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A. "Alarm Administrator" means the person or persons designated by the Sheriff's Department to administer the provisions of this Chapter.

B. "Alarm agreement" means the legal contract or agreement by and between the alarm installation company and/or monitoring company and the alarm user.

C. "Alarm agreement holding company" means the alarm installation company or monitoring company that holds the alarm agreement with the alarm user.

D. "Alarm Confirmation" (AC) means that prior to the monitoring company or alarm user making an alarm dispatch request, they have confirmed that the alarm activation is likely a result of criminal activity or an emergency condition.

E. "Alarm dispatch request" means a notification to the Sheriff's Department that an alarm, either manual or automatic, has been activated at a particular alarm site.

F. "Alarm installation company" means a person in the business of selling, providing, maintaining, servicing, repairing, altering, replacing, moving or installing an alarm system at an alarm site for compensation, and includes individuals or firms that install and service alarm systems used in a private business or proprietary facility. Not included in this definition are persons doing installation or repair work solely on premises they own, lease, or rent where such work is performed without compensation of any kind (i.e., "do-it-yourselfers").

G. "Alarm registration" means a registration and unique number issued by the Alarm Administrator to an alarm user which authorizes the operation of an alarm system.

H. "Alarm Response Manager" (ARM) means a person designated by an alarm installation company or monitoring company to handle alarm issues for the company and act as the primary point of contact for the Sheriff's Department Alarm Administrator and Sheriff's Department designee.

I. "Alarm site" means a location served by one or more alarm systems. In a multi-unit building or complex, each unit shall be considered a separate alarm site if served by a separate alarm system. In a single-unit building that houses two or more separate businesses with separate alarm systems, each business shall be considered a separate alarm site.

J. "Alarm system" means a device or series of devices which emit or transmit an audible or remote visual or electronic alarm signal which is intended to summon law enforcement response. The term includes hardwired systems, surveillance cameras, and systems interconnected with a radio frequency method such as cellular or private radio signals, and includes local alarm systems. This term does not include an alarm installed in a motor vehicle or a system which will not emit a signal either audible or visible from the outside of the building, residence or beyond, but is designed solely to alert the occupants of a building or residence.

K. "Alarm user" means any person who has contracted for monitoring, repair, installation or maintenance service for an alarm system from an alarm installation company or monitoring company, or who owns or operates an alarm system which is not monitored, maintained or repaired under agreement, or who owns a self-monitored alarm system.

L. "Alarm user awareness class" means a class conducted for the purpose of educating alarm users about the responsible use, operation, and maintenance of alarm systems and the problems created by false alarms.

M. "Alarm user list" means a list provided by the alarm user's alarm installation company or, if no alarm agreement exists, between the alarm user and an alarm installation company, the alarm user's monitoring company.

N. "Automatic voice dialer" means any electronic, mechanical, or other device which, when activated, is capable of being programmed to send a prerecorded voice message to a law enforcement agency requesting dispatch to an alarm site.

O. "Burglar alarm" means an alarm intended to identify the presence of an intruder in either a business or residence.

P. "Business registration" means a registration and unique number issued by the Sheriff's Department Alarm Administrator to an alarm installation company or monitoring company to conduct business in unincorporated Pierce County.

Q. "Cancellation" means the termination of Sheriff's Department response to an alarm site after an alarm dispatch request is made but before a deputy has arrived at the alarm site.

R. "Confirmation" means an attempt by the monitoring company, or its representative, to contact the alarm site and/or alarm user, or both, by telephone or other electronic means to determine whether an alarm signal is valid before making an alarm dispatch request.

S. "Conversion of alarm user" means the transaction or process by which one alarm installation company or monitoring company begins the servicing or monitoring of a previously unmonitored alarm system or an alarm system that was previously serviced or monitored by another alarm company.

T. "Enhanced Call Confirmation" (ECC) means an attempt by the monitoring company, or its representative, to contact the alarm site and/or alarm user and/or the alarm user's designated representatives by telephone and/or other electronic means, whether or not actual contact with a person is made, to determine whether an alarm signal is valid before requesting a Sheriff's Department burglar alarm dispatch in order to avoid an unnecessary alarm dispatch request.

U. "False alarm" means an alarm dispatch request to the Sheriff's Department which results in the responding deputy finding no evidence of a criminal offense or attempted criminal offense after completing an investigation of the alarm site.

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

W. "Local alarm system" means an unmonitored alarm system that annunciates an alarm only at the alarm site or a self-monitored alarm site.

X. "Monitoring" means the process by which a monitoring company receives signals from an alarm system and relays an alarm dispatch request to the Sheriff's Department.

Y. "Monitoring company" means a person in the business of providing monitoring services.

Z. "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 Sheriff's Department response.

AA. "Person" means an individual, corporation, limited liability company, partnership, association, organization or similar entity.

BB. "Protective-reactive device" means a device that produces a temporary disability or sensory deprivation through use of chemical, electrical, sonic or other means, including use of devices that obscure or disable a person's vision.

CC. "Registration number" means a unique individual number assigned to an alarm user as part of the alarm registration issued by the Sheriff's Department Alarm Administrator.

DD. "Responsible party" means a person capable of appearing at the alarm site upon request who has access to the alarm site, the code to the alarm system, and the authority to approve repairs to the alarm system.

EE. "Robbery alarm" means an alarm signal generated by the manual or automatic activation of a device, or any system, device or mechanism on or near the premises intended to signal that a robbery is in progress, and that a person needs immediate Sheriff's Department assistance to avoid bodily harm, injury or death. The term has the same general meaning as "holdup alarm" or "duress alarm" which is a silent alarm signal generated by the entry of a designated code into an arming station in order to signal that the alarm user is being forced to turn off the system and requires Sheriff's Department response.

FF. "Self-monitored alarm site" means an alarm system that is monitored by the alarm user through various means such as a smart phone or private electronic device (sometimes referred to as DIY or Do It Yourself alarm systems).

GG. "Sheriff's Department" means the Pierce County Sheriff's Department.

HH. "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.

II. "Zones" means a division of devices into which an alarm system is separated to indicate the general location from which an alarm system signal is transmitted and reported by the monitoring company to the Sheriff's Department communications.

(Ord. 2019-72 § 2 (part), 2020)