§ 102.03 ISSUANCE OF PERMITS; LICENSES

(A) The Controller shall issue to an alarm user who duly submits a registration form a permit or other document evidencing that registration has been completed. The Controller shall further issue to an alarm company a license upon the submission of an application and the appropriate fee in accordance with this chapter. Upon the payment of the annual renewal fee for renewal of a license the Controller shall further issue a renewal license or other document evidencing that the annual license fee has been duly and timely paid by the alarm company. The Controller shall be entitled to withhold the issuance of a permit to an alarm user or a license to an alarm company if the Controller finds or believes that any statement made in a registration or an application is incomplete or false.

(B) Immediately after receipt of a registration form duly completed from an alarm user or an application for license duly completed from an alarm company and payment of any fee required, and upon the receipt of renewal fees (when required) and notices of change of information regarding registration or licenses, the Controller shall forward the registration or application to the Director of Communications for the City of Fort Wayne and the Ordinance Violations Bureau. All information on such registration or application shall be protected as confidential information; provided, however, nothing in this chapter shall prohibit the use of such information for legitimate law enforcement purposes and for enforcement of this chapter.

(Ord. G-09-97, passed 8-23-97; Am. Ord. G-07-02, passed 3-26-02)

§ 102.02 REGISTRATION; LICENSES

(A) Alarm user's registration. All alarm users, within 30 days of the installation of an alarm system for all multi-family dwellings and commercial buildings where alarm systems are installed shall register with the Controller any such alarm system according to the provisions set out herein. Said initial registration shall be completed as more specifically set out in § 102.02(A)(3).

(1) The registration shall be on a form prescribed by the Controller and shall include the following information:

(a) Name, telephone number, and address of the alarm user, including the name of an individual with authority to bind the alarm user and who has information pertinent to the alarm system.

(b) Address and telephone number at which the alarm system is located, including the name of an individual with authority to bind the alarm user and who has information pertinent to the alarm system.

(c) Alarm systems service (police, fire, other).

(d) Alarm system type (commercial monitoring, audible, silent, direct connection, other).

(e) Names, addresses and telephone numbers of at least two people who shall be contacted and who shall respond in the event of an alarm activation.

(f) The name, address and telephone number of the alarm company.

(g) Any other additional information requested on registration forms provided by the Controller.

(2) Registrations by alarm users must be completed for each individual structure where an alarm system is in operation in a multi-family dwelling, or a commercial building. Registration shall be completed by alarm users for each individual business within a single structure where an alarm system is installed and in operation.

(3) There shall be no registration fee for alarm users otherwise required to register an alarm system except as noted herein. Upon the occurrence of a third false alarm for a particular alarm system within the same calendar year, the alarm user will be required to pay a $50 registration fee to the Controller' Office. This registration fee shall be in addition to the penalty for failure to register as designated in § 102.02(A)(7) of this chapter.

(4) The Controller shall send a copy of the registration form to the Ordinance Violations Bureau and the Director of Communications, for the City of Fort Wayne (hereinafter "Director of Communications").

(5) It is a violation of this chapter for any alarm user who is otherwise required to register an alarm system, to knowingly maintain or use an alarm system without completing and submitting the registration form and the registration fee as required in this chapter.

(6) An alarm user is required to notify the Controller of a change of registration information within 30 days of the time when the change of information has occurred.

(7) Penalty for violation of this section: An alarm user or other person or entity violating any provision of this section (§ 102.02(A)) shall be subject to a fine of not less than $50 nor more than the maximum fine allowed by law. If said violation is failure to register pursuant to this section, then said violator shall be fined for each 12 month period in which they fail to register unless registration is completed within ten days after receiving notification of the failure to register by the Controller, provided that prior notification has not been given.

(8) Registration completed pursuant to this article shall be personal to the alarm user who completes registration for a specific location and is not transferable.

(9) Any fees collected as a result of registration or licensing or as a result of penalties for violation of this section (§ 102.02(A)) shall be deposited into the General Fund of the City of Fort Wayne.

