§ 105-11. Alarm Business Licenses. A. License required. No person shall engage in, solicit, manage, conduct, perform or carry on the business of installing, monitoring, responding to connecting, maintaining, repairing, servicing, arranging, adjusting, replacing, moving or programming any private alarm system, equipment or device designed to summon or notify the Police Department, Fire Department, neighbors or a private security service, and no person shall sell or lease systems, equipment or devices for such purpose and intended to be installed in any building, place or premises in the Borough of New Providence without first having obtained a license for that purpose from the Police Chief. Such license shall be known as the "alarm business license." Such license shall be for a term of one year and shall be renewable annually on October 1 of each year and shall not be transferable. B. To whom issued. Alarm business licenses shall be issued only to the following who have satisfied all requirements of this chapter: (1) Individual citizens of the United States operating as a sole proprietorship or as a partnership who have been residents of the state for at least one year at the time of applying for the license and who are at least 18 years of age and of good moral character. (2) Corporations incorporated or registered to do business in the State of New Jersey. C. Application for license: form and content. (1) Application for an alarm business license shall be made in writing, in duplicate, to the Chief of Police on forms supplied by the Police Department on or before September 1 in each year for approval by October 1 shall be accompanied by the license fee and processing fee required by this section and all other documents required by this section and shall contain the following information: (a)The name, business address, home address, business telephone number, residence telephone number and age of an individual owner of all partners and of the alarm business, if different; the trade name of the alarm business, if any; and if a corporation, the state of incorporation, name, trade name of the alarm business, if any, business address, business telephone number of the alarm business and of the officers, manager and stockholders of the corporation owning more than 10% of the stock of the corporation. (b)The name, address and telephone number of the insurance agent and company that will provide the required insurance coverage. (c)The names of all current employees. (d)For each vehicle to be used in the business, the name of the manufacturer, body type, year, serial number, color, bill of sale number, state registration number and license number. (e)For each individual owner or partner and in cases where a corporation is the applicant, its president, manager and each stockholder holding 10% or more of the capital stock of such corporation, a statement whether or not such persons have been convicted ofa crime and, if so, the nature of the offense, where convicted and the date of each such conviction. (f) A description of services to be offered by the applicant if the license is granted. (g)Such further information as may be required by the Police Chief from time to time. (2) Each application for an alarm business license shall be accompanied by a certificate of insurance from a company licensed to do business in the State of New Jersey showing evidence of public liability insurance in the amount of at least $100,000. (3) Each initial application shall be accompanied by a nonrefundable fee of $20 to cover the costs involved in processing the application and investigation of the applicant. No such fee shall be required for renewals of the license. This fee is in addition to the license fee required. (4) Each application shall also be accompanied by the appropriate license fee, which shall be refundable if the license is not granted. D. Prerequisites. After completing and submitting the application as aforesaid, the following prerequisites shall be required before a license may be issued: (1) Fingerprinting. Every individual owner or partner and, in cases where a corporation is the applicant, its president, manager and each stockholder holding 10% or more of the capital stock of such corporation applying for an alarm business license shall be fingerprinted by the Police Department as a prerequisite to the approval and issuance of such license by the Chief of Police. In the event that a records check shows that any such person has been convicted of any crime involving a sex offense of any kind, larceny of any degree or any other crime equivalent to a crime of the third degree or greater under New Jersey law, in this state or in any other state or territory of the United States, the Police Chief shall refuse to issue an alarm business license to such individual applicant or corporate applicant and shall revoke the same, after a hearing, upon the presentation of evidence of a prior or subsequent conviction of any such criminal offense. (2) Compliance with all other provisions of this chapter. E. Form and content of license. The license shall be in writing, numbered, in duplicate and signed by the Police Chief on a form provided by the borough and shall, for each such license, contain the following information: the name, trade name, if any, business address, business telephone of the alarm business, number of the license, the name of the company supplying insurance coverage, the policy number and the name, address and telephone number of the insurance agent. F. By whom issued. (1) An alarm business license or any renewal thereof shall be issued by the Police Chief only after compliance by the applicant with all the requirements of this chapter, including the payment of the required fee. (2) One copy of the alarm business license, when issued, shall be retained by the Police Chief. The applicant shall receive the original. G. Renewal of