False Alarm Fee Bylaw
What the Bylaw says:
Any residence, school, municipal building or place of business which has an alarm system connected directly to the Police Department or connected indirectly to said Department through a private alarm company (each of which will be hereinafter referred to as a “monitored system”), shall be charged a fine for all responses by the Department to such buildings when the response is caused by: (1) the activation of the monitored system through mechanical failure, malfunction, improper installation, or negligence of the user of an alarm system or his employees or agents; or (2) the activation of the monitored system requesting, requiring or resulting in a response on the part of the Police Department when, in fact, there has been no unauthorized intrusion, robbery or burglary, or attempted threat. For the purposes of this bylaw, activation of a monitored system for the purposes of testing with prior approval by the Police Department, or by an act of God, including, but not limited to, power outages, hurricanes, tornadoes, earthquakes and similar weather or atmospheric disturbances shall not be deemed to be a false alarm. A fine for violation of this bylaw may be assessed against the owner or tenant of the residence or place of business. Penalties for violation of this bylaw shall be as follows, successive responses to be counted within any twelve month period: First 3 responses Warning; Fourth response $ 50.00; Fifth response $ 75.00; Sixth response $100.00; Seventh response $150.00; Eighth and subsequent responses $200.00; This section may be enforced pursuant to the noncriminal disposition method as contained in M.G.L. Chapter 40, Section 21D. Enforcing persons shall be police officers.
Any residence, school, municipal building or place of business which has an alarm system connected directly to the Police Department or connected indirectly to said Department through a private alarm company (each of which will be hereinafter referred to as a “monitored system”), shall be charged a fine for all responses by the Department to such buildings when the response is caused by: (1) the activation of the monitored system through mechanical failure, malfunction, improper installation, or negligence of the user of an alarm system or his employees or agents; or (2) the activation of the monitored system requesting, requiring or resulting in a response on the part of the Police Department when, in fact, there has been no unauthorized intrusion, robbery or burglary, or attempted threat. For the purposes of this bylaw, activation of a monitored system for the purposes of testing with prior approval by the Police Department, or by an act of God, including, but not limited to, power outages, hurricanes, tornadoes, earthquakes and similar weather or atmospheric disturbances shall not be deemed to be a false alarm. A fine for violation of this bylaw may be assessed against the owner or tenant of the residence or place of business. Penalties for violation of this bylaw shall be as follows, successive responses to be counted within any twelve month period: First 3 responses Warning; Fourth response $ 50.00; Fifth response $ 75.00; Sixth response $100.00; Seventh response $150.00; Eighth and subsequent responses $200.00; This section may be enforced pursuant to the noncriminal disposition method as contained in M.G.L. Chapter 40, Section 21D. Enforcing persons shall be police officers.