Chapter 5 ALARM SYSTEMS

Art. I. In General, §§ 5-1, 5-2
Art. II. Permits and Procedures, §§ 5-3-5-18

ARTICLE I. IN GENERAL

Sec. 5-1. Short title.
Article II of this chapter shall be known as the "Alarms-Burglary and Robbery and Related Emergency Alarms." (Ord. No. 89-1195, § 1, 5-14-89)

Sec. 5-2. Definitions.
As used in this chapter, the following words and phrases shall have the meanings respectively ascribed to them:

Alarm company shall mean any person, company or corporation engaged in the activity of selling, leasing, renting, installing, inspecting, maintaining, repairing, monitoring and/or responding to alarm systems within the city. An alarm company, in this instance shall not include any business which sells on a retail basis from a fixed location or that manufactures or distributes alarm equipment at "wholesale, unless said business also installs, services, monitors and/or responds to alarm systems within the city.

Alarm system means a device or system that emits, transmits, or relays a signal intended to summon, or that would reasonably be expected to summon, police services of the city, including, hot not limited to local alarms.

(1) "Alarm system" does not include:
(a) An alarm installed on a vehicle unless the vehicle is permanently located at a site; nor 

(b) An alarm system owned or operated by the Brownsville Police Department, including but not limited to alarm surveillance equipment used outside of Brownsville Police Department facilities.

(2) An “alarm system" may be classified as follows:
(a) Class "A" system, upon activation, provides for signaling to an alarm monitoring facility owned, operated or utilized by an alarm company, regardless of its location, a common example of which would be an alarm in a business activated by the pushing of a button which alerts an alarm company that an alarm has been activated, and the alarm company in turn alerts the police department of that fact, another example would be an alarm system which is activated upon the exiting of a residence or business, which protects such by having an alarm alert to an alarm company, in case of an illegal entry, who in turn alerts the police department to that fact.

(b) Class "B" system, upon activation, causes an external signaling device of any type to be seen or heard from beyond ten (10) feet of the protected premise, or any other type of alarm, system which upon activation has as its purpose the direct summoning of police response that is not monitored by an alarm company.

(c) Class "C" system, upon activation, provides for direct signaling to a console or other receiving equipment located for such purposes at any emergency department of the city, including but not limited to any hospitals or financial institutions who have a direct signal alerting a city console of fire or criminal activity.

Alarm notification means a notification intended to summon the police, which is designated either to be initiated purposely by a person or by an alarm 'system that responds to a stimulus characteristic of unauthorized intrusion.

Alarm site means a single premise or location (one (1) street address) served by either Class A alarm systems, or Class B alarm systems, or Class C alarm systems that is under the control of one (1) owner.

Chief means the chief of police of the city or his authorized representative.

City means the Municipality of Brownsville, Cameron County, Texas.

Criminal offense as used in this chapter means a criminal offense as contemplated in the Texas Penal Code.

False alarm notification means an alarm notification responded to by the police department, when the responding officer finds no evidence of unauthorized intrusion, attempted unauthorized intrusion, robbery, attempted robbery, or an attempt to take a person hostage, unless the false alarm notification is caused by a power outage or act of God which is beyond the control of the permit holder and such condition can be verified by the permit holder. See section 5-18.

Permit holder means the person designated in the permit application that shall be the owner or lawful tenant of the alarm site or his authorized representative,

Person means an individual, corporation, partnership, association, or aggregation of individuals or similar entities.

Special trunk line means a telephone line leading into the communications center of the police department that is for the primary purpose of receiving emergency messages that originate from automatic protection devices and are transmitted directly or through an intermediary.

User's responding agent shall mean persons designated in the alarm permit application as provided for in section 5-3(c)(7). (Ord. No. 89-1195, § 1, 5-14-89)

ARTICLE II. PERMITS AND PROCEDURES
Sec. 5-3. Permit required; application transferability; false statements;

(a) Upon receipt of a completed application form, the chief shall issue an alarm permit to an applicant unless the applicant has failed to pay a service fee assessed under section 5-12 or has had an alarm permit for an alarm site revoked, due to the violations enumerated in this chapter or for any other revocation or denial permitted under any other chapter granting or denying permits.

(b) Any existing person who has operated an existing alarm system within the city prior to the effective date of this chapter shall have sixty (60) days after the effective date to comply.

(c) Application for alarm permit shall include, the fallowing:
(1) Any alarm permit fees as provided for herein under Class "A", Class "B" or Class "C" permits.

