October 25, 2011
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Question
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Ken
Last week I received via fax a summons from Homeland Security. In connection with their surveillance of one of our customers the summons required that we provide to Homeland Security the history of when a specific customers system was armed and unarmed. We were also required to notify them on a go forward basis when the system was armed or unarmed. After authenticating the identify of the special agent listed on the summons we complied.
Today I received a voice message from the same agent requesting that we disengage the security system in connection with a search warrant that they intended to execute.
Kindly advise what if any documentation I should request from the special agent to accommodate this request.
Thanks
JC
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Answer
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My guess is you received a subpoena for your records. Unless the subpoena was issued by a Judge or officer of the court [that includes a lawyer], or law enforcement agency authorized to subpoena business records in connection with an investigation [and I am not sure which agency would have that authority] I don't believe you would be required to release your records. However, the alarm activity reports are the property of the central station, not the alarm subscriber [this is made clear in the Standard Monitoring contracts]. Therefore, the central station can release the business record if it wants to, with or without a subpoena. I would suggest redacting personal information, especially social security numbers, codes and code words, passcodes, etc. Legal process is rarely delivered by fax by the way, so verifying the source was a good idea.
Disarming the system is another matter. You are under contract with the subscriber to dispatch if there is an alarm condition. You get a call from law enforcement asking you to disarm or not dispatch. If the caller is genuine, the search is performed and the subscriber or those on premises taken into custody, it's not likely you're going to be sued because you turned the alarm off.
On the other hand, if you turn the alarm off and the premises are then burglarized, well I guess you know what happens then.
You are required to comply with a lawful court order. There was no order to disengage the alarm. A call from a law enforcement officer is not sufficient. It would be prudent to contact the local police and let them decide how they will cooperate with another law enforcement agency.
So, unless the next call comes from Jack Bauer himself, check with counsel or just dispatch.