license. (1) All applications for renewal of an alarm business license shall be on the same form as the initial application and be filed with the Police Chief at least one month before the expiration date of the license being renewed. (2) Fingerprinting shall not be required on a renewal if there has been no change in the persons required by § 105-11C (1) to be listed on the initial application. H. Duty of Police Chief. (1) Within 60 days after the filing of an application for a license, the Police Chief or his designated representative shall notify the applicant of his decision to approve or deny the application. (2) No application shall be denied by the Police Chief unless he or she or she determines that the applicant or any owner, partner or manager of the applicant or, in the case of a corporation, any officer, manager or stockholder holding more than 10% of the capital stock of the corporation has a record of criminal convictions of the nature set forth herein, has made a materially false statement in the application, has failed to comply with any other provisions of this chapter, has failed to pay the required fee or for other just cause. The reason for the denial shall be specified in the notification to the applicant. I. Appeal of denial. If an applicant has been denied approval, the applicant may appeal the denial to the Mayor and Council of the Borough of New Providence by filing a letter, which shall constitute the notice of appeal, with the Borough Clerk within 10 days after receipt of the notice of denial. Said notice of appeal shall specify the grounds upon which the applicant relies in contending the denial was an error and shall have annexed to it the written denial from the Chief of Police. No hearing shall be held, but the Mayor and Council of the Borough of New Providence shall, within 30 days, review the letter notice of appeal and the denial notice and render a decision on said records. If the Mayor and Borough Council desire to review any other documents, they shall request the same in writing and shall notify both the denied applicant and the Chief of Police of said request. J. Continuation of business. Any person, partnership, corporation or other entity conducting an alarm business in the Borough of New Providence on the effective date of this chapter may continue to do business while its application for a license is being processed but shall cease and desist from doing business upon receipt of notice of denial of its application for a license. Such application shall be made within 30 days of the effective date of this chapter. K. Indemnity. For any such license granted hereunder, the licensee shall assume all liability and agree to indemnify and save harmless the Borough of New Providence, its agents and employees and the New Providence Police Department from any liability in connection with the operation of the alarm business. L. Applicability. The provisions of this section shall not be applicable to the property owner or occupant who installs an alarm system in the property he or she owns or occupies. § 105-12. Investigation and Issuance of Private Alarm System Permit. The Chief of Police shall not issue a permit for a private alarm system unless he or she finds that the system covered by the application meets applicable standards as set forth in regulations promulgated in writing by the Police Chief. Whenever the Chief of Police shall refuse to issue a permit, he or she shall advise the applicant, in writing, of the reason or reasons for refusal. He shall refuse to issue a permit for any private alarm system which: A. Does not have a method of shutting off the aforesaid alarm at the property on which it is located; B. Does not have a device or method for limiting the sounding of any audible alarm to 15 minutes; C. Can be activated by changes in atmospheric conditions of heat or cold or by wind; or D. Does not have a set of written instructions concerning the proper operation and maintenance of the alarm system and its component parts prepared by the alarm business or its component suppliers which has been given to the permittee. § 105-13. Expiration of Private Alarm System Permit. Every permit issued for a private alarm system shall expire on December 31 of the year in which it was issued, with the exception of those issued between October 15 and December 31, which shall be valid until December 31 of the following year. § 105-14. Terms and Conditions of Private Alarm System Permit. All permits for private alarm systems shall be issued upon the following terms and conditions: A. A permit shall be required for each separate residence, store, building or other facility, and no permit shall be transferred or assigned in any manner. B. If requested by the Borough Clerk, an applicant shall furnish complete information and specifications for the system. Such information shall include specific data relating to testing procedures and the prevention of false alarms. C. Every private alarm system shall be maintained in proper working condition and shall meet standards which may from time to time be promulgated by the Chief of Police to prevent faulty systems. D. Any private alarm system connected directly to the Police Department command desk shall be electrically compatible therewith. E. No private alarm system which automatically dials a telephone trunk line at the Police Department shall dial any number except one specified by the Police Chief. F. Any prerecorded telephone message to the Police Department resulting from the operation of a private alarm system shall be worded in a form approved by the Police Chief. G. No prerecorded telephone message to the Police Department resulting from the operation of a private alarm system shall repeat or remain connected for a continuous period of more than three minutes. H. Every permit shall be subject to rules and standards which may be promulgated by the Borough