Chapter 16.20
ALARM SYSTEMS
Sections:
16.20.020 Alarm users registration required.
16.20.040 Additional duties of alarm user.
16.20.050 Alarm business duties.
16.20.060 Nonpermitted system and uses.
16.20.070 Special registrations.
16.20.080 Administrative hearing.
16.20.090 Repealed.
16.20.010 Definitions.
Unless the context or subject matter otherwise requires, terms defined herein shall have the following meanings when used in this chapter:
A. “Alarm business” means the business by any individual, partnership, corporation, or other entity of selling, leasing, maintaining, monitoring, 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 on real property.
B. “Alarm system” means any system, device or mechanism which, when activated, transmits a telephone message to a private monitoring company or some other number, or emits an audible or visible signal that can be heard or seen by persons outside the protected premises, or transmits a signal beyond the premises in some other fashion, except any system, device or mechanism primarily protecting a motor vehicle, or a medical alarm.
C. “Alarm user” means the person, firm, partnership, association, corporation, company, or organization of any kind to whom a registration is required under this chapter.
D. “Automatic dialing device” means a device that 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. Such a device is an alarm system.
E. “Burglary alarm system” means an alarm system designed or used for detection and reporting of an unauthorized entry or attempted unauthorized entry upon real property protected by the system.
F. “Chief of police” means the chief of the city of Enumclaw police department.
G. “Department” means the city of Enumclaw police department.
H. “False alarm” means the activation of any burglary and/or robbery alarm system when no crime is being committed or attempted on the premises. An alarm shall be presumed to be false if the police officers responding do not locate any evidence of an intrusion or commission of an unlawful act or emergency on the premises which might have caused the alarm to sound, but does not include alarms caused by violent conditions of nature or other extraordinary circumstances not reasonably subject to control by the alarm business operator or alarm user.
I. “Interconnect” means to connect an alarm system including an automatic dialing device to a telephone line, either directly or through a mechanical device that utilizes a telephone, for the purpose of using the telephone line to transmit a message upon the activation of the alarm system.
J. “Registration year” means January 1st to and including December 31st.
K. “Premises” means any area and any portion of any area protected by an alarm system.
L. “Robbery alarm system” means an alarm system designed or used for alerting others of a robbery or other crime in progress which involves potential serious bodily injury or death.
M. “System subscriber” means a person, corporation, firm, partnership, association, company, organization or other business entity who purchased or contracted for any alarm system.
N. “Panic/trouble alarm” means an alarm system designed or used for alerting police of the need for immediate assistance or aid in order to avoid injury or serious bodily harm.
O. “Verification” means an independent method of determining that a signal from an automatic alarm system reflects a need for immediate police assistance or investigation. (Ord. 2401, 2008).
16.20.020 Alarm users registration required.
A. Beginning January 1, 2000, no person shall operate or use an alarm system on any premises within the city of Enumclaw, under that person’s control, without first having obtained from the police department a separate registration for each premises protected by an alarm system.
B. The police department may not respond to any alarm system for which a registration has not first been obtained.
C. For the purposes of this section, a person shall be deemed to be an operator or user of an alarm system if:
1. The person controls both the alarm system and the premises upon which it is installed;
2. The person controls the premises and is the subscriber, client or tenant of the system subscriber; or
3. The person is the system subscriber or alarm user.
D. All persons required to obtain a registration must complete a registration application form that is provided by the police department. Information required to be provided on the registration application form includes, but is not limited to:
1. Subscriber’s and/or alarm user’s name, address and telephone number(s);
2. Names and telephone numbers of three additional persons who will respond in the event of alarm activation in the absence of the alarm user and said persons will provide access to premises and be able to deactivate alarm, or said persons will provide information on who to contact for access;
3. The name(s) of the alarm installation business and alarm monitoring business responsible for regular maintenance and monitoring;
4. The information required in subsection (D)(3) of this section shall not apply to alarms which are installed by the homeowner/tenant;
5. The information required in subsection (D)(3) of this section shall not apply to: (a) existing alarms; or (b) alarms which are installed in multiple-tenant buildings.
E. Failure to complete the required information will result in automatic denial of the registration.
F. Each registration shall be given a number which shall not be transferable.
G. Completed applications for an alarm user’s registration and a fee as set forth in the city of Enumclaw fee schedule shall be filed with the police department, except that no fee shall be charged for alarms installed prior to enactment of this chapter if a registration application for such existing alarm system was filed prior to January 2000.
H. A penalty fee as set forth in the fee resolution will be charged, in addition to the fee provided in subsection G of this section, to a user who fails to obtain a registration within 30 days after the system becomes operative, or to a current user who fails to obtain a registration.
I. Registration fees shall be payable to the city of Enumclaw and deposited into the city’s general fund.
J. Any person who owns, operates, or possesses any alarm system within the city of Enumclaw, which does not conform to the requirements of this chapter, shall disconnect that alarm and render it inoperable or alter it in accordance with this chapter no later than 60 days after enactment of this chapter.
K. The following shall be required to obtain a registration under this article, but shall not be required to pay any fee:
1. Businesses which are nonprofit organizations, including but not limited to religious, civic, charitable, benevolent, nonprofit, cultural, governmental or youth organizations.
L. Alarm user shall notify police department, within 10 days, of any change of information from that contained on the registration application. (Ord. 2401, 2008).
16.20.030 Fees.
A. Fees will be assessed by the city as follows:
|
Type of Fee |
Amount |
|---|---|
|
Registration fee (one-time fee) |
Per city fee schedule |
|
Late registration fee penalty |
Per city fee schedule |
|
Appeal hearing cancellation fee |
Per city fee schedule |
B. The city shall notify the alarm user upon their first false alarm, within any calendar year. If payment of the registration fee, late registration fee penalty or the appeal hearing cancellation fee is not received within 30 days of the day the notice of a late fee is mailed, the city may initiate the enforcement of penalties and/or begin the collection process. The city shall inform the alarm user of the right to appeal the validity of the false alarm determination, as provided in EMC 16.20.080. (Ord. 2401, 2008).