(B) Alarm company - licenses.

(1) All alarm companies shall obtain from the Controller a license which authorizes the alarm company to install alarm systems.

(2) The initial registration fee for a License shall be $250 and shall be valid for one year. There shall be an annual renewal fee for the License of $100. The annual renewal date and the date upon which the annual renewal fee is due shall be July 1 of each year regardless of when the alarm company originally registered. By June 1, the Controller's Office shall send a letter to all alarm companies notifying them that the renewal fee is due. The original license fee and renewal license fee being charged shall be used in part to help defray expenses for mailings, notices, registrations forms and other costs associated with the administration of the licensing. Payment of all License fees and renewals shall be submitted to the Controller be made payable to the City of Fort Wayne and be deposited into the General Fund of the City of Fort Wayne.

(3) Application for license. All applications for a License required by this Article shall be made on forms designated by the Controller and shall include the following information:

(a) The full name and address of the alarm company.

(b) The full name, business address and home address of the manager or person to be contacted at the alarm company.

(c) A telephone number at which the Fort Wayne Police Department or Fort Wayne Fire Department or Allen County Sheriff's Department can notify personnel of the alarm company of a need for assistance at any time.

(d) The names and addresses of all alarm agents employed by the alarm company.

An alarm company shall promptly notify the controller in writing of any change in the information contained in the registration form.

(4) It is a violation of this chapter for any alarm company who is otherwise required to obtain a license, to knowingly install an alarm system without obtaining such a license.

(5) Penalty for violation of this section: An alarm company or other person or entity violating this section (§ 102.02(B)) shall be guilty of an infraction and subject to a minimum fine of $200 for each offense and up to the maximum fine allowed by law.

(6) An alarm company's license shall be personal to the company holding the license and is not transferable.

(Ord. G-09-97, passed 8-23-97; Am. Ord. G-07-02, passed 3-26-02)

§ 102.01 DEFINITIONS

ALARM AGENT. Any person who is employed by an alarm company either directly or indirectly, whose duties include selling, maintaining, leasing, servicing, repairing, altering, replacing, moving or installing on or in any building, structure, facility or grounds any alarm system.

ALARM COMPANY. Any person or entity whether an individual, partnership, corporation, or other entity selling, leasing, maintaining, servicing, repairing, altering, replacing, removing, or installing any alarm system or causing to be sold, leased, maintained, serviced, repaired, altered, replaced, removed, or installed any alarm system in or any building, structure or facility.

ALARM SYSTEM.

(1) An assembly of equipment and devices arranged to signal the presence of a hazard requiring attention and to which Police or Fire Department personnel are expected to respond. Alarm systems include those through which public safety personnel are notified directly of such signals through automatic recording devices or are notified indirectly by way of third persons who monitor the alarm systems and who report such signals to the Communications Department. Alarm systems also include those designed to register a signal which is audible, visible or in other ways perceptible outside a protected building, structure or facility as to notify persons in the neighborhood beyond the zoning lot where the signal is located who in turn may notify the appropriate emergency provider of the signal. Alarm systems do not include auxiliary devices installed by telephone companies to protect telephone equipment or systems which might be damaged or disrupted by the use of an alarm system. Alarm system shall include the terms "automatic" or "manual hold up alarm system," "burglar alarm systems,""security alarm systems," and "automatic" or "manual fire alarm systems."

(2) Alarm system does not include audible alarms fixed to automobiles or other vehicles; or smoke detectors for dwellings which are not connected to a monitoring agency.

ALARM USER. Any person, firm, partnership, association, corporation, company, or other entity or organization of any kind having ownership or control (as a tenant, owner or otherwise) of any dwelling or commercial building, structure, or facility where an alarm system is maintained or activated.

AUDIBLE ALARM. A device designed for the detection of a condition that would result in a public safety response on the premises, which generates an audible sound on the premises when it is activated.

