uses an alarm system at its alarm site.

CHIEF OF POLICE: The chief of police of the San Marino police department or the person designated by the chief of police.

ENHANCED CALL VERIFICATION: Two (2) attempts by the alarm business or its representative to contact the alarm user by telephone or other electronic means, whether or not actual contact with a user is made.

FALSE ALARM: An alarm signal activated or notification made to the police department, either directly or indirectly from an alarm signal activation, by causes other than a need for emergency service from the police department. "False alarm" shall also include an activation as a result of servicing, testing, maintenance, adjustments or installations resulting in a response by the police department where an emergency situation for which the alarm was designed to detect does not exist. An alarm signal activated by violent conditions of nature (extreme weather) or other extraordinary circumstances not subject to the control of the alarm user shall not constitute a false alarm.

PANIC ALARM: An audible or silent alarm signal generated by the manual activation of a device intended to signal an attempted or in progress unlawful entry.

ROBBERY ALARM: A silent alarm signal generated by the manual activation of a device intended to signal a robbery in progress. (Ord. 0-10-1230, 5-28-2010)

No alarm business shall be permitted to alter, install, maintain, move, repair, replace, respond, lease or monitor any alarm system without first obtaining a city of San Marino business license. The alarm business shall include with the business license application a copy of its license to operate issued by the state of California. Failure to obtain or submit the state license will result in a rejection of a city business license and a prohibition from conducting business in the city. (Ord. 0-10-1230, 5-28-2010)

No alarm user shall operate or cause to be operated an alarm system at its alarm site without a valid alarm permit issued annually by the chief of police. A separate permit is required for each alarm site. The annual fee for the alarm

permit or renewal shall be provided in the master fee schedule adopted by city council resolution. The annual fee will be waived for renewal of alarm permits issued for residential alarm sites at which no false alarms have been reported for the prior year. Upon receipt of a completed application form and the permit fee, the chief of police shall issue an alarm permit to the applicant, unless the applicant has failed to pay a fine or penalty imposed pursuant to this article. Each alarm permit application must include the following information:

• A. The classification of the alarm system as residential, business, church or public or private school.

• B. Full name, address and telephone number of the alarm user who is responsible for the proper maintenance and operation of the alarm system.

• C. Name of business, address and telephone number where the alarm system is located.

D. Nature of the alarm site, such as whether the alarm site is commercial or residential, and any other information reasonably requested by the chief of police necessary to assure police officer safety during a response.

E. Name, street address and telephone number of the alarm company which installed the alarm system. Post office boxes are not acceptable.

F. Name, address and telephone number of the alarm company monitoring the alarm system if different from subsection E of this section.

G. An alarm permit cannot be transferred to another person or entity. An alarm user shall inform the chief of police of any change in information on the alarm permit application within ten (10) business days of the alarm user becoming aware of such information.

H. Information contained within the alarm permit application shall be held in strict confidence and shall not be released by the city.

Any false information provided by an applicant shall be sufficient grounds for denial or revocation of an alarm permit. (Ord. 0-10-1230, 5-28-2010)

It is the sole responsibility of an alarm user to obtain an alarm permit prior to operating or maintaining an alarm system. If the chief of police becomes aware that an alarm user is operating or maintaining an alarm system without a permit, the chief of police shall provide written notice to the alarm user regarding the requirement that the alarm user obtain an alarm permit within thirty (30) days. Failure to obtain an alarm permit within this time frame shall constitute a violation of this article unless the alarm system is deactivated. (Ord. 0-10-1230, 5-28-2010)

To assure proper operation and maintenance of an alarm system and to minimize false alarms, the alarm user shall operate with alarm system in compliance with and ensure that the alarm system meets the following requirements:

A. Maintain the alarm site and alarm system in a manner that will minimize or eliminate false alarms.

B. Instruct all employees and other individuals who have access to the alarm site on the proper use of the alarm system and maintain accurate and complete written operating instructions on site.

C. Assure that when requested by a representative of the police department, a representative of the alarm user will respond to the alarm site in a timely manner (45 minutes) and render any necessary service.

D. Assure that an alarm which is audible from the exterior of the alarm site will sound for no more than five (5) minutes following activation or, in the case of systems operating under Underwriters Laboratories, Inc., standard 365 or 609, fifteen (15) minutes following activation.

E. Assure that alarm system will not be activated when its power is interrupted or restored, unless a hazardous condition does, in fact, exist.

F. Assure that no automatic communication device shall be keyed to any police department telephone line. G. If the alarm site includes multiple buildings, offices or rooms within a building, or floors within a building, the alarm system shall be able to identify the precise location of the alarm site where the alarm was activated. This requirement shall only apply to commercial premises and shall not apply to residential premises.

H. Except for proprietary alarm systems, any installation, servicing or monitoring of an alarm system shall be performed only by licensed companies. (Ord. 0-10-1230, 5-28-2010)

An alarm company performing monitoring services shall:

A. Report alarm activations by using telephone numbers designated by the police department.

B. Perform enhanced call verification for those alarm users that have subscribed to such services before requesting a police department response, except when the alarm company determines an immediate response is appropriate for robbery or in the case of panic alarms or robbery alarms which are to be immediately reported to the police department.

C. Communicate alarm dispatch requests in a manner and form established by the chief of police.

D. Communicate verified cancellations of alarm dispatch requests in a manner and form determined by the chief of police.

E. Comply with regulations established by the chief of police controlling the manner, form and telephone number for the communication of alarm dispatch requests and verified alarm dispatch request cancellations to the police department.

F. For alarm companies performing monitoring services, maintain for a period of at least one year following the alarm company's request for a police department dispatch response to an alarm site, records relating to the dispatch. The records must include the name, address and phone number of the alarm user, the alarm system zone(s) or point(s) activated, the time of dispatch request and evidence that the alarm company attempt to verify the need for a dispatch. The chief of police may request from the alarm company copies of such records for an individual alarm user or alarm sites. (Ord. 0-10-1230, 5-28-2010)

A. An alarm user shall pay fines for dispatches to false alarms emitting from the alarm site as set forth below:

Number Of False Alarms Within A Calendar Year Fine 1 through 3 $0.00 4 and 5 $100.00 per false alarm 6 or more $500.00 per false alarm

B. An alarm user may appeal the imposition of a fine by requesting an administrative hearing as provided in sections 01.06.10 through 01.06.15 of this code. (Ord. 0-10-1230, 5-28-2010)

The city is under no obligation or duty to any alarm user, alarm company or any other person by reason of any provision of this article or failure to enforce any provision of this article, including, but not limited to, any delay in

transmission of an alarm message to any emergency unit or damage or injury resulting from a delay in responding or failure to respond to any alarm by any city officer, employee or agent. (Ord. 0-10-1230, 5-28-2010)

Any person, firm or corporation violating any provision of this article is guilty of an infraction. The city prosecutor however has sole discretion to prosecute any violation as a civil penalty pursuant to subsection 01.04.03A of this code. (Ord. 0-10-1230, 5-28-2010)