Sec. 32-43. - Duty of users to instruct personnel as to proper operation.
Sec. 32-46. - Prerecorded telephone messages to public safety services.
Sec. 32-47. - Deliberate false alarms.
Sec. 32-48. - False alarms prohibited; penalty.
Secs. 32-50—32-59. - Reserved.
For the purpose of this article, the following words and phrases shall have the meanings respectively ascribed to them by this section:
False alarm means any security alarm signal communicated, directly or indirectly, to the emergency communications center which is not generated by actual or threatened criminal activity requiring immediate police response. False alarms include negligently or accidentally activated signals; signals which are the result of faulty, malfunctioning or improperly installed or maintained equipment; signals which are purposely activated to summon the police in nonemergency situations; and alarm signals for which the actual cause is not determined. False alarms shall not include signals activated by unusually severe weather conditions or other causes which are identified and determined by the chief of police to be beyond the control of the user.
Nonemergency situation means any set of circumstances not involving perceived, actual or threatened criminal activity that constitutes an immediate danger to life or property.
Security alarm system means any device or system which transmits a signal visibly, audibly, electronically, mechanically or by any combination of these methods, directly or indirectly, to the emergency communications center which indicates unlawful entry or other criminal activity at a premises requiring an immediate police response to the scene.
User means the occupant of any premises equipped with a security alarm system or the owner of such premises if they are unoccupied.
(Ord. No. 4203-91, § 1)
Sec. 32-43. - Duty of users to instruct personnel as to proper operation.
Security alarm users shall instruct employees and others who may have occasion to activate an alarm that the alarm system shall be activated only in emergency situations requiring an immediate police response. Alarm users shall also instruct appropriate employees in the operation of the security alarm system, including deactivation and resetting of the alarm.
(Ord. No. 4203-91, § 1)
Security alarm system users shall post on the premises, in a conspicuous place visible from outside the premises, a sticker or other sign indicating the telephone numbers of at least two (2) responsible persons who are capable of deactivating and resetting the alarm system and of assisting the police in securing the premises, if necessary, and who may be notified by the police to respond to the scene. Such person or persons shall respond to the scene within one (1) hour after being requested to do so by the police.
(Ord. No. 4203-91, § 1)
Security alarm users shall be responsible for seeing that alarm systems are maintained in good working order and that defects which could cause false alarms are promptly repaired.
(Ord. No. 4203-91, § 1)
Sec. 32-46. - Prerecorded telephone messages to public safety services.
No person shall use or operate, attempt to use or operate, or cause to be used or operated, or arrange, adjust, program or otherwise operate any device or combination of devices that will, upon activation, either mechanically, electronically or by other automatic means, initiate an intracity or intercity call and deliver a prere corded message to any telephone number assigned to public safety services in the City of Newport News.
(Ord. No. 4203-91, § 1)
Sec. 32-47. - Deliberate false alarms.
(a)
Any person who deliberately and without just cause activates a security alarm system to summon the police in a nonemergency situation shall be guilty of a Class 2 misdemeanor.
(b)
Nothing contained in this section shall apply to the periodic testing of security alarm systems, when sufficient advance notice is given to the chief of police.
(Ord. No. 4203-91, § 1; Ord. No. 4906-96)
Sec. 32-48. - False alarms prohibited; penalty.
(a)
It shall be unlawful for any user to send a false alarm.
(b)
For each false alarm after three (3) false alarms originating from the same premises within a ninety-day period, there is hereby imposed a civil penalty in the amount of fifty dollars ($50.00) for each such false alarm. In no event shall a fee of more than one hundred dollars ($100.00) per day be charged for false alarms originating from the same premises.
(c)
The chief of police shall bill each user responsible for the false alarm the appropriate amount of penalty as set forth above. All such penalties shall be paid within thirty (30) days of billing. Any civil penalty assessed pursuant to subsection (b) above shall be forwarded by the chief of police to the city treasurer for collection. The city treasurer is authorized and directed to employ all appropriate means to collect such civil penalties.
(Ord. No. 4203-91, § 1; Ord. No. 6201-06, § 1)
The civil penalty set forth in this article shall not apply to any premises equipped with a security alarm system used, owned or occupied by the United States government or any of its agencies or instrumentalities or to the Commonwealth of Virginia, its agencies or political subdivisions, but all the other provisions of this article, including the termination of service, shall apply to them.
(Ord. No. 4203-91, § 1)
FOOTNOTE(S):
(98) Editor's note— Ord. No. 4203-91, adopted June 11, 1991, amended Art. III to read as herein set out. Prior to inclusion of said ordinance, Art. III, §§ 32-42—32-50, pertained to security alarm systems connected to the police department and derived from Ord. No. 2285, §§ 30-1—30-7 and Ord. No. 2704-80. See the Code Comparative Table for a detailed analysis of inclusion of Ord. No. 4203-91. (Back)