KEN KIRSCHENBAUM, ESQ
ALARM - SECURITY INDUSTRY LEGAL EMAIL NEWSLETTER / THE ALARM EXCHANGE
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Additional comments on Can ADT be sued for sending subscriber to crime scene / booth meetings at ISC 
March 26, 2019
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Additional comments on Can ADT be sued for sending subscriber to crime scene from article on March 20, 2019 and comments on March 25, 2019
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Ken
    Not understanding all the details, some of this sounds a little off, as an example seeing broken glass on the side of the store when there are no windows on the side of the building, but I digress.
    First comment is about the subscriber responding to the alarm, its normal SOP for us to not require or tell the subscriber to respond to an alarm and that if the PD needs them we will call back, however there are jurisdictions that require the subscriber to respond to meet the PD. This event is in Memphis TN and here is the requirement, to me its poorly written and somewhat confusing so I suppose one could make a case that the key holder should meet the PD onsite. There could have been other requests or requirements that we are unaware of that would have caused the key holder to be required to be there.
    “Make every reasonable effort to respond or cause a representative to respond to the alarm system's location within one hour when notified by the city or the alarm company to deactivate a malfunctioning alarm system, to provide access to the premises, or to provide security for the premises;”
    Anytime you have or create a situation where the police department, the perpetrator and the subscriber are in the same place at the same time there is a higher probability that something can and has gone sideways.
    The example of sending a key holder to a break-in where the PD has not cleared the scene is one example, probably a small one considering all the facts but nevertheless a problem, the bigger one that I see all the time is dealers or central stations that by policy ignore cancel or open signals after an alarm and dispatch or don’t notify the PD that someone is onsite is much bigger. There are documented cases where serious injuries or death has occurred because the cops are responding to an alarm, the subscriber thinks that everything is all right because they disarmed the system and now you have a homeowner who goes about their routine and could be armed , an officer who is responding to what he believes is a valid alarm and a gunfight ensues. 
    One more example that goes back a while, the central station receives a hold up alarm from a convenience store, the dispatcher calls the PD. The PD dispatcher asks for the premises number, the PD dispatcher then calls the premises number and bridges our dispatcher onto the call. The phone is picked up at the store end, the PD dispatcher asks the person answering the phone is everything OK, all you hear is a gunshot. The store clerk was shot in the head and the perpetrator was never caught. On face value the PD was trying to reduce false alarms and keep their officers working other calls for service but in this case the worst possible outcome occurred. 
    Everyone including the PD’s really have to think through all the potential ramifications to decisions like ordinances that require key holders to respond all the way to alarm companies and central stations policies. To state this again, anytime you potentially create a situation where a first responder, perpetrator and key holder are at the same place at the same time and neither knows the other is there a potential for disaster is created.
Morgan Hertel 
VP of Technology and Innovation 
Rapid Response Monitoring
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Ken,
    I may be out of the Phx PD Alarm Unit inspections program, but I can’t resist reading your blogs to see what mischief is going down in the industry. Your question caught my attention: Can ADT be sued for sending subscriber to crime scene? Given today’s litigious society I know anyone can sue for anything if they can find a lawyer willing to take up their cause. So in those regards, Yes ADT can be sued, but I think the better question is, what would be the best defense?This is where a good relationship with your local PD agency Alarm Coordinator will pay off. The local alarm ordinance should be the major component of your defense argument (second to a good contract – Attorney). 
    In Phoenix and others that have a robust alarm ordinance the law requires the central station to contact the subscriber during an alarm activation to arrange for a responsible party to respond to the scene of the alarm activation to meet with the responding officers. I used this class 1 misdemeanor violation against the subscribers who like to have the central station send PD out on (false) alarm calls and then roll over in bed and go back to sleep because they don’t really believe their alarm was caused by an actual break in. For Peat’s sake, if the subscriber doesn’t care about the alarm activation (cause it’s usually false), why should PD?
    So why does the local alarm ordinance require by law that a subscriber (or designee) respond the scene during alarm activations? There are multiple reasons for this:
  * The PD needs the subscriber there to unlock / open / gain access to search the premises. Especially where the entrance to the building is behind a secured perimeter fence. Cops are not climbing over the fence to get to your building if there is a possible bad guy. (the cop would be like a sitting duck in an old arcade gun range op on top of the fence if the bad guy decides to take a shot.)
  * Identify who is authorized or not authorized to be there if subjects are located in the protected premises. We can catch them, but you have to let us know that which ones to toss in jail or let your friend live another day.
  * Walk the officers thru the premises to show them what was stolen / damaged and make a police report if a crime actually occurred.
  * Secure the premises so that the police can go back in service to respond to other calls. PD is not your all night private guard service to babysit you building with busted open doors / windows. Several times we find the “false alarm” was caused by “unlocked” doors that are a dead bolt only and we need the RP with a key to lock it / secure it from opening again.
  * My favorite, for the repeat false alarm offenders, get your lazy butt out of bed and get down there or I’ll arrange an opportunity for you to face the judge. This one has fixed more systems that cause regular false alarms (or at least stopped the PD from being dispatched.)
  * On video / audio verified “priority” alarm system this requirement ensures that the police agencies are not abused by the subscribers who only want a PD drive-by because it is cheaper than hiring a roving guard service or security guard to sit there all night and chase away the lookie-louie’s.
    I think that the plaintiff’s attorney would have a pretty hard time overcoming this defense. As far as someone getting hurt / attacked because they responded to the scene before PD arrived, that requires common sense (some have it – some don’t). If your subscriber is a timid hearted person you might want to recommend a good security guard company or at least have them add their “knuckle dragging” friend to the call list. You have to be smart enough to know this or you shouldn’t be operating an alarm system. Reminds me of a saying: Duct tape can’t fix stupid, but it can help muffle the sounds…. 
    Do you think the alarm company is any more liable than if the subscriber just showed up in the night to check on their business and got hurt by a bad guy because they saw something strange and decided to investigate on their own??
Thanks, 
Detective H.W."Robbie" Robinson 
Phoenix Police Department 
Arizona Department of Public Safety Computer Forensic Unit / Facial Recognition 
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Response
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    Thanks again to those who shared their expertise on this topic. Keep in mind that we didn’t have the audio and ADT didn’t bother to contribute to the discussion, so we are left with what the Judge included in his decision, which I reported.
    It may be obvious that it’s dangerous to suggest to a subscriber that he or she is needed at the crime scene, especially if the police don’t expect the subscriber or the subscriber gets there before the police. Central station operators should limit their comments to the fact that an alarm was received; they should refrain offering any other advice.
    Tomorrow's article will address what you should be doing about training your subscribers as opposed to what an operator may say.
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Ken Kirschenbaum,Esq
Kirschenbaum & Kirschenbaum PC
Attorneys at Law
200 Garden City Plaza
Garden City, NY 11530
516 747 6700 x 301
ken@kirschenbaumesq.com
www.KirschenbaumEsq.com