(2) The names and relationship of each responsible person in control of said premise.

(3) The street address, location directions and a description of the protected premise.

(4) Information relative to the alarm system type and means of alarm notification.

(5) The nature of any business type account and information relative to the normal business hours of same.

(6) The name, address, and telephone number of any alarm company.

(7) The names and local telephone numbers of a minimum of three (3) user's responding agents for Class "A", Class "B" and Class "C" systems who have agreed and are authorized to:

(a) Receive notification of all respective alarm systems relative to said alarm site.

(b) Respond, when summoned to do so by the police department of the city, within a thirty-minute period of any such alarm notification,

(c) Authorize and arrange for the repair of said alarm system as required.

(d) Other information required by the chief which is necessary for the enforcement of this chapter. "For Class "A" systems the information relating to the user's responding agents shall be provided by the alarm company.

(d) Permit holder's fees shall be as follows:
(1) Under Class "A" alarm permits, where it snail be the duty and responsibility of the alarm company upon contractual agreement between the permit holder and alarm company to monitor, maintain, notify, coordinate and/or provide for any requested alarm response relative to the duties of the user's responding agent, there shall be an annual fee often dollars ($10.00). Said alarm Class "A" holder's fee shall offset the city's additional administrative costs.

(2) Under Class "B" alarm permits, where the maintaining of current user's responding agent information, as well as where the notification and coordination of the user's responding agents during alarm situation falls upon the police department of the city an annual permit fee of ten dollars ($10.00) shall be paid. Said annual Class "B" permit holder's fee shall offset the city's additional administrative costs.

(3) Under Class "C" alarm permit, where in addition to the duties relative to Class "B" permits, the department of the-city is required to also, monitor incoming-alarm notifications for said Class "C" alarm systems, an annual permit fee of two hundred fifty dollars ($250.00) will be paid. Said annual Class "C" permit holders shall offset the city's administrative costs.

(4) Federal and state agencies shall not be required to pay the permit fee as a requirement for issuance; however, a permit must be obtained where applicable.

(e) All annual alarm permits shall expire on the last day of each year regardless of the date of issuance and shall be renewable from year to year as required by the chief on ox before the first day of each year thereafter. All alarm permits shall be non-refundable, non-transferable and payable yearly in advance. Any alarm permit obtained subsequent to the first day of each year but before July 1, shall pay the full amount of the applicable permit fee, and any alarm permit obtained after July 1 shall pay one-half (1/2) of the applicable permit fee.

(f) Renewal of Class "A" alarm permits shall be the responsibility of the alarm company and the permit holder. Renewal of Class "B" or Class "C" alarm permits, as well as the payment of pertaining fees, shall be the responsibility of the permit holder,

(g) Any false statement of a material matter made by an applicant for the purpose of obtaining an alarm permit shall be sufficient cause for refusal to issue a permit.

(h) An alarm permit cannot be transferred to another person. A permit holder shall notify the chief, in writing, of any change that alters any information listed on the permit application within ten (10) business days of the change. No fee will be assessed for such changes.

(i) All fees owed by an applicant must be paid before a permit may be issued or renewed.

(j) No more than one (1) permit fee is necessary for the same alarm site unless different designated classes of permits are used, and then no more than one (1) is necessary for each designated class at the same alarm site. (Old. No. 89-1195, § 1, 5-14-89)

Sec. 5-4. Registration of alarm companies required.
(a) As of the effective date of this chapter, all alarm companies wishing to operate within the city limits of the city shall be required to be registered as such with the chief.

(b) All alarm company registrations shall require proof of being licensed to operate in Texas as an alarm company under the provisions of the State Board of Private Investigators and Private Security Agencies Act. Article 4413(29bb) V.A.T.C.S. as amended by the 67th Texas Legislature.

(c) Any alarm company who violates this section shall be subject to having its alarm permits revoked and further permits denied.

(d) All alarm company registrations shall be made on forms provided by the chief and shall include the following information;

(1) The full name, business address and telephone number of
the alarm company.

(2) The license number as issued to the alarm company by the State Board of Private Investigators and Private Security Agency Board.

(3) The names, home addresses and telephone numbers of each owner, 
officer, partner or stockholder holding twenty-five (25) per cent or more interest in said alarm company.

(4) A description of services made available and offered to permit holders within the city, relating to the sale, installation, servicing, monitoring and/or testing alarm systems alarm response services provided.

