Ordinance 10-003 Amending False Alarm Regulations • •
CITY OF SPOKANE VALLEY
SPOKANE COUNTY,WASHINGTON
ORDINANCE NO. 10-003
AN ORDINANCE OF THE CITY OF SPOKANE VALLEY, SPOKANE COUNTY,
WASHINGTON, AMENDING SPOKANE VALLEY MUNICIPAL CODE SECTION
7.20.050, 7.20.100, 7.20.110, AND REPEALING 7.20.170 RELATING TO SECURITY
ALARMS,AND OTHER MATTERS RELATING THERETO.
WHEREAS, the City of Spokane Valley previously adopted regulations relating to false alarms
that became effective January 1, 2010, codified in Spokane Valley Municipal Code 7.30; and
WHEREAS, in the course of implementing these Code changes, staff discovered several items
that needed to be amended because they were either unnecessary or contradictory; and
WHEREAS,the City Council desires to amend the Code to correct these errors.
NOW THEREFORE, the City Council of the City of Spokane Valley, Spokane County,
Washington, ordains as follows:
Section 1. Purpose. The purpose of this Ordinance is to amend the Spokane Valley
Municipal Code sections related to alarms to remove unnecessary or erroneous provisions.
Section 2. Amending Spokane Valley Municipal Code 7.20.050: SVMC 7.20.050 is
amended as follows:
Section 7.20.050 Registration Terms and Fees
A. Alarm registration is valid for one year.
B. Alarm registration is issued to a person or persons ("alarm user") having bona fide
ownership or control of an alarm site (i.e., home owner, business owner, renter,
leaseholder, etc.) and specifically for that alarm site or address. Alarm registration
remains in the name(s) of the alarm user of record until a change of ownership or control
of the alarm site occurs.
C. Alarm registration is attached to the alarm user and the alarm site registration and is
not transferable. A new alarm site registration must be issued whenever there is a
change of ownership or control of an alarm site.
D. The initial registration application shall be given to the alarm user at the time
of alarm installation and shall be submitted to the alarm administrator or designee
within 30 days.
E. Registration information is determined by the alarm administrator and shall include,
but not be limited to, the following:
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1.Name and address of the alarm user(i.e.,the person financially responsible for
operation of the alarm system being registered).
2. Home,business and cellular telephone number(s)of the alarm user.
3.Name, address and telephone number of the alarm business providing
monitoring service to the system.
4.Alternate telephone number for verification (cell phone or other telephone
designated by the alarm user).
5. Signature of the alarm user verifying that the alarm user agrees to pay the fees
associated with false alarms.
F. On receipt of the application and fees, the alarm administrator (or designee) shall
issue a security alarm registration number to the alarm user.
G. The security alarm registration number assigned to an alarm user remains the same for
as long as the alarm user continuously maintains registration for the alarm site.
H. Registration may be renewed under the following conditions:
1. The alarm site has no past-due fees.
2. The alarm site's registration is not suspended for excessive false alarms.
3. The alarm user either updates registration information or verifies that the
current registration information is still correct.
4. The appropriate annual registration fee is paid.
I.Renewal information and fees are submitted to the alarm administrator (or designee)
on or before the initial registration anniversary date each year.
J. The rates for security alarm registration fees are set forth in the City's Master Fee
Schedule, as set forth in SVMC 7.20.310. The established rates shall assure that the
alarm administrator position and all other costs related to administration and
enforcement of the security alarm ordinance are supported entirely by registration fees.
Section 3. Amending Spokane Valley Municipal Code 7.20.100: SVMC 7.20.100 is
amended as follows:
Section 7.20.100 Alarm Dispatch Requests
A. Alarm dispatch requests shall be made in the manner prescribed by the alarm
administrator and approved by 911 and police dispatch.
B.Alarm dispatch requests may include, but are not limited to, the following
information:
1. Alarm site registration number.
2.Location of the alarm activation.
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3. Type of alarm activation (burglary/property/intrusion/robbery/ panic/hold-
up/duress or roll-over/airbag deployment).
4. Alarm business' incident number(or other official incident identifier).
5. Alarm business' assigned control number.
C.Alarm dispatch requests made to the department (or its designee) shall be for police
incidents only, and shall accurately indicate the type of alarm activation
(burglary/property/intrusion, robbery/hold-up/panic/duress) that is the proximate cause
for the alarm dispatch request.
D.No alarm business shall initiate an alarm dispatch request if it knows, or reasonably
should know, that doing so would cause a law enforcement officer to respond to an alarm
site containing a protective/reactive alarm system.
E.No dispatch request and subsequent police response to a robbery alarm (as defined in
SVMC 7.20.020) may be cancelled by the alarm user. In every case at least one officer
shall respond to affirm that the alarm user is not under duress of any kind.
Section 4. Amending Spokane Valley Municipal Code 7.20.110: SVMC 7.20.110 is
amended as follows:
Section 7.20.110 Duties of Alarm Installation Company and/or Monitoring Company
A.All alarm installation and/or monitoring companies shall ensure that their customer
information is updated with the alarm administrator or designee at least monthly. This
information shall include:
1. Customer name and contact information(i.e., all phone numbers);
2. Alarm site address and billing address;
3. Monitoring company name and contact information; and
4. Installation date or date the alarm monitoring ended.
B. All alarm installation and/or monitoring companies shall ensure that an on-site
inspection of the operating systems for the alarm system shall occur at least once every
three years. The records of these inspections shall be made available to the alarm
administrator upon request.
