Medford Alarm City Code

**Excerpts from the City of Medford Municipal Code after Summary

The City of Medford (Oregon) revised their Municiple Code in September of 1995 to charge false alarm fines to people with alarm systems that have false alarms. A false alarm happens when there is no evidence of a break in. This works good when there is a problem with the equipment, but if someone has a key and breaks in, or if the lock is picked, the alarm will be triggered, the police will be called, and the alarm owner will be charged a false alarm, even though the alarm did it's job. Please see the 12 Steps to Zero False Alarms page for false alarm help. It is important to note that there is a false alarm fee, the list is in Medford City Code Section 4.32.170

On September 22, 1995, the City of Medford revised the sections of the city code that deals with Burglar Alarm Systems. The following changes were made to reduce the number of false alarms received by the Medford Police Department.

Ordinance No 7961
Section 1

8.605 - Definitions
(9) "False Alarms" means any activation of an alarm system upon or following which communication is made to the department that an alarm has been triggered, except alarms resulting from one of the following causes:
(a) Criminal activity or unauthorized entry
(b) Natural or unnatural disaster, electrical service interruption, or telephone line malfunction not caused by the Alarm owner.

8.625,8.630 Class III, IV Alarm Systems
(1) Alarm Monitoring Companies, or any agent of, receiving an indication of alarm activation shall attempt to verify the alarm prior to reporting it to the police by either (1) telephoning the premises where the alarm activation is located, (2) monitorint the location by audio devices, or (3) monitoring the locaition by video devices.
(a) Exceptions to this section are holdup and panic alarms.
(b) Failure to attempt to verify an alarm prior to notifying the police is an infraction punishable by a fine up to $250.

8.640 Alarm System Requirements, Generally
(1) No alarm system shall be installed, used or maintained in violation of any of the requirements of this code, or of any applicable stature, law or administrative regulation of the United States of America the State of Oregon, or any administration rule making body thereof.
(2) The alarm company shall be responsible for training the permit holder on the use of the system and causes of false alarms. The alarm company shall also stress the effect false alarms have on the criminal justice system and the risks to police of responding to alarms. This reigning can be accomplished by written material, pre-=recorded video information or other means that have been approved by the Cheif of Police.
(3) The holder of an alarm system permit shall be responsible for training and re-training all employees, family members and other persons who may make regular use of the protected premises and who may, in the normal course of their activities, be in a position to acidentally trigger a sensor. Such training shall include procedures and practices to avoid accidental alarms, and steps to follow in the event the system is accidentally triggered.
(4) The holder of an alarm system permit shall, at all times, be responsible for the proper maintenance and repair of the system, and for the repair or replacement of any component, method of installment, design feature or like condition which may give rise to a false alarm.

8.680 False Alarm Fees
(1) As a condition of any alarm system permit issued under the provisions of this chapter, the permittee shall pay to the City of Medford within 30 days of invoice, for false alarms generated by the permitee's alarm system a fee according to the following schedule:

The finance department shall notify the chief monthly of any permittees who do not pay promptly.
(2) Any person who has been assessed a false alarm fee may appeal such a charge to the chief by giving written notice to the chief within 30 days of invoice assessing such charge. Upon receipt of the appeal notice, the chief shall appoint one or more of his supervisory officers to investigate the circumstances of the alarms upon which the appeal is based. The investigator shall notify the appellant of a time certain, not less that two weeks nor more than four weeks following the date upon which the appeal was filed, or at or before such a time certain the appelland shall file in writing with the investigatory determines the information he deems relevant in support of his appeal. If the investigatory determines the charge to have been made in error he shall order the invouce canceled and notify the appellant and the finance director of such determination, which shall be final. If the investigator determines the charge to be proper, he shall make a full report of his findings and file the same, together with any information files with him by the appelland, with the chief. The investigator's determination shall be filed with the cheif within 45 days of the time on which the appeal was filed. The chief shall make a final determination of the disputed charges and mail the notice thereof to the appellant within 60 days after the filing of the appeal. If the chief determines that any of the disputed charges are valid, the permit holder shall pay such charges within 30 days of the final decision of the chief is mailed to him. Such decision shall be final and not subject to further appeal, notwithstanding the provisions of any other ordinance governing appeals.

8.685 Suspension of Permits
(1) The following shall be grounds for suspension by the chief of any permit issued pursuant to this chapter:
(a) Any false or incomplete statemate made on the permit application.
(b) Programming of an automatic dialer to select any City of Medford telephone line.
(c) Failure to pay a false alarm fee within the time required by section 8.680.
(d) Maintenance, installation or use of the alarm system in violation of any applicable law, ordinance or regulations, including the requirements of this chapter.
(e) Failure to provide current information as required in sections 8.625, 8.630, 8.635, and 8.675.
(f) Testing or deliberate activation of a class III alarm system other than as authorized in section 8.620.
(g) Fifth false alarm in a 12 month period.
(2) If the chief determines that there is cause for the suspension of a permit, he shall mail a notice of suspension to the principal, stating that the suspension will be effective thirty days after the date of mailing, unless a notice of appeal is filed with the City Recorder on or before the effective date.
(3) Persons operating an alarm system covered by this chapter after the alarm permit has been suspended shall be in violation of an infraction punishable by a fine of up to $250.

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