10.40.140 Definitions.
As used in this article, the following terms have the meanings indicated unless the context clearly requires another interpretation:
A. “Alarm administrator” means the individual or individuals designated by the police chief to administer, control, and review the provisions of this chapter.
B. “Alarm system monitoring company” means any individual, partnership, corporation, or other form of association that engages in business of monitoring property, burglary, robbery, or panic alarms, and reporting any activation of such alarm systems to the Lynnwood police department.
C. “Alarm system user” means the person having or maintaining a property, burglary, robbery, or panic alarm. It means only the subscriber when the system is connected to an alarm system monitoring company.
D. Burglary alarm. See “Property alarm” below.
E. “Chief of police” means the chief of police of the city of Lynnwood and his or her designee.
F. “Department” means the Lynnwood police department.
G. “Dispatch” or “immediate dispatch” means a discretionary decision whether to direct police units to a location where there has been a report made, by whatever means, that police assistance or investigation is needed. There is no duty to dispatch or immediately dispatch under any circumstances whatever, whether automatic alarms are involved or not, and all dispatch decisions are made subject to competing priorities and available police response resources.
H. “False alarm” means the activation of the property or burglary alarm when:
1. There is no evidence of a crime or other activity of the premises that would warrant a call for immediate police assistance or investigation; and
2. No individual who was on or near the premises or who had viewed a video or heard an audio communication from the premises, called for the dispatch or confirmed a need for an immediate police response.
I. Panic alarm. See “Robbery alarm” below.
J. “Person” means any individual, partnership, corporation, trust, incorporated or unincorporated entity, or other entity or group of persons, but excludes the United States, the state of Washington and any political subdivision or municipal corporation thereof.
K. “Property alarm” or “burglary alarm” means any system, device, or mechanism for detection and reporting of any unauthorized entry or attempted entry of property damage upon real property protected by the system which may be activated by sensors or other techniques, and, when activated, automatically transmits a telephone message, emits an audible or visible signal that can be heard or seen by persons outside the protected premises, or transmits a signal beyond the protected premises.
L. “Residence” means a building or structure or portion thereof designed to be used as a place of abode for human beings and not used for any other purpose. The term includes all dwelling units within the definition of a “residential use,” as defined in LMC 21.02.625.
M. “Robbery alarm” or “panic alarm” means any system, device, or mechanism, activated by an individual on or near the premises, to alert others that a robbery or any other crime is in progress, or that the user is in need of immediate assistance or aid in order to avoid injury or serious bodily harm, which meets the following criteria:
1. The system is installed on real property (the “protected premises”);
2. It is designed to be activated by an individual for the purpose of summoning assistance to the premises;
3. It transmits a telephone message or emits an audible, visible, or electronic signal that can be heard, seen or received by persons outside the protected premises; and
4. It is intended to summon police assistance to the premises.
N. Verification. See LMC 10.40.165. (Ord. 2144 § 2, 1997)