by Jason Beardsley
New strides were made this past year between the alarm industry and local jurisdictions. Together they are working to utilize technology advancements to provide better service and information to you, the business owner, while simultaneously increasing protection of your property and building from loss.
Once upon a pastime, alarms simply detected burglars, officers responded to detections and police arrested such perpetrators. Today, with 97% of alarm signals received in central stations in fact deemed false alarms, the demand to verify or enhance one’s security system with video verification is at an all time high.
Recently, some cities have adopted a verified response or false alarm ordinance to help with the burden of law enforcement’s time wasted on false alarms. In regards to our community, some local cities have enacted requirements for properties with consumption or sales of alcohol on premise, requiring the to have a surveillance system covering entry/exits to the property and the buildings which handle the alcohol.
The alarm industry and law enforcement have worked tremendously to find a solution, comprised of new technologies and updated policies. With the help of verified alarms, police are making arrests again, completely resurrecting the police/alarm response model.. The June 2012 cover story of SDM Magazine, “Does All of This Stop Crime?” cited examples of amazing arrest rates which resulted from cities using video alarms. Universal Monitoring, an alarm company in Charlotte, achieved over 60% arrest rates on their monitored video alarms in a one year period. As well, F.E. Moran, an alarm company in Illinois, delivered 129 arrests for 136 incidents using video alarms protecting commercial property, over a 95% arrest rate!
The March 2012 issue of International Association of Police Chiefs ( IACP) Police Chief Magazine documented a case study of this new approach at Detroit Public Schools in an article entitled, “Arresting Results: How One District Achieved a 70 Percent Closure Rate with Video Alarms.” Detroit Public Schools installed video intrusion alarms in 30 vacant schools that were frequent targets of vandalism and copper theft. According to the report, during the 2010/2011 school year, there were 101 burglaries in these facilities and the police were able to close 70 incidents with arrests of 123 people — a 70% arrest rate.
These results are not unique – video intrusion alarms are delivering arrests across the country, saving owners (literally) millions. Just imagine if insurance companies also became involved in this process? From an underwriter’s point of view, the fantastic results produced by video verification are undeniable and changes the game entirely; a few thousand dollars paid upfront for video alarms saved millions in damages to Detroit Public Schools. In fact, Detroit officer John Greene was named officer of the year in Police K-9 Magazine in due to the high number of arrests and results made with the help of video intrusion alarms. Awesome Right?
While response to traditional alarms is decaying, video verified alarms are transforming security and providing new value to law enforcement. Alarm monitoring companies are even working to be able to send video clips of the intruders to the police as the crime occurs, providing extra assistance and safety to law officials. This is making a dramatic difference in combatting property crime, and both police and sheriffs are embracing such solutions which deliver arrests and make the process more effective. Law enforcement is encouraging video intrusion alarms by directing 911 dispatch centers to create special dispatch codes which place a higher priority to alarms verified by video. In essence, the 911 operators treat video verified alarms as a crime-in-progress, not just a mere alarm.
That is effective loss control; video clips of the burglary are sent to your local security company’s central station where they are immediately reviewed and dispatched as crime-in-progress to local police. The question is not if video verification is the right fit for your business, but when you will be ready to join the new way to protect your business.
Jason Beardsley, MBA is the Branch General Manager with SDA Security. He can be reached at (800) 896-1144 or visit us at www.sdasecurity.com