Sec. 13-4002. - DEFINITIONS.
[As used in this chapter, the following words shall have the meanings respectively ascribed to them as follows:]
Alarm means any electronic or mechanical device which emits any signal, whether electronic, audible, silent or recorded, and which is designed, used, or intended for the detection of an unauthorized intrusion or attempted intrusion into a building, structure or premises to signal an actual or attempted robbery; or for the detection of fire or products of combustion to signal a fire or initiate a response for medical assistance.
Alarm administrator means a person or persons designated by the City of Raleigh to administer, control and review false alarm reduction efforts for the City.
Alarm agent means any person who is employed by an alarm company either directly or indirectly, whose duties include any of the following: selling, maintaining, testing, servicing, repairing, altering, replacing, moving, or installing in any building, structure, or facility any alarm system, excluding any person who installs an alarm system in a home wherein that person personally resides.
Alarm company means the business, by an individual, partnership, corporation or other entity of selling, leasing, maintaining, servicing, repairing, altering, replacing, moving, installing or monitoring an alarm system in an alarm site. Notwithstanding the foregoing, the term "alarm company" shall not mean a landlord leasing alarm sites to tenants. All alarm companies operating within the jurisdiction of the City of Raleigh shall hold a current alarm systems business license issued by the North Carolina Alarm Systems Licensing Board.
Alarm dispatch request means a notification to a law enforcement agency or public safety agency that an alarm, either manual or automatic has been activated at a particular alarm site.
Alarm site means a single fixed premises or location served by an alarm system or systems. Each tenancy, if served by a separate alarm system in a multi-tenant building or complex shall be considered a separate alarm site.
Alarm system means any assembly of equipment, mechanical or electrical, device or series of devices, including, but not limited to, systems interconnected with a radio frequency method such as cellular or private radio signals, which emit or transmit a remote or local audible, visual or electronic signal indicating an alarm condition and intended to discourage crime and summon the Raleigh Police Department or other public safety agency. Alarm system does not include: (1) an alarm installed on a vehicle or person unless the vehicle or personal alarm is permanently located at a site, and (2) an alarm designed to alert only the inhabitants of a premises that does not have a sounding device which can be heard from the exterior of the alarm site.
Alarm user means any person, firm, partnership, corporation or other entity who (which) uses or is in control of any alarm system at its alarm site. In the case of a tenancy, the tenant shall be considered the sole alarm user at the alarm site.
Alarm user awareness class means a class conducted by the municipality or law enforcement agency for the purpose of educating alarm users about the problems created by false alarms and responsible use and operation of alarm systems.
Automatic voice dialer means any electrical, electronic, mechanical or other device capable of being programmed to send a prerecorded voice message, when activated, over a telephone line, radio or other communication system, to a law enforcement agency.
Cancellation is the process by which an alarm company providing monitoring verifies with the alarm user or responsible party that a false dispatch has occurred and that there is not an existing situation at the alarm site requiring law enforcement or public safety agency response.
Conversion means the transaction or process by which one alarm company begins monitoring of a previously unmonitored alarm system or an alarm system previously monitored by another alarm company.
Duress alarm means a silent alarm system signal generated by the manual activation of a device intended to signal a life threatening situation or a crime in progress requiring law enforcement response.
False alarm means an alarm dispatch request to a law enforcement agency/public safety agency, or an alarm signal eliciting a police response, when a situation requiring an immediate response does not in fact exist and the responding officer/agent finds no evidence of a criminal offense or attempted criminal offense or fire after having completed a timely investigation of the alarm site. An alarm will not be considered false if it is determined that the alarm was caused by:
(1) A natural or man-made catastrophe, or other "Act of God" such as tornadoes, floods, earthquakes, or other similarly violent conditions.
(2) Vandalism causing physical damage to the property.
(3) Attempted entry of a location causing visible, physical, or other evidence of damage to the location which has caused the alarm to sound.
(4) Severe weather or failure of electrical power not caused by subscriber.
(5) The test of a local alarm system by an authorized alarm agent or alarm company employee who is present at the premise inspecting, servicing, repairing, or installing the alarm.
An alarm dispatch request which is cancelled by the alarm company prior to the time the responding officer/agent reaches the alarm site shall not be considered a false alarm dispatch.
Fire department includes members of the Raleigh Fire Department.
Holdup alarm means a silent alarm signal generated by the manual activation of a device intended to signal a robbery in progress.
Keypad means a device that allows control of an alarm system by the manual entering of a coded sequence of numbers or letters.
Law enforcement authority means the chief of police, sheriff, or other authorized representative certified as a law enforcement officer and maintaining jurisdiction within the City of Raleigh.
Local alarm system means any alarm system that annunciates an alarm only by an internal or external audio device.
Monitoring means the process by which an alarm company receives signals from an alarm system and relays an alarm dispatch request to the municipality for the purpose of summoning law enforcement response to the alarm site.
One plus duress alarm means the manual activation of a silent alarm signal by entering at a keypad a code that adds one to the last digit of the normal arm/disarm code (Normal code = 1234 One Plus Duress Code = 1235).
Panic means a silent or audible alarm system signal generated by the manual activation of a device intended to signal a life threatening or emergency situation requiring law enforcement response.
Person means an individual, corporation, partnership, association, organization or similar entity.
Public safety agency includes the police and fire department.
Takeover means the transaction or process by which an alarm user takes over control of an existing alarm system, which was previously controlled by another alarm user.
Verify means an attempt, by the alarm company, or its representative, to contact the alarm site by telephonic or other electronic means, whether or not actual contact with a person is made, before requesting law enforcement dispatch, in an attempt to avoid an unnecessary alarm dispatch request.
Zones are subdivisions into which an alarm system is divided to indicate the general location from which an alarm system signal is transmitted.
(Ord. No. 2004-677, §2, 7-20-04)
