Municipal Code

Title 10 Regulation of Activities

Chapter 10.48 False Alarms

Section 10.48.020 Definitions

“Alarm administrator” means the person designated by the chief of police to administer the City’s security alarm program, to issue citations and levy fees pursuant to this chapter.

“Alarm appeals officer” means the person(s) designated by the chief of police to hear and decide appeals related to service fees and registration suspensions pursuant to this chapter.

“Alarm business” means any business, by an individual, partnership, corporation or other entity engaged in the selling, leasing, maintaining, servicing, repairing, altering, replacing, moving, installing or responding to security alarms.

1. Alarm businesses also include any person, business or organization that monitors security alarm systems and initiates alarm dispatch requests, including units or divisions of larger businesses or organizations that provide proprietary security alarm monitoring services only to affiliates of the parent business or organization.

1. Alarm businesses do not include persons doing installation or repair work solely on premises they own, lease or rent where such work is performed without compensation of any kind (i.e., “do-it-yourselfers”).

“Alarm dispatch request” means the initiating of a communication to the police, via police dispatch, by an alarm business indicating that a security alarm system has been activated at a particular alarm site and requesting police department response to that alarm site.

“Alarm installation company” means a person in the business of selling, providing, maintaining, servicing, repairing, altering, replacing, moving or installing an alarm system in an alarm site.

“Alarm site” (also “security alarm site”) means a structure or portion thereof served by a single security alarm system (a “fixed” alarm site).

1. In a multi-tenant building or complex, each portion of the structure or complex having its own security alarm system is considered a separate alarm site.

“Alarm system” (also “security alarm system”) means a device or series of interconnected devices, including, but not limited to, systems interconnected with hard wiring or radio frequency signals, which are designed to emit and/or transmit a remote or local audible, visual or electronic signal indicating that an intrusion may either be in progress or being attempted at the alarm site.

1. It means only the equipment located at the alarm site when a system is connected to an alarm system monitoring company.

1. Security alarm systems do not include those devices designed to alert only the inhabitants of specific premises and that have no sounding or signaling devices which can be generally heard or seen on the exterior of the alarm site.

“Alarm user” means any person, firm, partnership, corporation or other entity who (which):

1. controls a security alarm system at an alarm site;

1. is named on the alarm registration; and

1. is financially responsible for the operation of an alarm system.

As used in the chapter, the term “alarm user” may mean more than one person, if more than one person is listed on the registration and has accepted financial responsibility for operation of an alarm system.

“Burglary alarm” (also “property/intrusion alarm”) means an alarm system that is used to detect and report an unauthorized entry or an attempted unauthorized entry upon real property.

“Call-up dialer alarm” means a security device that is designed to evoke a police response by transmitting a pre-recorded, unverified signal or message to the police E911 system or to any other police telephone.

“Chief” means the chief of police of the City of Spokane or his designee.

“City” means the City of Spokane and/or the area within the incorporated municipal boundaries of the City of Spokane.

“Control number” means the unique number assigned to each licensed security alarm business by the alarm administrator that is used to validate alarm dispatch requests.

“Department” means the Spokane police department.

“Duress alarm.” (See subsection (AB) of this section – “Robbery alarm.”)

“Enhanced call verification” means an independent method whereby the alarm monitoring company attempts to determine that a signal from an automatic alarm system reflects a need for immediate police assistance or investigation.

1. This verification process will be conducted by the alarm system monitoring personnel and shall consist of making at least two phone calls to the responsible party or parties and shall not take more than five minutes from the time the alarm signal has been accepted by the alarm system monitoring company.

“False alarm response” means police department response to an alarm dispatch request by a commissioned officer of the department where, in the opinion of that officer, no evidence of the commission or attempted commission of a crime is present that can be reasonably attributed to have caused the alarm activation.

1. A false alarm response is also deemed to have occurred when the responding officer is unable to determine if evidence of a criminal offense or attempted criminal offense is present because the alarm site is inaccessible (e.g., where the alarm site is located:

1. 1. within a locked structure, such as an apartment building or business complex with a common entry; or

1. 1. behind a locked gate and no person is present to provide access to the officer; or

1. 1. contains a dog and no person is present to remove the dog so the officer can inspect the site; or

1. 1. contains any type of “protective/ reactive” device or contrivance).

“Government facility” means any alarmed location where the primary owner, operator, renter or lessee is the City of Spokane, County of Spokane, State of Washington; or agency of the United States government.

“Holdup alarm.” (See subsection (AB) of this section – “Robbery alarm.”)

“Intrusion alarm.” (See subsection (I) of this section – “Burglary alarm.”)

“Monitoring” means the process an alarm business uses to:

1. keep watch on alarm systems;

1. receive alarm activation signals from alarm systems;

1. verify alarm activations;

1. relay alarm dispatch requests to the department for the purpose of summoning police response to an alarm site; and

1. to cancel alarm dispatch requests (when appropriate).

“Multi-unit complex” means any building or group of buildings located/co-located on the same real property and comprised of two or more separately occupied units.

“One-plus duress alarm” means a security alarm system which permits the manual activation of an alarm signal by entering on a keypad a code that either adds the value of “1” to the last digit of a normal arm/disarm code (e.g., the normal arm/disarm code “1234” if entered as “1235” automatically activates the duress alarm feature) or that involves entering any incorrect final digit to a normal arm/ disarm code (e.g., the normal arm/disarm code “1234” is entered as “123X”—where “X” is not “4”—automatically activates the duress alarm feature).

“Panic alarm.” (See subsection (AB) of this section – “Robbery alarm.”)

“Person,” for purposes of this chapter, means an individual, corporation, partnership, association, organization or similar entity.

“Property alarm.” (See subsection (I) of this section – “Burglary alarm.”)

“Protective/reactive alarm system” means an alarm system that is equipped and prepared to produce any temporary disability or sensory deprivation through use of chemical, electrical or sonic defense, or by any other means, including use of vision obscuring/disabling devices.

“Robbery alarm” (also “duress alarm”, “hold-up alarm” or “panic alarm”) means an alarm signal generated by the manual or automatic activation of a device, or any system, device or mechanism, on or near the premises intended to signal that a robbery (refer to RCW 9A.56.190) or other crime is in progress, and that one or more persons are in need of immediate police assistance in order to avoid injury, serious bodily harm or death at the hands of the perpetrator of the robbery or other crime.

“Security alarm monitoring business” means any person, firm or corporation which is engaged in the monitoring of security alarm systems and the summoning of police officer response to activations thereof.

1. This includes all businesses that are engaged in alarm monitoring for profit and businesses that have specialized units or subsidiaries that monitor only their own alarm systems.

“Subscriber” means an alarm user who is a customer of an alarm monitoring company.

“Suspend” (“suspension”), for purposes of this chapter, means the temporary loss for an alarm user of the privileges associated specifically with the registration of a security alarm system in the City of Spokane (specifically police response).

“Unmonitored alarm system” means an alarm system (see subsection (G) of this section – “Alarm system”) that is not actively monitored by an alarm business and whose function it is to evoke police response solely by means of a generally audible and/or visible signal.

“Verified response” (“independent reporting”) means a police response that is based on information received from a person physically present at a location (e.g., an alarm site) or from real-time audio or video surveillance positively verifying that there is evidence either of a crime or an attempted crime at the location.

1. The verified response by the alarm system monitoring company may not take more than five minutes from the time the alarm signal has been accepted.

Date Passed: Monday, April 28, 2008

Effective Date: Saturday, May 31, 2008

ORD C34223 Section 1

Spokane Municipal Code