Chapter 3.40 Alarm System Summary for Alarm Users
1. Response Fee. The user of an alarm system to which law enforcement personnel are requested as a first response shall be charged a response fee of forty dollars ($40.00) for each false alarm. If the false alarm is a duress or holdup alarm, the fee shall be fifty dollars ($50.00) for each residential false alarm and seventy dollars ($70.00) for each business false alarm. Payment of fees is due thirty (30) days from original invoice date. In the event the response fee is not paid within sixty (60) days of notification, a late fee in the amount of ten dollars ($10.00) per false alarm call shall be added to the amount due. An additional late fee of ten dollars ($10.00) will be assessed on each response fee which remains upaid 90 days following notification. After 90 days, following notification to the alarm user, the account my be turned over for collection.
2. No response fee shall be charged:
a. For the first alarm each calendar year
b. When it is reasonable to assume that the alarm was due to violent conditions of nature, including an electrical storm, which have been verified by the National Weather Service to have been in the area where the alarm system is located at the time of the activation
c. For cable, line or power failure which has been specifically verified by the appropriate utility company serving the alarm location
d. For those alarms where the communications center is notified within four (4) minutes of receipt of notification of the alarm that emergency medical, law enforcement or fire personnel are not required. The Emergency Communications Center requires that the alarm business cancel the dispatch.
e. For those alarms resulting from valid situations requiring an urgent response by law enforcement, fire or emergency medical personnel as verified by a report filed by such personnel.
f. For those alarms received by a medical alarm system.
3. Appeals. Should a disagreement arise over a particular response fee, the facts surrounding the circumstances of the alarm activation shall within thirty (30) days of the date of the first invoice for the alarm, be presented in writing by the alarm user with a ten dollar ($10.00) administrative fee to the alarm administrator. In the event of determination that no response fee should be assessed, or if the administrative penalty appeal is granted, the ten dollar ($10.00) administrative fee shall be refunded. Appeals should be sent to the Alarm Administrator, City of Wichita Police Department, 455 N. Main, Wichita KS 67202. Please see the complete Alarm Systems Ordinance for procedures and consideration given to appeals.