§ 14-20. Definitions.

[The following words, terms and phrases, when used in this article, shall have the meanings ascribed to them in this section, except where the context clearly indicates a different meaning:]

Alarm company shall mean any person engaged in selling, leasing, maintaining, servicing, repairing, altering, replacing, moving, installing or monitoring any alarm system or 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 company and, or, alarm monitoring company shall obtain an occupational license as required by F.S. ch. 489.

Alarm owner shall mean the person designated in the application process as responsible for responding to alarms and giving access to the site, and who is responsible for proper maintenance and operation of the alarm and payment of penalties and fees relating to the operation of the alarm system, and specifically includes the term alarm user.

Alarm notification shall mean a notification intended to summon the police, which is designed either to be initiated purposefully by a person or by an alarm system that responds to stimulus characteristic of unauthorized intrusion.

Alarm user shall mean any person or other entity that owns, possesses, controls, occupies, or manages any premises as defined below; shall specifically include the property owner if the premises is leased, occupied and/or managed by third persons; and/or the registered owner designated in the application process.

Burglar alarm system shall mean any assembly of equipment, mechanical, wireless, or electrical, arranged to signal the occurrence of an illegal entry or other activity requiring urgent attention and to which the police department may reasonably be expected to respond, but does not include fire alarms or alarms installed in motor vehicles. If a fire alarm system is connected to a burglar alarm system, this section shall not apply to false alarms that the alarm user proves were generated by the fire alarm portion of the system.

False burglar alarm or false alarm notification shall mean a signal from a burglar alarm system that elicits a response by the police when no emergency or actual or threatened criminal activity requiring immediate response exists. This definition includes signals activated by negligence, accident, mechanical failure, and electrical failure; signals activated intentionally in non-emergency situations; and signals for which the actual case of activation is unknown. It is a rebuttable presumption that a burglar alarm is false if personnel responding from the police department do not discover any evidence of unauthorized entry, criminal activity, or other emergency after following normal police procedures in investigating the incident. An alarm is not false if the alarm user proves that:

(1)

An individual activated the alarm based upon a reasonable belief that an emergency or actual or threatened criminal activity requiring immediate response existed; or

(2)

The alarm system was activated by lightning or an electrical surge that caused physical damage to the system, as evidenced by the testimony of a licensed alarm system contractor who conducted an on-site inspection and personally observed the damage to the system; or

(3)

If the user experienced a power outage of four or more hours, causing the alarm to activate upon restoration of power, as evidenced by written documentation provided by Florida Power and Light Company or other applicable provider.

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

Premises shall mean the building or structure or portion of a building or structure upon which is installed or maintained a burglar alarm system.

Property owner shall mean the person or entity listed as owner with the Miami-Dade County Property Appraiser's office and/or listed on the deed to the property as owner.

(Ord. No. 2014-07, § 1, 10-6-2014)