16.20.040 Additional duties of alarm user.
A. The premises shall display the registration decal at or near the main entrance, which shall be clearly visible and readable from the exterior of the premises.
B. The premises shall display the street address at or near the front of the premises and at other places where access is available, such as from an alley or parking lot. The street address shall be clearly visible and readable from the exterior of the premises.
C. If requested to do so by the department, the alarm user or his or her designee shall respond to the premises following activation of an alarm system for which a registration has been issued within a reasonable time, and in any event, within one hour after said notification. (Ord. 2401, 2008).
16.20.050 Alarm business duties.
Every alarm system monitoring company engaging in business activities in the city of Enumclaw shall:
A. Be registered to do business in the city of Enumclaw.
B. Submit standard user form instructions to the police chief. If the police chief finds the instructions are incomplete, unclear, or inadequate, the police chief may require the alarm business to revise the instructions to comply with subsection D of this section and then to distribute the revised instructions to its alarm users.
C. Provide the police chief information about the nature of its property alarms, burglary alarms, robbery alarms and panic alarms; its method of monitoring; its program for preventing false alarms, and its method of disconnecting audible alarms.
D. Furnish the user with instructions that provide information to enable the user to operate the alarm system at any time. The alarm business shall also inform each alarm user of the requirement to obtain a registration and where it can be obtained.
E. Establish a process for alarm verification. The verification process shall not take more than five minutes, calculated from the time that the alarm signal has been accepted by the alarm business monitoring the system, until a decision is made whether to call for a police dispatch. The means of verification may include one or more of the following:
1. The establishment of voice communication with an authorized person at or near the premises who may indicate whether or not a need for immediate police assistance or investigation exists;
2. A feature that permits the alarm system user or a person authorized by the user to send a special signal to the alarm system monitoring company that will cancel an alarm immediately after it has been sent and prevent the monitoring company calling for a police dispatch;
3. The installation of a video system that provides the alarm system monitoring company when the signal is received with the ability to ascertain that activity is occurring which warrants immediate police assistance or investigation;
4. A confirmation that a signal reflects a need for immediate police assistance or investigation either by the alarm system user, or a person at or near the premises before dispatching police; or
5. An alternate system that the police chief determines has, or is likely to have, a high degree of reliability.
F. Coordinate with the department’s communication center to develop a process to cancel an alarm dispatch that is consistent with the communication center’s standard operating procedures.
G. Provide the department’s communication center when requesting an alarm response with the registration number for that premises, and the department need not respond if the registration number is not provided. (Ord. 2401, 2008).
16.20.060 Nonpermitted system and uses.
A. No person shall operate or use an alarm system which emits an audible sound where such emission does not automatically cease within 15 minutes. Nothing in this section shall limit the duration of a fire or other evacuation alarm during a bona fide emergency when the sound may assist in saving life or avoiding injury.
B. No person shall use an alarm system to protect more than one business and/or private residence without receiving a separate registration for each business and/or private residence to be protected.
C. No person shall operate or use any alarm system for which the registration has been revoked.
D. No person shall operate or use any alarm system which automatically dials the Enumclaw police department or Valley Communication Center (911) directly and delivers a prerecorded message.
E. No person shall use an alarm system covering doors and windows that transmits a “panic alarm” notification. (Ord. 2401, 2008).
16.20.070 Special registrations.
A. An alarm user required by federal, state, county or municipal law, regulation, rule or ordinance to install, maintain and operate an alarm system shall be subject to the alarm system regulations; provided:
1. A registration shall be designated a special alarm user’s registration.
2. A special alarm user’s registration for a system that has five false alarms in a registration year shall not be subject to the no-response procedure and shall pay the penalty fees and service charges.
B. An alarm user that is a governmental political unit shall be subject to this chapter; but a registration shall be issued without payment of a fee and shall not be subject to service charges or the imposition of any penalty provided herein. (Ord. 2401, 2008).
16.20.080 Administrative hearing.
A. An alarm user may appeal the validity of a false alarm determination to the police chief. The appeal shall be in writing and shall be requested within 10 days of the notice of penalty received from the city finance department. Failure to contest the false alarm determination in the required time period results in a conclusive presumption for all purposes that the alarm was false.
B. If a hearing is requested, written notice of the time and place of the hearing shall be served on the user by the police chief, by certified mail, at least 10 days prior to the date set for the hearing, which shall not be more than 21 nor less than 10 days after the filing of the request for hearing.
C. The hearing shall be before the police chief. The police chief may appoint another person to be an administrative hearing officer to hear the appeals and to render judgment. The alarm user and the police chief shall have the right to present written and oral evidence. If the police chief determines that the false alarms alleged have occurred in a registration year, the police chief may issue written findings waiving, expunging or entering a false alarm designation on an alarm user’s record. If false alarm designations are entered on the alarm user’s record, the finance department shall pursue the collection of the penalty fines. If the civil penalty is not found to be proper, then the alarm user shall bear no costs.
D. If a hearing is canceled more than 10 days after its request, then a cancellation fee as set forth in the fee resolution must be paid in addition to the amount of the civil infraction.
E. In accordance with RCW 46.55.240(1)(d), a decision made by an administrative hearing officer may be appealed to the King County district court for final judgment. (Ord. 2401, 2008).
16.20.090 Violations – Penalties.
Repealed by Ord. 2575. (Ord. 2401, 2008).