5752ORDINANCE NO. 5752
AN ORDINANCE OF THE CITY OF ANAHEIM
AMENDING SECTIONS 4.95.010, 4.95.020,
4.95.060, 4.95.070, 4.95.080 AND
4.95.160, ADDING SECTION 4.95.145, AND
REPEALING SECTION 4.95.130 OF CHAPTER
4.95 OF TITLE 4 OF THE ANAHEIM MUNICIPAL
CODE RELATING TO FALSE ALARMS.
THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF ANAHEIM DOES ORDAIN AS
FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1.
That Section 4.95.010 of Chapter 4.95 of Title 4 of the
Anaheim Municipal Code be and the same is hereby amended to read
as follows:
"4.95.010 DEFINITIONS
"Purpose. The public has purchased burglary and robbery
alarm systems which either mechanically malfunction or are not
operated properly by their users, causing an increase in false
alarm reports which require an immediate response from the
Anaheim Police Department, thus needlessly diverting limited
police resources. The purpose of this chapter is to set forth
regulations governing the use of burglary and robbery alarm
systems, require permits therefor, establish fees, and provide
penalty for violations of provisions of this chapter.
"(a) "Alarm systems" means any mechanical or electrical
device which is designed or used for the detection of an
unauthorized entry into a building, structure or facility, or for
alerting others of the commission of an unlawful act within a
building, structure or facility, or both, and which emits a sound
or transmits a signal or message when actuated. Alarm systems
include, but are not limited to, direct dial telephone devices,
audible alarms and proprietor alarms. Devices which are not
designed or used to register alarms that are audible, visible, or
perceptible outside of the protected building, structure or
facility are not included within this definition nor are
auxiliary devices installed by the telephone company to protect
telephone company systems which might be damaged or disrupted by
the use of an alarm system.
"(b) "Applicant" means a person, firm, or corporation who or
which files an application for a permit as provided in this
chapter.
"(c) "Audible alarm" means that type of alarm system which,
when activated, emits an audible alarm.
"(d) "City" means the City of Anaheim.
"(e) "Day" means calendar day.
"(f) "False alarm" means an alarm signal activated, whether
wilfully, unintentionally, negligently, inadvertently, due to
mechanical malfunction, due to electrical malfunction, or due to
weather conditions, necessitating a response and arrival by the
Anaheim Police Department where there is no unauthorized entry or
any visible criminal act.
"(g) "Finance Department" means the Finance Department of
the City of Anaheim.
"(h) "Notice" means written notice, given by personal
service upon the addressee, or given by the United States mail,
postage prepaid, addressed to the person to be notified at his
last known address. Service of such notice shall be effective
upon the completion of personal service, or upon the placing of
the same in the custody of the United States Postal Service.
"(i) "Permittee" means any person, firm, partnership,
association or corporation who or which shall be granted a
permit, as provided herein, and his or its agents and
representatives.
"(j) "Person" means natural person, firm, partnership,
association or corporation.
"(k) "Police Chief" means the Police Chief of the City of
Anaheim.
"(1) "Proprietorship alarm" means an alarm which is not
serviced by an alarm business.
"(m) "Subscriber" means any person who purchases, leases,
contracts for or otherwise obtains an alarm system, or for the
maintenance of an alarm system, from an alarm business.
"(n) "Signal channel" means a telephone line or other method
of transmitting signals other than by the use of a telephone,
which signals channels shall be caused to be installed and used
by the permittee for the purpose of delivering a signal to the
monitor as herein defined.
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"(o) "Outdoor Alarm" means any alarm system designed to
cover an outdoor area not secured by a building, structure or
large area indoor facility, including but not limited to
warehouses.
"(p) "Visual Verification" means that when the alarm is
activated, an intrusion or attempted criminal act on the premises
is personally observed by someone at the location, such as a
security guard, or is observed via closed circuit television."
SECTION 2,
That Section 4.95.020 of Chapter 4.95 of Title 4 of the
Anaheim Municipal Code be, and the same is hereby, amended to
read as follows:
"4.95.020 PERMIT REQUIRED
"No person shall install or use an alarm system without
first applying and receiving an alarm permit therefor in
accordance with the provisions of this chapter."
SECTION 3.
That Section 4.95.060 of Chapter 4.95 of Title 4 of the
Anaheim Municipal Code be, and the same is hereby, amended to
read as follows:
"4.95.060 SUSPENSION AND REVOCATION OF PERMITS
"If at any time it shall come to the attention of the Chief
of Police that the holder of a permit issued under this chapter
has violated any provisions of this chapter, rules, or
regulations made pursuant to this chapter including, but not
limited to, false alarms which exceed the numbers permitted
pursuant to Section 4.95.080 of this chapter or has failed or
refused to pay the false alarm prevention fee as provided in said
section, the Chief of Police may revoke the permit.
