Ordinance 83-2370 ORDINANCE NO. 83-2370
AN ORDINANCE OF THE CITY OF MIAMI BEACH,
FLORIDA, PROVIDING FOR FEES TO BE ASSESSED
AGAINST OWNERS OR LESSORS OR LESSEES OF REAL
PROPERTY CONTAINING BUILDINGS, DWELLINGS , OR
STRUCTURES WITH BURGLARY AND ROBBERY ALARM SYS-
TEMS WHICH CAUSE CONSISTENT FALSE ALARMS
REQUIRING RESPONSE BY THE CITY OF MIAMI BEACH
POLICE DEPARTMENT; PROVIDING FOR THE ASSESSMENT
OF A FEE AGAINST ANY PERSON OR BUSINESS WHICH
OWNS, OPERATES OR LEASES A BURGLARY ALARM SYSTEM
IN WHICH THE ALARM IS ACTIVATED FOR A PERIOD IN
EXCESS OF ONE HOUR; PROVIDING FOR A FINE FOR
NONPAYMENT OF FEES , WHICH FINE MAY CAUSE THE IM-
POSITION OF A LIEN FOR NON-COMPLIANCE WITH THIS
SECTION; PROVIDING FOR A REPEAL OF CONTRARY
ORDINANCES; PROVIDING FOR SEVERABILITY; PROVID-
ING FOR AN EFFECTIVE DATE; PROVIDING FOR
CODIFICATION AS SECTION 25-39 .1 THROUGH 25-
39. 4 OF THE CODE OF THE CITY OF MIAMI BEACH.
WHEREAS, within the City of Miami Beach, there are
numerous burglary and robbery alarm systems which are privately
owned and operated, and
WHEREAS, repeated malfunctions and false alarms from
these alarm systems are causing substantial misuse of the manpower
and resources of the City of Miami Beach Police Department by
causing the dispatch of police officers to the scene of false
alarms, and
WHEREAS , the false alarms are a threat to the safety of
the residents of the City by taking police away from their normal
duties and by removing police from patrol, which results in the
police being occupied when there is a legitimate need for the
police elsewhere, and
WHEREAS, false alarms constitute a waste of economic
resources of the City of Miami Beach resulting in an unjustified
economic burden to the citizens of the City, and
WHEREAS , the current high incidence of false alarms and
misuse of said alarms have reached an excessive proportion,
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT ORDAINED BY THE CITY COMMISSION OF
THE CITY OF MIAMI BEACH, FLORIDA:
SECTION 1. Chapter 25 of the Code of the City of Miami Beach is
hereby amended by the addition of the following Sections 25-39 .1,
False Burglary and Robbery Alarms through 25-39. 4, Automatic
Telephone Dialing Alarm Systems Prohibited. ,
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OFFICE OF THE CITY ATTORNEY -1700 CONVENTION CENTER DRIVE -MIAMI BEACH,FLORIDA 33139
Section 25-39 .1. Same, Definitions.
(A) As used in this Section, the term "false alarm" shall mean
the activation of a burglary or robbery alarm by other
than forced entry, attempted false entry, robbery in
progress, attempted robbery, or any other crime of a fel-
onious nature at a time when no burglary or robbery is be-
ing committed or attempted on the premises .
(B) "False alarms" do not include signals activated by unusual
weather or atmospheric conditions or other causes identi-
fied by the Chief of Police or his designee, which are
deemed to be beyond the control of the user or security
alarm dealer or caused by failures in the telephone sys-
tem.
(C) As used in this section, the term "grace period" shall
mean that if any alarm business installing such a burglary
or robbery alarm shall immediately give written
notification to the Miami Beach Chief of Police of such
installation, then the alarm user upon whose property such
alarm has been installed will be given a ten (10) day
grace period from the date of the installation to correct
any malfunctions as a result of the installation.
(D) As used in this section, the term "automatic telephone
alarm system" shall mean any device which, when
activated, automatically transmits by telephone a
recorded alarm message or electronic or mechanical
alarm signal to any telephone instrument installed in
the police department and which is also referred to as
an automatic telephone dialing device.
(E) As used in this section, the term "alarm business" means
the business of any individual, partnership, corporation
or any other business entity engaged in selling, leas-
ing, maintaining, servicing, repairing, altering ,
replacing, moving or installing any alarm system or in
causing any alarm system to be sold, leased, maintained,
serviced, repaired, altered, replaced, moved or
installed in or on any building, structure or facility.
An alarm business shall be a burglar alarm specialty
electrical contractor which shall have, as a qualifying
agent, a master burglar alarm technician with a valid
Dade County certificate of competency.
(F) As used in this section, "alarm system" means any
assembly of mechanically or electrically arranged
equipment to signal the occurrence of an illegal entry
or other activity requiring urgent attention and to
which the police department is expected to respond, but
does not include fire alarms or alarms installed in
motor vehicles.
(G) As used in this section, "alarm user" means the person,
firm, partnership, corporation, association, company or
business entity of any kind which is the owner or lessor
of the real property containing a building, structure,
or dwelling with alarm systems and/or the lessee,
occupant, including employees, agents and servants in
control of any building , structure or dwelling or
portion thereof, where-in an alarm system is maintained,
if someone other than the owner or lessor occupies same
at the time of the occurrence of the false alarm.
