10.40.165 Alarm system monitoring companies – Verification process.
A. Every alarm system monitoring company engaging in business activities in Lynnwood shall:
1. Obtain a city of Lynnwood business license from the development and business services department;
2. Upon request, provide the chief of police such information about the nature of its property alarms, burglary alarms, robbery alarms, and panic alarms; its method of monitoring; its program for preventing false alarms; and its method of disconnecting audible alarms, each as the chief may require by rule;
3. Maintain a current list of all subscribers, which list shall be accessible to the chief at all times. Said list shall contain the subscribers’ names, emergency contact phone numbers, and the associated protected premises the alarm serves;
4. Maintain a verification process with those subscribers who have an automatic alarm system to prevent false alarms from resulting in unnecessary police dispatches; and
5. When the chief reports that there appears to have been a false alarm at a subscriber’s premises, work cooperatively with the subscriber and the chief in order to determine the cause thereof and prevent recurrences.
B. A verification process is an independent method of determining that a signal from an automatic alarm system reflects a need for immediate police assistance or investigation. The verification process shall not take more than five minutes calculated from the time that the alarm signal has been accepted by the alarm system monitoring company until a decision is made whether to call for a police dispatch. The means of verification may include one or more of the following:
1. The establishment of voice communication with an authorized person at or near the premises who may indicate whether or not need for immediate police assistance or investigation exists;
2. A feature that permits the alarm system user or a person authorized by the user to send a special signal to the alarm system monitoring company that will cancel an alarm immediately after it has been sent and prevent the monitoring company calling for a police dispatch;
3. The installation of a video or audio system that, when the signal is received, provides the alarm system monitoring company with the ability to ascertain that activity is occurring that warrants immediate police assistance or investigation;
4. A confirmation that a signal reflects a need for immediate police assistance or investigation either by the alarm system user, a person at or near the premises, or an alternate response agency made before dispatching police response; or
5. An alternate system that the chief determines has or is likely to have a high degree of reliability. (Ord. 3404 § 3 (Att. A), 2021; Ord. 2144 § 2, 1997)