"If an alarm permit is to be revoked, as provided hereunder,
the Chief of Police shall give the permittee fifteen days notice
of his intention to revoke said permit by personal service or by
registered mail addressed to permittee at the address set forth
on the permit application. Upon failure of the permittee to
cause the system to be repaired or to be properly used and
operated within said fifteen day period, to pay the false alarm
prevention fee, or to file an appeal to the City Council pursuant
to Section 4.95.070, the permit shall be revoked at the
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expiration of said fifteen day period and the alarm system may
not thereafter be used until a new permit is issued. Said notice
shall also provide that permittee may appeal the revocation to
the Anaheim Police Department Hearing Review Officer as provided
in Section 4.95.070 of this Chapter."
SECTION 4.
That Section 4.95.070 of Chapter 4.95 of Title 4 of the
Anaheim Municipal Code be, and the same is hereby, amended to
read as follows:
"4.95.070 APPEAL OF REVOCATION
"In the event a permit is revoked, or notice of revocation
is given as provided in Section 4.95.060 of this Chapter, the
permittee may appeal by filing a statement addressed to the
Hearing Officer of the Anaheim Police Department setting forth
the facts and circumstances regarding the actions of the
Department within the time limits specified in the next
paragraph. The Hearing Officer shall cause the appeal to be
placed on the next available date on the Hearing Officer's
calendar and notify the appellant. The Hearing Officer shall
consider the appeal and may affirm or overrule the action of the
Department. The right to appeal to the Hearing Officer from an
action of the Department shall terminate upon the expiration of
fifteen (15) days following deposit of the notice of intent to
revoke in the United States Post Office or personal service of
said notice.
"The permittee will be notified of the decision of the
Hearing Officer by mail or personal service and may appeal said
decision to the City Council. The appeal to the City Council
shall be filed with the City Clerk and shall consist of a
statement addressed to the City Council setting forth the facts
and circumstances regarding the action of the Chief of Police and
the decision of the Hearing Officer. The right to appeal to the
City Council shall terminate upon the expiration of fifteen days
following deposit of the Hearing Officer's decision in the United
States Post Office or personal service of said notice. The City
Clerk shall cause the appeal to be placed on the next available
City Council agenda and notify the appellant. The City Council
shall consider the appeal and may affirm, overrule, or modify the
decision of the Chief of Police. Its decision shall be final.
"All fees paid by permittee as provided by this chapter
shall be forfeited in the event of revocation. Enforcement of a
revocation notice pursuant to Section 4.95.060 shall be stayed
during the pendency of an appeal therefrom which is properly and
timely filed. During the pendency of any appeal of revocation,
the direct alarm system shall not be disconnected."
SECTION 5.
That Section 4.95.080 of Chapter 4.95 of Title 4 of the
Anaheim Municipal Code be, and the same is hereby, amended to
read as follows:
"4.95.080 FALSE ALARM - PREVENTION PAYMENT
11.010 Prevention Payment
"(a) When emergency alarms, messages, signals or notices are
received by the Police Department that evidence a failure to
comply with the requirements of this chapter or a permit issued
hereunder, the Chief of Police is authorized to demand that the
owner or lessee of the alarm system initiating such alarms,
messages, signals, or notices, or his representative, disconnect
the alarm system until it is made to comply with said
requirements.
"(b) The owner or lessee of any alarm system shall be
assessed a fee for each false alarm in excess of three for any
twelve month period. The fee shall be sixty dollars ($60.00)
each for the fourth and fifth said false alarms; one hundred
dollars ($100.00) each for the sixth and seventh said false
alarms; two hundred dollars ($200.00) each for the eighth and
ninth said false alarms; and three hundred dollars ($300.00) each
for the tenth and succeeding said false alarms. The fee will be
paid to the Finance Director for deposit into the General Fund.
"(c) An alarm permit may be suspended or revoked as provided
in Section 4.95.060, in addition to the payment of the prevention
payment as provided in this section, or in the event of failure
to pay the false alarm fees.
"(d) Exceptions:
"(1) A thirty -day adjustment period to correct mechanical
problems will be allowed for any new, improved or replaced alarm
system.
"(2) If the user shows that any false alarm was (i) the
result of conditions beyond his control and not the result of
negligence of himself or any of his employees, and (ii) that he
neither knew of the defect in the alarm system nor in the
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exercise of due care should have known of such defect, such false
alarm shall not be deemed a "false alarm" as used in this
chapter.
".020 Prevention Program
"(a) The Police Department may provide an educational
program for the prevention of false alarms. The Police
Department shall allow an alarm permittee to attend any false
alarm prevention program for the purposes of this section. Each
person who attends the False Alarm Prevention Program shall pay a
fee of ten dollars ($10.00). The Police Department shall collect
the fee established by this section before or at the time of the
person(s) attendance in the program.
