December 3, 2011

 

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Comments on police / fire dispatch

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Ken,

Regarding JC's questions, we have always dispatched on police when conducting searches, when they call to have us disregard the alarm. It may be legitimate or not, but to cover ourselves, we handle as an intrusion. Let the real police investigate and make the call. (I have managed some big central stations in my old life.)

Alan Mills

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Low temperature does not mean flood, just like high temperature does not mean fire. There is no reason for emergency police or fire department dispatch. They would get sued for breaking into building. There are flood detecting devices just like there are fire detecting devices. The case doesn't say that such devices were used, and it does say that calls to party under contract were made. So where is the case here? Throw them out of the court.

Dusan

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Invasion Of Privacy Question

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Dear Ken,

I would like to know the law in New York State concerning invasion of privacy. I will be installing 32 camera's in a Laundromat (over kill) with two apartments above the store. The owner of the building is also going to run the Laundromat. Most of the camera's will be outside around his store, but there is one camera that he wants me to install in the hallway where the steps are to the upper apartments. This camera will see everyone who comes and goes to the apartments. I would like to know if this is an invasion of privacy to the tenants who are renting the apartment?

Thank You

Steven Pagliaro

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Answer

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The other way of looking at whether there is an invasion of privacy is whether there is an expectation of privacy, which needs to be balanced against property owners rights to protect property and those on the property. Statutes often specify areas where there should be little disagreement over expectation of privacy, such as bathrooms, dressing rooms, bedrooms, and those statutes prohibit cameras in those areas. But there are plenty of gray areas, and hall ways in an apartment building are a fairly good example.

In your example you have commercial space adjacent to residential space, and the building owner wants to be able to view the hall way between those two areas. Not only does it seem a reasonable security measure to me, but I do not believe that anyone could reasonably expect privacy in the hallway.

Keep in mind that use of the data is always, I think, the pivitol issue for video or audio data. Data is supposed to have some legitmate purpose, and even the most mundane data can be perverted, exposing the alarm company, central station, etc, to liability. For example, take a hall way camera in an apartment building. Purpose, to monitor the premises for property damage and illegal activity, whether it's real time monitoring or data storage for after the fact viewing. Here is a [dumb] example: Video and or audio data picks up pizza dilivery to the same apartment 6 times a day 7 days a week. The central station operator, or the in house guard who views the cameras, thinks the frequency is funny and turms it into an Internet comedy. Want a different one? Examples are endless.

 

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Follow on to Carbon Monoxide response protocol artcle from October 27, 2011 re: Natural Gas and Propane Gas Detection

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Question

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Mr. Kirschenbaum,

Thank you for your generous contribution to our industry by providing this forum, and for your time as a guest speaker at so many industry events, including our own CT organization, CASIA where you have been an inspirational speaker.

My question is a follow on to the CO response guidelines; what should the response be to the detection of both Natural Gas (Methane) and Propane Gas when they are detected (by sensors similar to the CO detector). These other gases are being used in many homes, and are detected by sensors which we can purchase through alarm product distributors. These gases are more immediately flammable, and have very different physical and sensory characteristics than CO.

Thank you,

Felix Giannini, President

Lexco, Inc.

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Answer

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Well beyond my level of knowledge. Hopefully UL or ETL or another in the know will respond with the correct answer. Are there NFPA guidelines for Natural Gas (Methane) and Propane Gas?

Incidently, I recently had a propane gas leak in my house, a fireplace. House smelled and we called the fire department who came and shut off the propane tank feed. Neither the smoke or CO detectors picked it up, which I guess is right since they aren't suppose to.

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Video - evidence

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Hi Ken

We are being subbed to install CCTV in small apartment building in NYC. The customer brought up an interesting question.

He wants to store video of possible illegal activity in his building. He must have the video to prove his case in court. I know that all DVRs "time stamp" the videos the "time stamp" what the court requires or is there another method of verifying video that would be required to make the video admissable in court?

Thanks

Harry Viggiano

iZOn Video Surveillance Inc.

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Answer

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As long as a video can be explained and appears reliable, there is no reason it should not be admitted in evidence. Whoever offers the evidence has the burden of establishing its authenticity, relevance and reliability. That's done by testifying to recognizing the scene, picture, or establishing how the time records on the DVR are programmed and maintained or other extraneous factors that may establish the time line for the video, ultimately whether any evidence is admitted [the judge's function] and the weight to be given to such evidence [the trier of fact's function] So even if the DVR is time stamped testimony would be needed to show that the time is reliable. You can't have a video time stamped middle of the night and the sun is out.