Council with respect to private alarms systems. Such rules shall be in writing and shall be given to each permittee at the time of issuance or renewal of any permit or at the time of promulgation or amendment. § 105-15. Suspension of Private Alarm System Permits. A. Any permit issued for a private alarm system may be suspended by the Chief of Police if it shall appear that: (1) The permittee has failed to comply with the terms and conditions of the permit or has failed to comply with rules and standards promulgated by the Chief of Police with respect to private alarm systems. (2) The permittee or his agents knowingly installed or maintained a faulty private alarm system. (3) The permittee or his agents failed to comply with a request by the Chief of Police or to render necessary services to a faulty private alarm system within 24 hours after such request is made or failed to disconnect such system within such period and until such system has been repaired. B. Four false alarms within any calendar year shall constitute prima facie evidence that a private alarm system is faulty and is in violation of this chapter. In the case of false alarms, any person having knowledge thereof shall immediately notify the Police Department. In addition, in the case of false alarms, the Police Chief shall cause an investigation to be made and keep a record of said alarms on file. If in the event of a false alarm, the Police Department is advised of the name, address, preassigned code number and that the alarm is false before police personnel arrive at the scene, the false alarm may not, in the discretion of the Police Chief or designee, be deemed to be a false alarm. If in the event of the testing of a private alarm system, the Police Department receives prior notice of at least five minutes before each test, the alarm will not be deemed a false alarm. Where the investigation of the Police Department discloses continued abuse of the privilege of connection to the alarm panel and a disregard by the permittee to take remedial steps to avoid false alarms, the Chief of Police may suspend the permit for a limited or permanent time, provided that no such permit shall be revoked or suspended without giving the permittee opportunity to show cause before the Police Chief why such action should not be taken. A suspension shall be terminated by the Chief of Police when he or she is satisfied that the conditions stated in the notice of suspension have been corrected. C. Subsequent to the adoption of this chapter, each alarm system, when initially installed, shall be operated for a period of one week without any audible annunciation or transmittal of an alarm signal to the Police Department to allow for a break-in and trial period. D. It shall be a violation of this chapter for any person to intentionally activate an alarm: (1) For the purpose of testing the system without prior notice to the Police Department. (2) For the purpose of measuring or testing police response. (3) For any other purpose other than the existence of an emergency for which the alarm system or warning device was intended to respond. § 105-16. Appeals. A. Any person aggrieved by the action of the Police Chief in denying a permit or in the suspension or revocation of any permit provided for by this chapter may appeal to the Public Safety Committee of the Borough of New Providence by filing a written notice of appeal with the Borough Clerk within 30 days of the alleged wrongful or improper act of the Police Chief. The Public Safety Committee shall set a time and place for hearing of the appeal, at which time the Public Safety Committee shall conduct a hearing and affirm, modify or reverse the action appealed from. B. A further appeal may be made to the Borough Council by any person aggrieved by the decision of the Public Safety Committee. Such further appeal shall be taken by filing with the Borough Clerk, within 20 days after notice of said decision has been mailed as aforesaid, a written statement setting forth fully the grounds of the further appeal, along with a fee of $25. The Borough Clerk shall set a time and place for hearing of the appeal, at which time the Borough Council shall conduct a hearing and affirm, modify or reverse the decision appealed from. § 105-17. Tape Dialer Systems. A. Requirements for tape dialer systems. No permit for a tape dialer system, whether installed prior to the effective date of this chapter or after such date, shall be issued unless the system complies with the provisions of this chapter and is also: (1) Approved by the Chief of Police after the performance of a test alarm conducted by or on behalf of the applicant. All such system wiring connected to the phone system shall be installed so as to be compatible with the telephone system so that incoming or outgoing calls will not interfere with the alarm system's proper operation. (2) Coded to dial a special number which shall be provided by the Chief of Police. No tape dialer system shall be coded to dial the number of the general police switchboard of the borough. (3) Coded to notify a relative, neighbor or other third party who shall be named in the registration required by this chapter. (4) Capable of being disconnected by the owner to permit a call to the police switchboard in the event that a false alarm occurs. (5) Worded in an intelligible format approved by the Chief of Police and complying with the following requirements: (a)No message shall be transmitted more than three minutes as a result of a single stimulus of the mechanism. (b)Messages shall not exceed 15 seconds, and the time gap between delivery shall be approximately 10 seconds. (c)The message shall contain, in the following order: [1]The alarm number provided by the Police Department. [2]The name of the resident or business. [3]The street address of the premises alarmed. (6) Adjusted so as to suppress false indications and not