ORDINANCE NO. 753 no longer operative

REPEALED PER Ord. 753.1 (Minute Order dated 8/12/97)

Ordinance No. 753.1

AN ORDINANCE OF THE COUNTY OF RIVERSIDE REGULATING

ALARM SYSTEMS AND THE REPORTING OF ACTIVATED ALARM SYSTEMS

BY ALARM COMPANIES TO THE SHERIFF'S DEPARTMENT

The Board of Supervisors of the County of Riverside, State of California, ordains as follows:

Section 1. Purpose and Application.

The purpose of this ordinance is to regulate Alarm Systems and the reporting of activated Alarm Systems by Alarm Companies to the Sheriff's Department of Riverside County. This ordinance shall be applicable in the unincorporated areas of the County.

Section 2. Non-Applicability.

This ordinance shall not apply to Persons who report the activation of an Alarm System who are not doing so as employees or agents of an Alarm Company.

Section 3. Definitions.

For the purpose of this ordinance, the following definitions shall apply:

a. "Alarm System" shall mean any device designed for the detection of any unauthorized entry on premises or for alerting others of the commission of an unlawful act or both, and when activated, emits a sound and/or transmits a signal to indicate that an emergency exists and which transmits a signal to a monitoring point designed to contact an emergency public agency or dispatch center to which law enforcement personnel and resources are expected to immediately respond to the location of the reported activated Alarm System.

b. "Alarm User" shall mean any Person using an Alarm System at his or her place of business, residence or other property.

c. "Person" shall mean natural person, firm, partnership, association or corporation.

d. "Automatic Telephone Billing Service" shall mean a service provided by a telephone service vendor that has the capability to establish, and bill and collect fees for use of, what is commonly known as a "900" telephone line or number (hereafter referred to as a "900 Telephone Service").

e. "Alarm Company" shall mean any person who monitors an Alarm System(s) and/or forwards to a public safety agency or dispatch center information regarding the activation of an Alarm System(s).

f. "False Alarm" shall mean the activation of an Alarm System to which emergency public safety personnel respond when an emergency public safety situation does not exist; provided that alarm activations caused by natural disaster or other violent conditions of nature or other extraordinary circumstances not subject to the control of the Alarm User or Alarm Company shall not constitute a False Alarm.

g. "Audible Alarm" shall mean an Alarm System that, when activated, generates an audible sound.

Section 4. Prohibitions.

a. No Person shall use or cause to be used any telephone device or telephone attachment, commonly known as an "auto-dialer," that automatically selects a public telephone trunk line to an emergency public safety agency or dispatch center and then reproduces a prerecorded message to report any unlawful act or other emergency.

b. No Person shall operate or use, or cause to be operated or used, any Alarm System that emits a sound similar to that of any emergency vehicle siren or civil defense warning system.

c. No Alarm Company shall report to the Sheriff's Department or its designated emergency dispatch centers an activated Alarm System except as provided by this ordinance.

d. No Person shall knowingly make, or cause to be made, a False Alarm. This subsection does not prohibit a test of an Alarm System if the appropriate emergency public safety agency and/or dispatch center is notified of the intended test prior to the activation of an Alarm System.

Section 5. Reporting Activated Alarm Systems by Alarm Companies.

Reporting of an activated Alarm System by an Alarm Company shall be made by using a 900 Telephone Service as may be established by the Sheriff's Department. An Alarm Company shall pay a fee, as established by this ordinance, for the reporting of an activated Alarm System as prescribed by this ordinance.

Section 6. Fee for reporting activated Alarm Systems by Alarm Companies.

The fee for reporting of an activated Alarm System by an Alarm Co. is established as five dollars ($5.00).

Section 7. Fee Collection and establishment of 900 Telephone Service.

a. The Sheriff's Department shall collect the fee established in section No. 6 hereinabove for the reporting of an activated Alarm System by Alarm Company as prescribed by this ordinance.

b. The Sheriff's Dept. may contract with an Automatic Telephone Billing Service for the establishment of a 900 Telephone Service for the reporting of activated Alarm Systems by Alarm Companies & for the billing and collection of any fee owed pursuant to section No. 6 hereinabove. The cost for said services rendered by an Automatic Telephone Billing Service under said contract shall be paid by an amount deducted from each fee collected by the Automatic Telephone Billing Service, not to exceed 25 percent of the fee.

Section 8. Installation of Alarm Systems.

All Alarm Systems installed or used within the unincorporated area of the County of Riverside shall be approved by Underwriter's Laboratories rated protection equipment and, where required, electrical installation of Alarm Systems shall be in accordance with applicable requirements of the County of Riverside's Building Code and all necessary permits shall be obtained therefore.

Section 9. Nuisance Alarms.

An Audible Alarm shall terminate its operation or the Audible Alarm shall automatically reset within fifteen (15) minutes of its being activated. If an Audible Alarm has emitted an alarm signal in excess of thirty (30) minutes within a one (1) hour period it may be declared a nuisance, and the Sheriff's department may cause such alarm to be disconnected by an Alarm Company licensed by the Department of Consumer Affairs, and the cost thereof to be charged to the Alarm User. If the alarm is connected to a Central Monitoring Point, a responsible party must deactivate the alarm within thirty (30) minutes of being notified of the nuisance.

Section 10. Violation.

a. Any Person violating the provisions of this ordinance shall be guilty of an infraction, and upon conviction thereof shall be punished by: (1) a fine not to exceed One Hundred Dollars ($100.00) for the first violation of this ordinance; (2) a fine not to exceed Two Hundred Dollars ($200.00) for a second violation of the ordinance within one year. The third and any additional violations of the ordinance within one year by the same person shall constitute a misdemeanor offense and shall be punishable by a fine not to exceed One Thousand Dollars ($1,000.00) or six months in jail, or both. Notwithstanding the above, a first offense may be charged and prosecuted as a misdemeanor. Payment of any fine or penalty herein shall not relieve a Person from the responsibility for correcting any violation of this ordinance.

b. The additional remedies, penalties, and procedures for violation of this ordinance and for recovery of costs related to enforcement provided for in Ordinance No. 725 are incorporated herein by this reference.

c. All remedies available to the County of Riverside shall be cumulative and the use of one or more remedies by the County of Riverside shall not bar the use of any other remedy for the purpose of enforcing the provisions of this ordinance.

Section 11. Severability.

If any section, subsection, sentence, clause, or phrase of this ordinance as herein acted or the application thereof to any Person or circumstances is held invalid or unconstitutional by decision of any court of competent jurisdiction, such invalidity shall not affect the other provisions or applications of this ordinance, or any section or portion of section hereof, which can be given effect without the invalid provisions where application and to this in the provisions of this ordinance are, and are intended to be, severable. The Board of Supervisors hereby declares that it would have passed this ordinance and each section, subsection, clause, or phrase thereof irrespective of the fact that anyone or more other sections, subsections, clauses, or phrases may be declared invalid or unconstitutional.

Section 12. Repeal.

Ordinance No. 595.1 is hereby repealed.

Section 13. Effective Date.

The provisions of this ordinance shall become effective ninety (90) days after its adoption.

ADOPTED: 753 05/07/96 (Eff.: 08/05/96)

AMENDED: 753.1 08/12/97 (Eff.: 09/11/97)