(e) Alarm company registrations shall be renewable yearly on the first day of each year and shall be non- transfer able. Updating of information is required as it occurs and said updating shall be the sole responsibility of the alarm company. No fees shall be required upon registration or on any renewal thereof. (Ord. No. 89-1195, § 1, 5-14-89)

5-5. Proper alarm system operation and maintenance
(a) A permit holder
(1) Maintain premises containing an alarm system in a manner that ensures proper operation of the alarm system;

(2) Maintain the alarm site in a manner that will minimize false alarm notification;

(3) Respond or cause a representative to respond within thirty (30) minutes when notified by the city to repair or inactivate a malfunctioning alarm system, to the alarm site, or to provide security for the alarm site.
(b) A person in control of an audible system shall adjust the mechanism or cause the mechanism to be adjusted so that an alarm signal will sound for not longer than fifteen (15) minutes after being activated, (Ord. No. 89-1195, § 1, 5-14-89)

Sec. 5-6. Reporting of alarm signals.
A permit holder shall not allow alarm signals to be reported through a relaying intermediary that does not comply with the requirements of this chapter and any rules and regulations promulgated by the chief. (Ord. No. 89-1195, § 1, 5-14-89)

Sec. 5-7. Indirect alarm reporting.
A person who is engaged in the business of relaying alarm notifications to the police department of the city shall:
(1) Report alarms only over special trunk lines designated by the chief.

(2) Communicate alarm notifications to the police department in a manner and form determined by the chief. (Ord. No. 89-1195, § 1, 5-14-89)

Sec. 5-8. Automatic telephone alarms not permitted.
An alarm system which transmits a telephonic recorded message over telephone lines shall not be permitted and is in violation of this chapter provided that manually operated recording systems utilized by handicapped persons are hereby authorized, if such system is designated . and approved in the alarm permit. (Ord. ;No. 89-1195, § 1, 5-14-89)

Sec. 5-9. Alarm system operating instructions.
A permit holder shall maintain, at each alarm site, a complete set of written operating instructions for each alarm system. Special codes, combinations, or passwords need not be included in these instructions. (Ord. No. 89-1195, § 1, 5-14-89)

Sec. 5-10. Alarm dispatch records.
The police responding to a dispatch call resulting from a burglary, robbery, personal hostage or robbery alarm notification shall record such information as necessary in a dispatch record to permit the chief to maintain records, including but not limited to the following information:
(1) Identification of the permit holder,
(2) Identification of the alarm site;
(3) Arrival time and dispatch received time;
(4) Time of day and date;
(5) Weather conditions;
(6) Area and sub-area (business-residential);
(7) Name of the permit holder's representatives on premises, if any;
(8) The responding police officer shall indicate on this dispatch record whether the alarm notification was caused by a criminal offense. (Ord. No. 89-1195, § 1, 5-14-89)

Sec. 5-11. System performance reviews.
If there is reason to believe that an alarm system is not being used or maintained in a manner that ensures proper operation, therefore avoiding false alarm notifications, the chief may require a conference with an alarm permit holder who is responsible for maintenance of the alarm system to review circumstances of each false alarm notification. If an alarm site emits multiple false alarm notifications -within a twenty-four-hour period, it will be the responsibility of the permit holder to arrange for repair of the alarm system. If the permit holder can prove and submits in writing, within four (4) working days of repair, verification of a mechanical malfunction of the alarm system, then all multiple false alarm notifications will be combined and will be counted as one (1) false alarm notification for the purposes of section 5-12. If the alarm site continues to emit more than five (5) false alarms within the same twenty-four-hour period the police department may only respond to the first five (5) such false alarm notifications and the sole responsibility of the security of the alarm site shall be by the permit holder. (Ord. No 890145, §-1, 5-14-89)

Sec. 5-12. Service fee.
(a) Except as provided in paragraphs (b) and (c) of this section, the permit holder shall pay a service fee for each false alarm notification emitted from an alarm site that is in excess of six (6) alarms within the existing calendar year as follows:

Number of False Alarms Service Fee (each)
7-12 $ 50.00
13-20 $100.00
21 and over $250.00

The permit holder shall pay such service fee to the chief within ten (10) days from the date of written notifies firm of such action. The city manager shall review the action of the chief and may impose certain conditions to the retention of the permit. In any event, the decision of the city manager shall be final and non-appealable. (Ord. No. 89-1195, § 1, 5-14-89)

Sec. 5-15. Protection of financial institutions.
(a) A financial institution required to have an alarm system pursuant to the provisions of the Bank Protection Act of 1968 { 12 U.S.C., § 1882) may install a special trunk line, with the permission of the chief, directly to the police department for the purpose of reporting burglaries, robberies and other related emergencies. If such an arrangement is made, all other requirements of this chapter must be met. The financial institutions shall execute a letter of agreement with the city permitting the installation of all necessary equipment on an indicator panel monitored in the communications division of the police department. The installation must be accomplished at the financial institution's expense.