"(b) If the alarm permittee successfully completes the False
Alarm Prevention Program, the Police Department shall issue the
person a certificate. The certificate may be used in lieu of, or
in addition to, one payment of (1) sixty dollars ($60.00)
pursuant to Section 4.95.080, provided that the certificate is
submitted within one (1) year of its issuance.
"(c) An alarm permittee who attends the False Alarm
Prevention Program provided pursuant to this section is not
eligible to attend another program within twelve (12) months from
the time in which the person last attended the program."
SECTION 6.
That Section 4.95.100 of Chapter 4.95 of Title 4 of the
Anaheim Municipal Code be, and the same is hereby, amended to
read as follows:
"4.95.100 TESTING ALARM
11.010 Permittee shall notify the Anaheim Police
Department Dispatcher prior to any service, test, repair
maintenance, adjustment, alterations, or installations of systems
which would normally result in a police response, which might
activate a false alarm. Any alarm activated where such prior
notice has been given shall not constitute a false alarm.
".020 Notwithstanding Section 4.95.100.010, no person
shall activate an alarm for the purpose of ascertaining the time
it takes from when the alarm is activated until the arrival of a
police officer (response time). Any person activating an alarm
to ascertain response time is guilty of a misdemeanor punishable
as set forth in Anaheim Municipal Code Section 1.01.370."
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SECTION 7.
That Section 4.95.110 of Chapter 4.95 of Title 4 of the
Anaheim Municipal Code be, and the same is here by, amended to
read as follows:
"4.95.110 PROHIBITIONS
"It shall be unlawful to install or use an alarm system
which, upon activation, emits a sound similar to sirens in use on
emergency vehicles or for civil defense purposes."
SECTION 8.
That Section 4.95.130 of Chapter 4.95 of Title 4 of the
Anaheim Municipal Code be, and the same is hereby, repealed.
SECTION 9.
That Section 4.95.145 be, and the same is hereby, added
to Chapter 4.95 of Title 4 of the Anaheim Municipal Code to read
as follows:
"4.95.145 OUTDOOR ALARMS: VISUAL VERIFICATION REQUIRED
"Before any police officer may be dispatched in response to
an activated outdoor alarm, there shall be a visual verification,
as defined in Section 4.95.010(p), and that verification shall
have been communicated to the Anaheim Police Department."
SECTION 10.
That Section 4.95.160 of Chapter 4.95 of Title 4 of the
Anaheim Municipal Code be, and the same is hereby, amended to
read as follows:
"4.95.160 VIOLATION OF CHAPTER; PENALTIES
"Except as otherwise provided in this chapter, any person
violating any of the provisions of this chapter shall be deemed
guilty of an infraction."
SECTION 11. SEVERABILITY
The City Council of the City of Anaheim hereby declares
that should any section, paragraph, sentence or word of this
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Ordinance of the Code, hereby adopted, be declared for any reason
to be invalid, it is the intent of the Council that it would have
passed all other portions of this Ordinance independent of the
elimination herefrom of any such portion as may be declared
invalid.
SECTION 13. SAVINGS CLAUSE
Neither the adoption of this Ordinance nor the repeal
of any other Ordinance of this City shall in any manner affect
the prosecution for violations of Ordinances, which violations
were committed prior to the effective date hereof, nor be
construed as a waiver of any license or penalty or the Penal
provisions applicable to any violation thereof. The provisions
of this Ordinance, insofar as they are substantially the same as
Ordinance provisions previously adopted by the City relating to
the same subject matter, shall be construed as restatements and
continuations, and not as new enactments.
THE FOREGOING ORDINANCE is approved and adopted by the
City Council of the City of Anaheim this9th day of
January , 2001.
ATTEST:
C TY CLEJFK OF THE CITY OF ANAHEIM
38102.1
D
MAYOR OF THE CITY OF ANAHEIM
STATE OF CALIFORNIA )
COUNTY OF ORANGE ) ss.
CITY OF ANAHEIM )
I, SHERYLL SCHROEDER, City Clerk of the City of Anaheim, do hereby certify that the foregoing
Ordinance No. 5752 was introduced at a regular meeting of the City Council of the City of
Anaheim, held on the 19th day of December, 2000, and that the same was duly passed and
adopted at a regular meeting of said City Council held on the 9th day of January, 2001, by the
following vote of the members thereof:
AYES:
MAYOR/COUNCIL MEMBERS:
Feldhaus, Kring, Tait, McCracken, Daly
NOES:
MAYOR/COUNCIL MEMBERS:
None
ABSENT:
MAYOR/COUNCIL MEMBERS:
None
(SEAL)
_.._ __.r
CI CLERK F THE CITY OF ANAHEIM