to be actuated by impulses due to pressure changes in water pipes, short flashes of light, wind, noises, rattling or vibration of doors or windows, changes in atmospheric temperature or other forces unrelated to general alarms. (7) Provided with an automatic line-seizure device in the event that the line from the premises where the alarm is installed is busy with an incoming or outgoing call. (8) Certified by a person licensed under this chapter as an alarm installer on forms supplied by the Police Department that the alarm system has been inspected by him, serviced as required and tested for proper operation and that said system complies with the requirements of this chapter. B. Fees for initial issue or removal of tape dialer permit. The permittee of each tape dialer system shall pay to the borough an annual fee of $12 at the time an initial application is submitted and by January 15 of each year thereafter so long as the permit is in force to cover the cost of registration and testing and to amortize the cost of the special telephone line or lines required in the police headquarters, along with ancillary tape devices necessitated by these systems. If any permittee shall fail, neglect or refuse to pay the annual fee and shall remain in such default for 30 days, the Chief of Police or designated representative is authorized, upon five days' notice to such permittee, to order such permittee to disconnect the permittee's alarm system from the special police number. C. Time for obtaining a tape dialer permit for system installed prior to the adoption of this chapter. (1) If any person has a tape dialer system installed at the time of the passage of this chapter, he or she shall have 30 days in which to apply for a permit, pay the annual fee, reprogram the equipment to comply with the terms of this chapter and obtain the necessary inspection and certification. Any person failing to comply therewith and continuing to have installed a tape dialer system programmed to the general Police Department telephone number shall be in violation of this chapter. On request, all owners of tape dialer systems seeking a permit or renewal thereof must furnish proof satisfactory to the Police Chief of the date of installation of the tape dialer system. (2) If any tape dialer system shall hereafter be found to be dialing the general police headquarters number rather than the special telephone number reserved for tape dialers, the occupant of the building or other person in whose name the telephone is listed shall be sent a notice, in writing, by the Chief of Police requiring compliance with the terms of this chapter. If the occupant or telephone subscriber shall fail, within 30 days after receipt of said notice, to comply, he or she shall be in violation of this chapter. D. Annual inspection required. Prior to the annual renewal of an existing tape dialer permit, the applicant must submit a certification on forms supplied by the Police Department signed by a person licensed under this chapter as an alarm installer, certifying that the alarm system has been inspected by him, serviced as required and tested for proper operation and that said system complies with the requirements of this chapter. § 105-18. Notification of Use of Warning Devices. Every person who installs, maintains or uses a warning device within the borough shall notify the Borough Clerk of such device by completing and filing with said Clerk a form to be furnished by the Borough Clerk, providing the following information: A. The name, address and telephone number of the owner or occupant of the property served by the warning device. B. The location of the property served. C. The name, address and telephone number of any person or company maintaining the warning device. D. The name and telephone number of a person within five miles of the borough to be notified of a warning or faulty warning device at any time when no one is present on the property served by the warning device. § 105-19. Correction or Disconnection of Faulty Warning Devices. Every person who installs, maintains or uses a warning device to serve an improved property within the borough shall promptly correct or disconnect any faulty device upon notice from the Chief of Police that the system is sounding an inordinate number of false alarms. § 105-20. False Alarms. Any person having knowledge of an alarm shall immediately notify the Police Department. The police shall cause an investigation to be made of each alarm and keep a record of all false alarms. A. Any person owning a private alarm system shall be subject to the following penalties: (1) For each false alarm knowingly or intentionally set off in any year, a fine of $200 or imprisonment for not more than 30 days, or both, at the discretion of the court. (2) For the first and second unintentional false alarms in any year, a warning notice shall be issued. (3) For the third unintentional false alarm in the same year, there shall be an administrative penalty of $25. (4) For the fourth through 10th unintentional false alarms in the same year, there shall be an administrative penalty of $50 for each false alarm. (5) For the 11th through 20th unintentional false alarms in the same year, there shall be an administrative penalty of $100 for each false alarm. (6) For each subsequent unintentional false alarm in the same year, there shall be an administrative penalty of $200. B. Any person owning a warning device shall be subject to the following penalties: (1) For each false alarm knowingly or intentionally set off in any year, a fine of $50. (2) For the first through fifth unintentional false alarms in any year, a warning notice shall be issued. (3) For the sixth through 20th unintentional false alarms in the same year, there shall be an administrative penalty of $25. (4) For each subsequent false alarm in the same year, there shall be an administrative penalty of $50.