9.10.020 Definitions.
The following words, terms and phrases, when used in this chapter, shall have the meanings ascribed to them, except where the context clearly indicates a different meaning:
“Actual call verification (ACV)” means the transfer and monitoring of real-time audio or video from the alarm site to the monitoring company, as a result of activation of one or more devices, to confirm or deny the validity of the alarm signal.
“Alarm activation” means an alarm system has transmitted an alarm signal to an alarm company or alarm user.
“Alarm administrator” means a person or persons designated by the chief of police to administer, control and review false alarm reduction efforts and administer the provisions of this chapter. All or part of the duties assigned to the alarm administrator may be assigned to a private third-party person and/or company.
“Alarm company” means a person and/or company in the business of selling, leasing, installing, maintaining, servicing, or monitoring an alarm system at an alarm site within the city.
“Alarm dispatch request” means a notification to a 911 emergency call center that an alarm, either manual or automatic, has been activated at a particular alarm site.
“Alarm manager” means either the alarm user in the case of a local alarm system, or the alarm company in the case of an alarm site that is monitored by an alarm company and the alarm company is acting on behalf of the alarm user to make an alarm dispatch request.
“Alarm officer” means a person or persons designated by the chief of police to hear and decide internal reviews related to alarm violations and discontinuance of law enforcement response to alarm sites pursuant to this chapter.
“Alarm responder” means those persons capable of reaching and having access to the alarm site, that know the code for arming and disarming the alarm system, and that the monitoring company maintains contact information for to verify an alarm activation and/or to request a response to the alarm site when requested by law enforcement officers.
“Alarm site” means a single fixed premises or location served by an alarm system or systems. Each unit, if served by a separate alarm system in a multi-unit building or complex, shall be considered a separate alarm site.
“Alarm system” means any device(s) designed to detect and/or alert: unauthorized and/or illegal entry to an alarm site, other illegal activity, or an emergency requiring a law enforcement response; that upon such detection emits or transmits an alarm signal which is intended to summon a law enforcement response. “Alarm system” includes any systems monitored by an alarm company and/or alarm user, and local alarm systems that transmit an alarm signal at the alarm site either audibly or visually. The term does not include vehicle or vessel alarms, fire alarms, alarms for medical responses, flooding alarms, gas detection alarms, personal alarms, doorbell alerting camera devices not used to detect and alert illegal intrusions, or those local alarm systems that are intended to solely alert the occupants of an alarm site and/or the alarm user and which will not emit an alarm signal that can be received, heard, or seen outside of the alarm site premise(s).
“Alarm user” means any person, corporation, partnership, proprietorship, governmental or educational entity owning, leasing, contracting, responsible for, or operating an alarm system, or on whose premises an alarm system is maintained.
“Building,” in addition to its ordinary meaning, includes any dwelling, fenced area, cargo container, or any other structure used for lodging of persons or for carrying on business therein, or for the use, sale, or deposit of goods.
“Cancellation” means an alarm company makes an alarm dispatch request and then later terminates the police response to the alarm site by completing a notification to the police 911 emergency call center that there is not a situation at the alarm site that requires a response by the Everett police department. An alarm dispatch request cannot be cancelled once law enforcement personnel have been dispatched to the alarm site.
“City” means the city of Everett, Washington, or its agent.
“Doorbell alerting camera device” means a device that detects activity at an entry door or porch area, typically residential, and notifies the resident by an alert and video transmission of such activity at the entry door. Doorbell alerting camera devices are not considered alarm systems if they are not used to detect and alert illegal intrusions to an alarm site.
“Duress alarm” means a silent alarm system signal generated by the entry of a designated code into an alarm system in order to signal that the individual entering the code is being forced to turn off the system and requires law enforcement response.
“Enhanced call verification (ECV)” or “enhanced call confirmation (ECC)” means an attempt by telephone made by the monitoring company to contact an alarm responder following an alarm activation to determine if the alarm activation is valid before making an alarm dispatch request. The alarm company, at a minimum, will make a second call to a different number if the first attempted call fails to reach an alarm responder who can properly identify themselves and determine whether the alarm signal requires an alarm dispatch request.
False Alarm.
1. A “false alarm” means and requires the following:
a. Everett police officers were dispatched to the alarm site in response to an alarm dispatch request; and
b. The investigation of the alarm site by Everett police officers found no evidence that the alarm activation was the result of the commission of or attempted commission of a criminal offense, or that a law enforcement related emergency occurred or was occurring at the alarm site, in which case the alarm will be presumed to be false.
2. A “false alarm” specifically does not include:
a. An alarm activation which can reasonably be determined to have been caused by abnormal conditions of nature or circumstance and that sets off a large number of alarms, such as earthquakes, tornados, derechos or damaging winds exceeding fifty-eight miles per hour, widespread electrical surges, or widespread power outages lasting longer than four hours; or
b. Intentional activation of an alarm system because of the reasonable, but mistaken, belief that a crime was being or about to be committed, or that a law enforcement emergency was occurring or about to occur; or
c. The alarm company or alarm user completed a cancellation of the alarm dispatch request with the police 911 emergency call center before law enforcement officers were dispatched to the alarm site; or
d. Law enforcement officers responding to the alarm cancel the response to the alarm site at their discretion.
“Hearing examiner” means the Everett hearing examiner and the office thereof.
“Holdup alarm” or “robbery alarm” means an alarm, typically silent, generated by the manual activation of a device intended to signal a robbery in progress or immediately after it has occurred.
“Local alarm system” means any alarm system, which is not monitored, that annunciates an alarm only at the alarm site.
“Monitoring” means the process by which an alarm company and/or alarm user receives signals from an alarm system and relays an alarm dispatch request to the police 911 emergency call center for the purpose of summoning law enforcement to the alarm site.
“Panic alarm” means an alarm system signal generated by the manual activation of a device intended to signal a life threatening or emergency situation requiring law enforcement response.
“Personal alarm” means an alarm system that is intended for personal wear on the body, that is typically a panic alarm, and that is not fixed at an alarm site or associated to a specific alarm site.
“Police 911 emergency call center” means the public safety answering point or call center responsible for answering calls to an emergency telephone number and dispatching law enforcement officers from the Everett police department.
“Runaway alarm” means an alarm system that produces repeated alarm signals that do not appear to be caused by separate human action or that produces three separate false alarm signals within a twenty-four-hour period.
“Trespass alarm” means an alarm that detects and alerts when a person or persons enters or remains unlawfully in or upon the premises of another other than a building.
“Violator” means any alarm user, alarm manager, or alarm company that violates any provisions under this chapter including but not limited to any alarm user on whose property a false alarm occurs. (Ord. 3679-19 § 2, 2019.)