(b) The chief or his designated agent shall have the right, at reasonable times and upon oral notice, to inspect the alarm system at a private or institutional alarm site and require necessary repairs or improvements. If the chief finds that the alarm system continually fails to operate properly or be operated properly, he may terminate the privilege to have equipment and indicators in the communications center of the police department and require prompt removal of the equipment at the expense of the financial institution.

(c) The financial institution at the request of the chief, at its sole expense, shall 
make arrangements to provide service for the alarm system on a twenty-four hour basis, seven (7) days a week. In no event shall the city become liable for charges, repairs, or maintenance.

(d) The financial institution may cancel its special trunk line service with the city at any time by giving the' city written notice through the chief, and at its expense, remove its equipment indicators from the monitor panel in the communications center within thirty (30) days from notice.

(e) The chief may require any change, modernization, or consolidation of alarm signaling equipment that is advisable according to sound practices of alarm system science or trade. In no event shall the city become liable for charges for these changes. Such changes will be effected within a reasonable time and at the expense of the alarm user. (Ord. No. 89-1195, § 1, 5-14-89)

Sec. 5-16. Violations; penalty.
(a) A person commits a criminal offense if he operates or causes to be operated an alarm system without an alarm permit, unless the permit has been revoked and is on appeal.

(b) A person who violates a provision of this chapter is guilty of a separate criminal offense for each day or portion of a day during which the violation is committed, continued, or permitted, and each offense is punishable by a fine of not more than two hundred dollars ($200.00), but not less than fifty dollars ($50.00) upon first conviction and not less than seventy-five dollars ($75.00) upon second and subsequent convictions.

(c) In addition to prohibiting or -requiring certain conduct of individuals, it is the intent of this chapter to hold a corporation, partnership, or an aggregate of individuals criminally responsible for acts or omissions performed by an agent acting on behalf of the corporation, partnership, or an aggregate of individuals, and within the scope of his employment (Ord. No. 89-1195, § 1, 5-14-89)

Sec. 5-17. Civil liability.
The police department of the city shall not be under any obligation or duty to a permit holder or alarm company or any either person by reason of this chapter or otherwise. The city specifically disclaims liability for any damages which may be caused by the failure of the police department of the city to monitor and/or respond to an alarm notification, transmitted by any means, or for any damage as a result of any unreasonable delay in response to any such alarm notification. (Ord. No. 89-1195, §.1, 5-14-89)

Sec. 5-18. Act of God.
An "act of God," generally, is an inevitable accident, or a casualty. It can be an accident produced by any physical cause that is irresistible, such as lightning, hurricanes, etc., which are not preventable by human care or foresight, but which result from natural causes. However, these are limited to extreme circumstances, not to general had weather which may he normal to certain geographical regions. (Ord. No. 89-1195, § 1, 5-14*89)

Sec. 13-3. Same—Notice.
The city secretary is hereby directed to have prepared and posted an arson reward notice on placards eight (8) inches by twelve (12) inches in size showing the following reward notice:

ARSON REWARD
The City of Brownsville, Texas, hereby offers the reward of two hundred fifty and no/100 ($250.00) dollars for the arrest and conviction of any person or persons found guilty of committing the crime of arson within the corporate limits of said City of Brownsville, Texas. This reward is a standing offer and shall be paid out of the general fund of the City of Brownsville, Texas.
Such placards shall be placed in wooden frames under glass and shall be posted inside at least twenty (20) different public buildings within the city, one of which shall be the city hall, in accordance with the regulations of the state fire insurance department. (Ord. No. 398, |§ 2, 3, 3-23-50)

Sec. 13-4. Same Payment.
Upon information being given by any person causing the arrest and conviction of any person guilty of the specific crime of arson, and upon the final conviction of such person, the person giving such information shall be entitled to receive the reward offered in section 13-1 from the city. (Ord. No. 398, § 3, 3-23-50)

Sec. 13-5. Tampering with alarm system.
Whosoever shall maliciously tamper with any part or parts of the municipal fire alarm system, such as pulling false box alarms, cutting any of the line wires or disfiguring boxes, shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor. (Ord. No, 22, § I, 6-25-29)