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Comments on SIAC from May 24, 2014 article
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Ken,
Regarding David Margulies comment on SIAC and their great work. How do I hit the "Like" button? SIAC is a huge asset to our industry and allows security company owners, and state and local associations to have a resource to educate first responders. Without SIAC we would have no coordinated effort with which to monitor potentially harmful response policies and to educate first responders throughout the country.
Mitch Reitman
S.I.C. Consulting, Inc.
www.@sicc.us
Fort Worth, TX
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Ken,
In response to David Margulies' article, here are some facts about Police response and the SIAC.
Police are charging a permit fee for a response to an alarm. This is a private sector security guard's job, not the job of the police. Then on top of charging for a response, cities like Tucson, have reported that their alarm response is as low as 52% of the time. Some times as slow as 6-7 hours later. This prove that Police are not providing security for the customers. In fact, private sector would be sued for doing what these cities are doing. Private Guard services are criticized for responding within 30 minutes.
I tell people that if your alarm company is claiming they have a "fast response" and they are calling police, here is the truth behind the response they are providing. We can put no more weight behind a police response than the contract the responding party has provided, in this case the contract would be the City Ordinance.
Tucson's Ordinance. Sec. 7-472. Government immunity. "An alarm registration is not intended to, nor will it, create a contract, duty or obligation, either expressed or implied, of response. Any and all liability and consequential damage resulting from the failure to respond to a notification is disclaimed and governmental immunity as provided by law is retained. By applying for an alarm registration, the alarm user acknowledges that the police department response may be influenced by factors such as the availability of police units, priority of calls, weather conditions, traffic conditions, emergency conditions, staffing levels, and prior response history."
This clause makes City Alarm Permits a one sided contract with only the client being liable, if the client even is liable. Tucson and many other cities go to "No Call" when storms or other conditions arise. This means a bad thunderstorm leaves all these alarm clients with no one to respond to an alarm. The Police are under no obligation to respond and therefore responding when they wish to respond. If the Police only respond when the Police desire to respond, why should the client be liable for them responding?
Police response to burglar alarms is going to slowly go away and private sector jobs will replace Police response. During times of budget cuts and increased crime, police are needed to respond to real crimes and private sector provides a way faster and guaranteed response to every alarm call. I know this for a fact, because I have used private response after using Police response and I have witnessed the improved response times.
Thanks, Roger D. Score, President Arizona Alarm Dealers Association
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Ken;
To add to what David Marguilles said, remember this: There is the spirit of the law and the letter of the law. I don't know where or when it happened, but I was always under the impression that the spirit of an alarm ordinance was to make sure that people properly use their alarms and in the case of commercial establishments properly train employees in the use of the security system. So many of these municipalities are switching to companies like ATB. I think it is awful. The spirit of the law was NEVER meant to punish someone who is having trouble with their alarm system. Under the heavy hand of ATB control, you get one false alarm per year and after that you get into the fine schedule. The first time a home or business owner has a false activation, they are often confused as to what may have caused the problem.
In an effort to help out my customers in towns that are using ATB, I do the following: 1) I stopped installing exterior sirens, 2) I shortened the amount of time for the sounder down to 4 minutes, 3) I added more interior protection. 4) I also instruct the Central Station to NOT dispatch unless there are at least two zones tripped. Everyone in the industry has had an occasional problem with a loose fitting door or window or something in a system that causes problems. But can anyone remember having two zones trip at the same time where there was no one on premise? If everyone had an unlimited budget for security, I would say we should all have video verification, but that's not the real world. You can add a couple of motion detectors for a fraction of that cost and proceed with about a 99% likelihood that you won't have any troubles with the bureaucrats at ATB. I am yet to have a customer complain about my rationale here.
John from NJ
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TO SUBMIT QUESTIONS OR COMMENTS REPLY TO THIS EMAIL OR EMAIL Ken@Kirschenbaumesq.com. Most comments and questions get circulated.
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Speaking Engagements
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Quick Response Dealer and Integrator Information and Technical Conference. July 15 -16, 2014 at Holiday Inn - Independence Ohio. All alarm dealers are invited. For more information, schedule and to RSVP contact Margie or Renee at reneet@quickresponse.net or call Margie/Renee at 800 462 5353 www.quickresponse.net
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Alarm Association of Greater St. Louis. September 16, 2014. at Tech Electronics HQs office at 6437 Manchester Ave, St. Louis, MO 63139. Meeting is from 11:45 – 1:30 Video conference presentation starting at 12:15 CST. For more information or to register contact Tony Drago adrago@tyco.com www.alarmstl.org/
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Alabama Alarm Association. AAA's Fall Meeting and Trade Show - October 21, 2014 from 3 to 5 PM at DoubleTree Hotel 808 South 20th Street Birmingham, AL 35205 for more info contact AAA Executive Director: director@alabamaalarm.org (205) 933-9000
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Electronic Security Summit for 2014. October 22-24, 2014 at the landmark Broadmoor Hotel. Colorado Springs, CO. For more information contact Alexander J. Quirin, CEO & Managing Partner, Advisory Summit Providers, LLC., (786) 999-9738 alex.quirin@aspsummits.com www.aspsummits.com
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