AUTOMATIC TELEPHONE DIALING DEVICE. A device which is interconnected to an alarm system which automatically sends a pre-recorded message or coded signal to a law enforcement agency indicating the activation of the alarm system or a device which is interconnected to telephone lines and is programmed to select a pre-determined number and transmit by voice message or code signal and emergency message indicating a need for emergency response.

COMMERCIAL BUILDING. A commercial building is any building or portion thereof which is not a one, two, three, or multi-family dwelling.

CONTROLLER. The Controller of the City of Fort Wayne whose address for the purposes of this chapter shall be Civil City Accounting Room 420, One East Main Street, Fort Wayne, IN 46802 and whose phone number for the purposes of obtaining information concerning this chapter shall be (219) 427-1104.

DWELLING. A building or portion therefore used primarily as a place of abode for one or more human beings, but not including hotels, lodging or boarding houses or tourist homes.

DWELLING - MULTI-FAMILY. A building or portion thereof used for occupancy by four or more families living independently of each other.

DWELLING - ONE FAMILY. A building used for occupancy by one family.

DWELLING - THREE FAMILY. A building used for occupancy by three families living independently of each other.

DWELLING - TWO FAMILY. A building used for occupancy by two families living independently of each other.

DWELLING UNIT. A dwelling or a portion of a dwelling or of an apartment or hotel used by one family for cooking, living, and sleeping purposes.

EXEMPTED FACILITY OR ENTITY. The following facilities or entities shall be exempted from the payment of penalties for false alarms as designated in this section:

(1) Long term care facility as defined in IC 12-7-2-125.5;

(2) Nursing facilities as defined in IC 12-7-2-133;

(3) Private psychiatric institutions as defined in IC 12-7-2-145 and IC 12-15-18-3;

(4) Psychiatric hospitals as defined in IC 12-7-2-151; and

(5) Facilities owned, or leased by the city and under the control and operated by the Parks and Recreation Department. Nothing in this exemption is intended nor should it be implied that any of the aforementioned entities are exempt from the registration and licensing requirement as subsequently prescribed herein.

FALSE ALARM. The activation of an alarm system through mechanical failure, malfunction, improper installation, or as a result of the negligence, misuse or misconduct of an alarm user or alarm company of an alarm system or of the agents, employees or representatives of an alarm user or alarm company. This does not include alarms caused by severe weather, natural or manmade disaster, power or telephone service outages, authorized alarm testing, for which prior notification to the Communications Center has been made or malicious acts of person or persons not under the direct control of the owner, lessee, or his employees or agents.

LICENSE. An authorization of the City of Fort Wayne to allow an alarm company to install or maintain an alarm system within the City of Fort Wayne which is commercially monitored or which is electronically connected to the Communications Center of the City of Fort Wayne or an alarm system which when activated would result in a Police or Fire Department response.

LOCAL ALARM SYSTEM. A signal system which when activated causes an audible and/or visible signaling device to be activated only in or on the premises in which the alarm system is installed, operated or maintained.

MONITORED ALARM SYSTEM. An alarm system using a digital alarm communication system or supervised dedicated circuits transmit alarm, supervisory and trouble signals from one or more protected premises to a remote location at which appropriate action is taken.

(Ord. G-09-97, passed 8-23-97; Am. Ord. G-14-01, passed 10-9-01; Am. Ord. G-07-02, passed 3-26-02; Am. Ord. G-09-02, passed 4-9-02)

§ 96.99 PENALTY

Whoever violates any provisions of this chapter, upon conviction thereof, shall be fined not less than $150 nor more than $500 for each offense. Each day any violation shall continue shall constitute a separate offense.

(Ord. G-21-93, passed 6-8-93)

§ 96.30 ENFORCEMENT

The Fort Wayne Fire Department and the Fort Wayne Police Department shall be charged with enforcing the provisions of § 96.20.

(Ord. G-15-07, passed 6-12-07)