Section 25-39. 2. Same. Responses to False Alarms.
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OFFICE OF THE CITY ATTORNEY 1700 CONVENTION CENTER DRIVE -MIAMI BEACH,FLORIDA 33139
(A) A response for a false alarm shall be borne by an alarm
user and shall result when any police officer is dis-
patched to the scene of the activated alarm system deter-
mines the alarm to be false, said officer shall make a
report of the false alarm, a notification of which shall
be mailed or delivered to the alarm user , at the address
of said alarm system installation location, advising the
alarm user of the false alarm.
(B) The Chief of Police, or his designee, shall have the right
to inspect any alarm system on the premises to which a re-
sponse has been made and may cause the inspection of same
to be made at any reasonable time thereafter to determine
whether it is being used in conformity with the terms of
this section.
(C) If a police officer of the City of Miami Beach responds to
any false alarm in the City, the City of Miami Beach shall
charge the following regulatory fees to the alarm user ,
which fees shall be collected by the City Finance Direc-
tor :
(1) For the first, second and third response to a false
alarm within ninety (90) days of the first response ,
no fee shall be assessed, but the person or business
entity responsible for the false alarm shall take
whatever corrective action necessary to insure that
the third false alarm will be the last;
(2) If a fourth response to a false alarm occurs within
any ninety (90) day period, a fee of Twenty-five
($25. 00) Dollars shall be assessed; for purposes of
this sub-section and the next, the ninety (90) day
period commences with every false alarm.
(3) For each successive response to a false alarm after
the fourth response within any ninety (90) day
period, the fee assessed shall be as follows:
Fifty ($50 .00) Dollars for the fifth response and
One Hundred ($100. 00) Dollars for the sixth
response and for each successive response. In the
event of any succeeding false alarm after the sixth
response in a ninety (90) day period, the Chief of
Police or his designee may order the disconnection
of such alarm system until it is repaired. It
shall be a violation of this section not to
disconnect same when so directed. In order to
obtain City approved reinstatement for an alarm
system which is disconnected pursuant to this
section, there must be submitted a letter to the
Chief of Police from an alarm business that the
alarm system is operating properly, and a Fifty
($50 .00) Dollar reinstatement fee to be sent to the
Finance Director .
(4) Every alarm user who owns, operates, leases or is
in control of an alarm system and who fails to
turnoff or deactivate said system within one hour
after being notified of its activation, whether
said alarm is false or not, shall be assessed a fee
of Twenty-five ($25. 00) Dollars per incident.
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OFFICE OF THE CITY ATTORNEY-1700 CONVENTION CENTER DRIVE -MIAMI BEACH, FLORIDA 33139
Section 25-39. 3. Same. Penalty.
Should a violation of this section continue past a reasonable
time of thirty (30) days for correction, or should an alarm
user fail to pay the fees assessed for a violation within
thirty (30) days of when due, in addition to any other
penalties provided by law, a fine not to exceed Five Hundred
($500 .00) Dollars may be imposed for each and every violation
of this article.
(A) In the event that an alarm user fails to pay any fine so
imposed within thirty (30) days of its imposition shall
result in a certified copy of the fine to be recorded in
the Public Records of Dade County, Florida, and thereafter
shall constitute a lien against the property on which the
alarm system is located. Liens accrued as set out in this
paragraph shall be of the same dignity as liens acquired
by virtue of the City Charter .
Section 25-39. 4. Automatic Telephone Dialing Alarm System
Prohibited.
(A) It shall be unlawful for any alarm business, natural or
corporate, to sell, offer for sale, install, maintain,
lease, operate or assist in the operation of an automatic
telephone dialing alarm system over any telephone lines
used by the public to request emergency service from the
City of Miami Beach Police Department.
(B) The Chief of Police, or his designee, when he has knowl-
edge of the unlawful maintenance of an automatic telephone
dialing alarm system, installed or operated in violation
of subsection (a) of this section, shall, in writing,
order the alarm user to disconnect and cease operation of
the system within seventy-two (72) hours of receipt of the
order .
(C) Any automatic telephone dialing system installed unlaw-
fully, as set forth in subsection (a) hereof prior to the
effective date as set forth in subsection (b) shall be
removed within thirty (30) days of the order as contained
in subsection (b) hereof.
SECTION 2 .
That all ordinances or parts of ordinances in conflict herewith are
hereby repealed.
SECTION 3.
If any section, subsection, clause or provision of this Ordinance is
held invalid, the remainder shall not be affected by such
invalidity.
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OFFICE OF THE CITY ATTORNEY -1700 CONVENTION CENTER DRIVE -MIAMI BEACH,FLORIDA 33139
SECTION 4.
This Ordinance shall take effect ten (10) days after its adoption
on May 4, 1983 and shall remain in effect for a period of 150
days, until October 10, 1983.
PASSED and ADOPTED this 4th day of May
1983 .
MAYOR
ATTEST:
CITY CLERK
1st Reading - April 20, 1983
2nd Reading-May 9qRg� ((as amended)
( tT�STED BY COMMISSIONER SY EISENBERG)
RESR/jhd
543D
FORM APPROVED
LEGAL DEPT.
By �, 1,v
Date_____--'
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OFFICE OF THE CITY ATTORNEY-1700 CONVENTION CENTER DRIVE-MIAMI BEACH,FLORIDA 33139
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