§ 19-102. Definition.

For the purpose of this article, the following definitions shall apply:

Alarm administrator means a person or persons designated by the governing authority to administer, control and review alarm dispatch requests.

Alarm business means the business, by an individual, partnership, corporation or other entity of selling, leasing, maintaining, servicing, repairing, altering, replacing, moving installing or monitoring an alarm system on an alarm site.

Alarm dispatch request means a notification to the police department or E-911 by the alarm business that an alarm, either manual or automatic, has been activated at a particular alarm site.

Alarm site means a single premise or location served by an alarm system or systems. Each tenancy, if served by a separate alarm system in a multi-tenant building or complex, shall be considered a separate alarm site.

Alarm system means a device or series of devices, including, but not limited to, systems interconnected with radio frequency signals, which are designed to discourage crime, by emitting or transmitting a remote or audible, visual or electronic signal indicating an alarm condition. Alarm system does not include:

(1)

An alarm installed on a vehicle unless the vehicle is permanently located at a site; or

(2)

An alarm designed to alert only the inhabitants of a premise that does not have a sounding device which can be heard on the exterior of the alarm site.

Alarm user means any person, firm, partnership, corporation or other entity which uses an alarm system in its alarm site.

Chief means the Chief of Police of the City of Tupelo, Mississippi, or his/her authorized representative.

Conversion means the transaction or process by which one (1) alarm business begins monitoring of an alarm system previously monitored by another alarm business.

Duress alarm means a silent alarm signal generated by the manual activation of a device intended to signal a crisis situation requiring police or fire response.

False alarm dispatch or false alarm means an alarm dispatch request to the police department, where the responding officer finds no evidence of a criminal offense or attempted criminal offense after having completed a timely investigation of the alarm site.

User's false alarm awareness class means a class operated by the governing entity for the purpose of educating alarm users about the problems created by false alarm dispatches and in the responsible use of their alarm system.

Holdup alarm means a silent alarm system generated by the manual activation of a device intended to signal a robbery in progress.

Keypad means a device that allows control of an alarm system by the manual entering of a coded sequence of numbers or letters.

Monitoring means the process by which an alarm business receives signals from an alarm system and relays an alarm dispatch request to the city for the purpose of summoning the police response to the alarm site.

Person means an individual, corporation, partnership, association, organization or similar entity.

Takeover means the transaction or process by which an alarm user takes over control of an existing alarm system which was previously controlled by another alarm user.

Verify means an attempt, by the alarm business, or its representative, to contact the alarm site by telephone or other electronic means, whether or not actual contact with a person is made, before requesting a police dispatch, in an attempt to avoid an unnecessary alarm dispatch request.

(Ord. of 9-7-99, § 2; Ord. of 2-15-00, § 2)