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Making Home Alarm Systems EASY - and Tougher for Burglars !We're
all worried about security - whether in our homes or business, the threat
from burglars just seems to increase. But, where do you turn for independent
impartial advice ?
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Growing public awareness fuels growth in silent intruder detection systems Mar.11, 2008 In eyes of L.A., to err is a fine Mar. 2, 2008 Police encourage alarm systems in homes Feb. 25, 2008 False Alarms Costly 21 Feb 2008 Fed
up with false alarms, cops seek fine
19 Feb. 2008 Video
smoke detection set for major growth
19 Feb. 2008 Cellphone
firms end analog-network service
17 Feb 2008 National
Grid Offers Important Information About Gas Leak Safety And Avoiding Carbon
Monoxide Hazards
15 Feb. 2008 More customers are opting for monitored intruder alarms on long-term maintenance contracts. Minoru Takezawa – managing director of electronic security solutions provider Secom plc – and sales director John White believe that growing public awareness of security risks is tipping the scales in favour of silent intruder detection systems According to statistics, the UK is becoming a safer place in which to live and work, but it’s still a long way from being crime-free. That’s why security remains a growth sector. Part of the improvement in the statistics released by the Government and other bodies reflects the public’s involvement in crime prevention. Companies and individuals are behaving more carefully, and investing in deterrents such as electronic alarm systems. This cuts down on opportunistic criminal acts, at the same time making deliberate crime more difficult. The latest technology has produced what you might call a ‘silent revolution’ which takes the deterrent level and intruder detection into a new era, with vastly superior security and peace of mind for all clients. In addition to enhanced security, customers can also protect their reputations with police and insurers because experienced security operators at Alarm Receiving Centres will actively verify calls before alerting the police. This avoids false alarms which, for some time now, have placed police response and insurance cover at risk. Increasing pressure on police resources may make it difficult for the police to respond quickly to an alarm event, even when the alarm call is verified. One day, we could well see security companies operating their own response units to deal with incidents on customers’ property, as is the case in many other countries. This development would
avoid the need for clients’ members of staff, who act as key holders,
from having to deal with potentially dangerous situations on site for
which they’re not adequately trained. In
eyes of L.A., to err is a fine The police left, only to be summoned back hours later when the dog got free a second time. That should have been the end of it. A city law grants only two false alarms every 12 months. Any more than that and police aren't required to respond unless someone at the scene verifies that the alarm is real. But when Checkers triggered the alarm a third time, the Los Angeles Police Department's computer system failed to flag Geraghty's address as a repeat offender, and a 911 dispatcher sent more officers. That a dog can fool police into chasing a phantom burglar three times in a day underscores LAPD's long, frustrating history of battling false alarms. More than three years after taking a tough-love stance on the nearly 110,000 bogus calls it received each year, the department is still struggling to get the upper hand. The overall number of alarms has dropped, but nearly all are still false. ... Los Angeles is a city obsessed with protecting itself. Dozens of companies, with names such as Sentry Tech and Protection One, serve an estimated quarter of a million homes and offices that are equipped with wired locks, secret pass codes and panic buttons. The systems can be valuable crime deterrents for residents, but police complain that they are a tremendous drain on their resources. The issue came to a head in 2003, when police responded to 109,295 alarm calls -- about 13% of all calls for assistance that year -- and nearly 106,000 of them were false. Police Chief William J. Bratton, already trying to make do with an undersized force, tried to push through a new policy calling for officers to respond to alarms only when there was clear evidence that a break-in was occurring. Too much time and too many resources, Bratton said, were wasted on wild goose chases. But Angelenos and the security industry erupted in protest, lighting up the phones of City Council members. The council took the unusual step of vetoing the LAPD's proposed policy and appointed a task force, which produced the compromise that went into effect three years ago. The city ordinance imposed the two-false-alarm limit and requires operators at security companies to try to contact clients on at least two phone numbers to see if an alarm should be canceled before the LAPD is sent. It also imposed an increasingly steep scale of fines for each false alarm, starting at $115 for the first offense. For those who do not get an alarm permit required by the city, the fines are much higher. On Friday, city Councilwoman Wendy Greuel made a motion to amend the ordinance to cover the thousands of false alarms the city Fire Department responds to each year as well. In one way, the plan has worked for police. By last year, the number of times police were dispatched to an alarm call had plummeted to 59,482. At least part of the decline, police said, was due to "Alarm School" -- a reeducation camp of sorts for people with a track record of false alarms. Akin to traffic school -- and equally boring -- the two-hour classes are offered periodically at night and on weekends. In exchange for sitting through PowerPoint presentations and a melodramatic video about how to avoid false alarms, alarm owners can have their fines reduced. Geraghty, Checkers' owner, attended one of the classes on a sunny Saturday morning to lower his $495 bill. Bleary-eyed and unenthusiastic, about 35 people shuffled into the dimly lighted room at the LAPD's cadet training center in Westchester. More than a few slurped coffee from foam cups. One woman dozed off with her chin in her hands. "Would I rather be somewhere else? Definitely," Geraghty said. "But at least they're giving you a way out" of the bill. On many other fronts, the city's alarm policy has been an outright mess. Most notably, although the overall number of alarms is down, the rate of false calls has held steady at about 97%. More than 4,500 addresses tallied three or more false alarms last year. Topping the list is a building on Hill Street in downtown L.A. -- home to scores of jewelry wholesale businesses that wrongly summoned police 253 times in 2007. The response by officers can be significant, especially at night when helicopters are sometimes called in to check rooftops.Read full article >> Police
encourage alarm systems in homes False
alarms costly - Feb. 21 2008--Santa Fe -- A Santa Fe city official
said Tuesday the cost of police responding to false burglar alarms is
between $300,000 and $800,000 annually................. Fed
up with false alarms, cops seek fine - 19 Feb. 2008 Video smoke detection set for major growth - 19 Feb. 2008 Using
video surveillance to detect fires at an early stage before major damage
is done is predicted to be a major growth area in fire detection. Read
full article >> Cellphone
firms end analog-network service - 17 Feb 2008 Attention
users of old cellphones: Starting today, your handset may be ready for
the Smithsonian. As of today, cellphone companies are no longer required
to provide service using the analog network. The change is not likely
to affect many cellphone users, who long ago switched to digital service
even if they didn't know it. National Grid Offers Important Information About Gas Leak Safety And Avoiding Carbon Monoxide Hazards - 15 Feb. 2008 With
the winter heating season still underway, National Grid reminds customers
what to do if they suspect a natural gas leak and how to avoid potentially
deadly carbon monoxide. Carbon monoxide is an invisible, odorless gas that can be deadly if left undetected. It's the byproduct of the incomplete burning of fuels such as natural gas, butane, propane, wood, coal, heating oil, kerosene and gasoline. Common sources include malfunctioning forced-air furnaces, kerosene space heaters and natural gas ranges. Other sources include wood stoves, charcoal grills, motor vehicle engines, and fireplaces. During the heating season when windows and doors are tightly shut, fresh air is sealed out, allowing any carbon monoxide that may be present to build up over time. The symptoms of carbon monoxide poisoning are similar to those of the flu. Depending upon the amount of carbon monoxide in the air and length of exposure, symptoms may include headaches, weakness, confusion, chest tightness, skin redness, dizziness, nausea, sleepiness, fluttering of the heart or loss of muscle control. Here
are some tips to protect your family:
Install a UL-listed home carbon monoxide detector
If
you use a back-up electricity generator, install it outside. Open windows
do not provide sufficient ventilation to safely operate a generator indoors.
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