Fill and Sign the Montgomery County Maryland Department of Police False Alarm Form

County False Alarm OrdinancePurpose and Scope The purpose of this article is to reduce the number of false alarms and thereby protect the public safety by minimizing unnecessary use of the county's limited enforcement resources. This article governs burglary and robbery alarm systems, establishes service fees, and provides a system of administration. Definitions For the purposes of this article, the following words and phrases shall have the meanings respectively ascribed to them by this section: Alarm system: Any device or system which transmits a signal visibly, audibly, electronically, mechanically, or by any combination of these methods which indicates a hazard or occurrence requiring urgent attention and to which police are expected to respond. alarm system shall not include a personal, direct telephonic call requesting emergency services from a person at the premises in question. Alarm use, user: The occupancy of the premises which are protected by the alarm system. Answering service: A telephone answering service providing among its services the service of receiving on a continuous basis, through trained employees, emergency signals from alarm systems and thereafter immediately relaying the message by live voice to the public safety communications ce nter of the county. Automatic dialing device: A 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. False alarm: Any alarm signal communicated to the county public safety communications center which is not reasonably believed to be in response to actual or threatened felonious criminal activity. False alarms include negligently activated signals; signals which are the result of faulty, malfunctioning or improperly installed or maintained equipment; and signals which are purposely activated to summon the police personnel in non-emergency situations. False alarms shall not include signals activated by unusually severe weather conditions or other causes which are identified by the chief of police or his designee to be beyond the control of the user. Indirect alarm transmittal: Any security alarm system which does not directly terminate in the county public safety communications center but which causes a third party or answering service to notify the communications center of the alarm activation. Installer: Any person who installs, services, monitors, sells or leases any security alarm system. Interconnect: To connect an alarm system to a voice grade telephone line, either directly or through a mechanical device that utilizes a standard telephone, for the purpose of using the telephone line to transmit an emergency message upon the activation of the alarm system. Negligently activated: The doing of an act where ordinary care suggests that the act should not have been done at all or that it should have been done in some other way. Non-emergency: Any activation of an alarm resulting in a response by the division of police other than that purpose for which the system was designed, installed, and approved by the director of public safety or his designee. Telephone Dial Alarm Systems Regulated It shall be unlawful for any person to install, sell, lease, use, or cause or allow to be installed, sold, leased, or used, within the jurisdictional boundaries of the county, automatic telephone dialing devices or systems which are set or programmed to directly dial, actuate, call, or in any other manner, made direct contact with any telephone line or radio circuit of the county public safety communications center without the prior approval of the director of public safety or his designee. Security Alarm User's Data Form Upon installing a security alarm system, all users shall, on a form provided for that purpose, furnish the county public safety communications center with the following information: name and location of alarmed premises; type of alarmed premises (residential or commercial); normal operating hours, if commercial; individual(s) designated by the user to respond when notified; manufacturer, model, and type of alarm system; name, address, and telephone number of the service company; zone of alarm, if applicable; and other applicable information. Users with alarm systems installed before August 26, 1981, must comply with the requirements of this section within one hundred twenty (120) days of such date. Duties of Security Alarm Users It shall be the responsibility of security alarm users to instruct employees or others who may have occasion to activate an alarm that alarm systems are to be activated only in emergency sit uations to summon an immediate police response. Alarm users shall also instruct appropriate employees as to the operation of the alarm systems, including setting, activation, and resetting of the alarm. All instruc tions pertaining to alarm systems and procedures shall be in written form, suitable for distribution to employees, and shall be available for maintaining the security system in proper working order. Deliberate False Alarms It shall be unlawful for any person to deliberately and without just cause activate an alarm system to summon the county division of police in a non-emergency situation. Nothing herein contained shall apply to the periodic testing of direct transmittal alarms when sufficient notice is given to the communications supervisor(s) of the county division of police. Service Fees, Termination of Response, and Reinstatement of Service Schedule of fees: The second through sixth false alarm originating from any premises within a 160-day period will result in the appropriate service fee being imposed upon the alarm user, which must be paid within thirty (30) days after billing. The service fee shall be imposed in accord with the following schedule: Schedule of Fees Second false alarm Fifteen dollars ($15.00) Third false alarm Twenty-five dollars ($25.00) Fourth false alarm Thirty-five dollars ($35.00) Fifth false alarm Fifty dollars ($50.00) Sixth false alarm Seventy-five dollars ($75.00) Termination of response: The seventh false alarm originating from any premises in a 160-day period will result in the alarm user being notified by the director of public safety or his designee that all emergency response by the division of police, based on alarm activation, shall cease upon receipt of the written notice. Reinstatement of service: Any service which has been discontinued shall not be reinstated until it has been inspected by an alarm company licensed to do business in the sate, which shall certify that the system has been repaired and is now found to be in a reliable status. In the event the false alarm occurred through human negligence rather than mechanical failure, reinstatement shall not be permitted until t he user, its employees, and all others having access to the system have completed a training program satisfactory to the director of public safety or his designee. In addition to such written certification to the director of public safety or his designee, a reinstatement fee of one hundred dollars ($100.00), payable to the County of , must accompany the request for reinstatement. The inspection, repair, and recertification of any alarm system shall be accomplished at the alarm user's expense. Exceptions The service and reinstatement fees of this chapter shall not be applied to any alarm system used, operated, or installed in any premises or place owned, leased, occupied, or under the control of the United States government, the state or any of its political subdivisions, nor to the county or its school board or any officer, agent, or employee of the aforesaid governmental agencies while acting or employed in their official capacity. All other requirements, including termination of service, shall apply. Payment of Fees The chief of police shall certify to the director of finance the name of the user, the address from which alarms subject to penalty emanated, and the amount due the county on the last day of each month. The director of finance shall cause billing to be sent and shall in turn notify the chief of police when any account is more than thirty (30) days in arrears. any account more than thirty (30) days in arrears shall be subject to a termination of response and the reinstatement fee specified above must be remitted before service is restored. Penalties Any person who installs, sells, leases, or utilizes an alarm system in violation of this section shall be punished in accord with the provisions of Section of the County Code.