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Home My WebLink About1981-10 07-13 CCO CITY OF BROOKLYN CENTER ORDINANCE NO. 81 -10 AN ORDINANCE REGULATING THE OPERATION OF ALARM SYSTEMS IN BROOKLYN CENTER THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF BROOKLYN CENTER DOES ORDAIN AS FOLLOWS: Section 1. Chapter 23 of the City Ordinances of the City of Brooklyn Center is hereby amended by the addition of the following: Section 23 -2000. Statement of Policy. The City Council of the City of Brooklyn Center deems it necessary to provide for the special and express regulation of alarm systems which are designed to signal the presence of a hazard requiring urgent attention and to which public safety personnel are expected to respond, in order to protect the public health, safety and welfare. The City Council finds that the regulation of alarm systems is necessary in order to reduce the increasing frequency of false alarms in Brooklyn Center. The great number and increasing frequency of these false alarms requires intensive, time consuming efforts by the police department and thereby distracts from and reduces the level of services available to the rest of the community. This diminishes the ability of the City to promote the general health, welfare and safety of the community. In consideration for the necessity on the part of the City to provide numerous law enforcement services to all segments of the community, without an undue concentration of public services in one area to work to the detriment of members of the general public, it is hereby decided that the alarm systems shall be regulated through the permit process described below. Section 23 -2001. Definitions. As used herein, unless otherwise indicated, the following terms are defined as follows: 1. "Alarm System" shall mean an assembly of equipment and devices (or a single device such as a solid state unit) arranged to signal the presence of a hazard. For the purposes of this ordinance, the alarm, when triggered, must either be directly connected to the police and /or fire station or may signal a central monitoring agency which then notifies the police and /or fire departments of an emergency to which public safety personnel must respond, or may emit an audible signal which will require urgent attention and to which public safety personnel are expected to respond. 2. "Alarm User" shall mean the person, firm, partnership, association, corporation, company or organization of any kind on whose premises an alarm system is maintained. "Alarm User" shall include persons occupying dwelling units for residential purposes. "Alarm User" shall not include persons maintaining alarm systems in automobiles. 3. "False Alarms" shall mean 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. It does not include activation of the alarm by utility company power outages or by acts of God. ORDINANCE NO. 81 -10 4. "Person" shall mean any individual, partnership, corporation, association, cooperative or other entity. 5. "Calendar Year" shall mean the period January 1 through December 31 of each year. Section 23 -2003. Permits and Exemptions. 1. Permits. Effective January 1 19 82 every alarm user who, during the course of a calendar year, incurs more than four (4) false police alarms, or more than one (1) false fire alarms shall be required to obtain an alarm user permit. 2. Review of Permit. The Chief of Police shall review the issuance of all police alarm permits. The Chief of Police, in consultation with the Fire Chief, shall review the issuance of all fire alarm permits. i 3. Process for Issuance of Permit. Upon receipt and determination of the fifth false police alarm report or the second false fire alarm report at an address, the Chief of Police, after review, may notify the City Clerk who shall then assess the alarm user for an alarm user's permit. The assessment invoice shall be sent by certified mail. The alarm user must submit the required permit fee to the City Clerk within ten (10) working days after receipt of the assessment invoice, in order to continue to use his alarm system. Any subsequent false police or fire alarm at that address shall automatically revoke that permit and the process must then be repeated. This process shall be repeated for each and every false alarm in excess of four (4) false police alarms and in excess of one (1 false fire alarms durin g each calendar year. i expire otherwise revoked will x 4. Duration of Permit. All permits, unless o herw p at the end of each calendar year. 5. Exemptions. The provisions of this chapter are not applicable to audible alarms affixed to automobiles. Section 23 -2004. Requirements and Duties. 1. False Alarm Reports. The Chief of Police may, at his discretion, require a false alarm report to be filed by the alarm user with the Chief of Police, within a time period to be specified by the Chief of Police. If the Chief of Police determines that a false alarm has occurred at an address, the alarm user at that address may submit a written report to the Chief of Police to explain the cause of the alarm activation. If the Chief of Police determines that the alarm was caused by conditions beyond the control of the alarm user, the alarm will not be counted as a false alarm at that address. 2. "False Alarms" will be excused if they are the result of an effort or order to upgrade, install, test, or maintain an alarm system and if the police department is given notice in advance of said upgrade, in- stallation, test and maintenance. ORDINANCE NO. 81 -10 Section 23- 2005. Prohibitions. 1. "Alarm Systems Utilizing Taping or Prerecorded Messages." No person shall install, monitor, or use and possess an operative alarm which utilizes taped or prerecorded messages which deliver a telephone alarm message to the police or fire department. Section 23 -2006. Permit Fees. 1. The fee for alarm user's permits shall be fifty dollars ($50.00) for police alarm systems and one hundred and fifty dollars ($150.00) for fire alarm systems. 2. Alarm user's permits shall expire on the last day of each calendar year. Alarm user's permits shall not be required in the next calendar year until there are more than four (4) false police alarms or one (1) false fire alarms reported at the alarm user's address during the next calendar year. I 3. The United States government, State of Minnesota, County of Hennepin, City of Brooklyn Center or any departments thereof and independent school districts are exempt from the fee requirement stated above. Section 23 -2007. Revocation and Suspension of Permit. 1. Basis for revocation or suspension. In addition to the automatic revocation process described in Section 23 -2003, the Chief of Police may suspend or revoke any alarm user permit issued pursuant to this ordinance if the Chief of Police finds that any of the following occur: a. That any provision or condition of this ordinance has been violated by an alarm user or his agents; b. That an alarm system has actuated an excessive number of false alarms; C. That the alarm user has knowingly made false statements in or regarding his application for an alarm user's permit; d. That the alarm user has failed to correct or remove, within a reason- able period, violations of this ordinance after receipt of notice to do so; e. That the continued effectiveness of the alarm user permit, constitutes P a substantial threat health, safety or welfare. the public peace, heal hreat to ub Y P P All alleged violations defined above shall be investigated by the police department. The alarm user shall be given notice of the proposed revocation or suspension and be provided an opportunity to informally present evidence to the Chief of Police prior to the final decision on revocation or suspension. Anyone aggrieved by the decision of the Chief of Police may appeal that decision to the City Council. ORDINANCE NO. 81 -10 Section 23- 2009. Criminal Penalties. 1. Any alarm user, who continues to use an alarm system after receiving notice of revocation or suspension by the Chief of Police, shall be guilty of a misdemeanor, and upon conviction thereof, shall be punish- able by a fine of not more than five hundred dollars ($500.00) and by imprisonment not to exceed ninety (90) days. 2. Any person required by this ordinance to obtain an alarm user's permit who knowingly fails to do so shall be guilty of a misdemeanor, and upon conviction thereof, shall be punishable by a fine of not more than five hundred dollars ($500.00) and by imprisonment not to exceed ninety (90) days. Section 23 -2010. Separability. Every section, provision, or part of this ordinance is declared separable from every other section, provision or dart; and if any section, provision or part of any ordinance shall be held invalid, it shall not affect any other section, provision or part thereof. This ordinance shall take effect and be enforced from and after its passage and publication. Section 2. This ordinance shall become effective after adoption and on January 1, 1982. Adopted this 13th day of July v 1981. M r ATTEST:' E, Cker Date of Publication July 2, 1981 Effective Date January 1, 1982 (Underline indicates new matter.)