C. The alarm installation company shall provide written and oral instructions to each of
its alarm users in the proper use and operation of their alarm systems. Such instructions
will specifically include all instructions necessary to turn the alarm system on and off
and to prevent false alarms.
D.Effective January 1, 2010, and thereafter, alarm installation companies shall not
program alarm systems so that they are capable of sending one-plus duress alarms.
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1.Monitoring companies may continue to report one-plus duress alarms received
from alarm systems programmed with one-plus duress alarms prior to January 1,
2010.
2. Effective January 1, 2010, and thereafter, when a takeover or conversion
occurs, or if an alarm user requests an alarm system inspection or modification,
an alarm installation company must remove the one-plus duress alarm capability
from such alarm systems.
E. Effective January 1, 2010, and thereafter, alarm installation companies shall not
install a device to activate a holdup alarm,which is a single action, non-recessed button.
F. Effective April 1, 2010, the alarm installation companies shall, on new installations,
use only alarm control panel(s)which meet SIA Control Panel Standard CP-01.
G. An alarm company shall not use automatic voice dialers which call 911 or the police
department.
H. After completion of the installation of an alarm system, an alarm installation company
employee shall review with the alarm user the customer false alarm prevention checklist
established by department policy.
I. The monitoring company shall make an alarm dispatch request for a police officer
response to a burglar alarm signal, including panic, duress and hold-up signals. A
residential alarm user is provided one false alarm response during the first sixty days
following an alarm system installation without any charge.
J. A monitoring company shall:
1. Report alarm activations or signals by using the telephone numbers designated
by the alarm administrator;
2. Attempt to verify every burglar alarm signal prior to requesting a police
dispatch by making at least two phone calls to the responsible party or parties.
This procedure does not apply to duress or hold-up signals;
3. Communicate alarm dispatch requests to the Spokane Valley police in a
manner and form determined by the alarm administrator;
4. Communicate cancellations to the Spokane Valley police in a manner and
form determined by the alarm administrator;
5. Ensure that all alarm users of alarm systems equipped with duress, hold-up or
panic alarm(s) are given adequate training as to the proper use of the duress,
hold-up or panic alarm(s). Alarm system training should be provided to every
alarm user and/or additional training provided in situations where the alarm user
has established a high incident rate of false alarms resulting from unintentional
or accidental activation;
6. Communicate any available information (north, south, front, back, floor, etc.)
about the location on all alarm signals related to the alarm dispatch request;
7. Communicate type of alarm activation (silent or audible, interior or
perimeter);
8. Provide an alarm user registration number when requesting an officer
dispatch;
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9. After an alarm dispatch request, promptly advise the Spokane Valley police if
the monitoring company knows that the alarm user or the responder is on the
way to the alarm site;
10. Attempt to contact the alarm user or responder within twenty-four hours via
mail, fax, telephone or other electronic means when an alarm dispatch request is
made; and
11. Effective January 1, 2010, monitoring companies must maintain for a period
of at least one year from the date of the alarm dispatch request, records relating
to alarm dispatch requests.
a. Records must include the:
i. name, address and telephone number of the alarm user;
ii. alarm system zone(s)activated;
iii. time of alarm dispatch request; and
iv. evidence of an attempt to verify.
b. The alarm administrator may request copies of such records for
individually named alarm users.
c. If the request is made within 60 days of an alarm dispatch request, the
monitoring company shall furnish requested records within 3 business
days of receiving the request.
d. If the records are requested between 60 days to one year after an alarm
dispatch request, the monitoring company shall furnish the requested
records within 30 days of receiving the request.
K.An alarm installation company and/or monitoring company that purchases alarm
system accounts from another person shall notify the alarm administrator of such
purchase and provide details as may be reasonably requested by the alarm administrator.
Section 5. Repealing Spokane Valley Municipal Code 7.20.170: SVMC 7.20.170 is
repealed as follows:
Section 7.20.170 Intentionally left blank
Section 6. Remainder of SVMC 7.20 Unchanged. The remaining provisions of SVMC 7.20
are unchanged by this amendment.
Section 7. Severability. If any section, sentence, clause or phrase of this Ordinance should
be held to be invalid or unconstitutional by a court of competent jurisdiction, such invalidity or
unconstitutionality shall not affect the validity or constitutionality of any other section, sentence, clause
or phrase of this Ordinance.
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Section 8. Effective Date. This Ordinance shall become effective five days after
publication of the ordinance, or a summary thereof, in the official newspaper of the City.
Adopted this 23`d day of February, 2010.
City of S • ne Valley
Thomas E. Towey,Mayor
AT :.r. to-j1 -1
ristine Bainbridge, City Clerk
Approved as to Form:
Office 0-tithe City Attorney
Date of Publication: March 5, 2010
Effective Date: March 10, 2010
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