A. Any person or business operating or maintaining an alarm system as defined in Section 5.08.130(B) shall not operate such alarm system without a valid alarm permit.
B. To receive an alarm permit the applicant shall complete the application form, pay the fifty-dollar fee, and comply with other sections of this title. Alarm permits shall be valid for a period of one year.
C. No person or business shall use any alarm system which is equipped with a direct dial device and which, when activated, automatically dials any telephone number in any office of the sheriff or operate any other device that is otherwise unlawful to maintain.
D. The provisions of this section are not applicable to audible alarms affixed to motor vehicles or to a public telephone utility whose only duty is to furnish telephone service pursuant to tariffs on file with the California Public Utilities Commission.
E. A holder of an alarm permit will be allowed three false alarms, as defined in Section 5.24.060(F), where there was response from a law enforcement agency within a one-year period. Subsequent false alarm response within twelve months from the time of the first alarm will result in an additional assessment against the permit holder of an amount set by the finance director to reimburse the responding law enforcement agency for such response costs. The response costs shall include a labor charge for the actual time spent on the incident by emergency personnel (police, fire, rescue or emergency medical service personnel) including a charge for administrative overhead. The response costs shall also include a vehicle use rate (average vehicle use rate as determined by the department of finance multiplied by the actual hours of vehicle use in response to the accident) and incidental charges for supplies consumed in response to the accident. However, a person's liability for the expense of an emergency response shall not exceed one thousand dollars per incident. Such permit holder will be required to pay the assessment within ten days of receipt of the demand. Failure to pay the assessment will result in the revocation of the alarm permit and a penalty set forth in Section 1.08.030.
F. False Alarm. "False Alarm" means an alarm signal activated by causes other than the apparent evidence of the commission or attempted commission of an unlawful act, which the alarm system is designed to detect. An alarm signal activated by violent conditions of nature or a breakdown in any utility service necessary for the proper use of the alarm system shall not constitute a false alarm. (Ord. 870-99 §§ 1--3; Ord. 648-90 § 3: Ord. 640-89 §10; prior code § 11-125)