Re: silent or audible

["Robert L Bass" <no-sales-spam@bassburglaralarms>]

> Police don't like to catch anyone.

I disagree, but only partly so.  Police love catching thieves.  It's just that they rarely arrive before the thief leaves so they
rarely catch them.  A silent alarm might result in a small increase in arrests but not enough to make up for the greater losses
because the thief doesn't run off right away.  Even when the cops know it's a silent alarm the delay between alarm activation and
signal transmission is usually about 20-30 seconds (much longer if the system gets a busy on the first try).  Then there's the time
it takes for the alarm monitoring company's operator to dial the police.  This varies from as little as 30 seconds to upwards of an
hour, depending on which company is doing the monitoring.  Unfortunately, some of the largest, most "professional" central stations
are also among the slowest to respond to an actual emergency.

Once the police operator in the emergency call center finally receives the message s/he gives it to the radio dispatcher (in smaller
towns the operator is the dispatcher) and the call goes out.  Just giving the information can take from 30 seconds to a minute or
more, depending on how quickly, clearly and accurately the parties communicate.

Finally, an officer receives the radio call and must drive to thge protected premises.  This can take as little as 2 or 3 minutes if
you're lucky or upwards of an hour if you're in some rural areas.  With the continuing deluge of false alarms, some departments are
treating burglar alarm calls as a low priority matter, about the same as a noise complaint.  Other departments are starting to
require verification in the form of audio, video or in-person confirmation that the alarm is valid.  All of this adds to the delay,
making monitoring less efective and brurglary more lucrative.

The pathetic thing is watching the TV ads for Brinks where a would-be burglar smashes the glass, hears the wimpy, little interior
siren and runs off.  Two seconds later the phone rings: "Hello, Mrs. Jones.  This is Brinks Security.  We just wanted to let you
know that the 101st Airborne are landing on the lawn as we speak."

> FWIW in all the years I've installed burg alarms
> I've had only ONE residential client insist on silent...
> but after about a year he had me change it because
> we dispatched on alarms that he caused...

We've had similar experiences.  Most people want
the reassurance that a siren is blaring away, causing
heads to turn and hopefully scaring off the thief.
One customer, a real gun nut, insisted on a silent
alarm whenever he was home and an audible when
he was out.  He kept guns (lots of them) in every
room, including the bathroom.  I expect I knew
what his intentions were.  :^)

> Commerical too except I have done systems
> where selected zones were silent.

I always offered silent holdup and audible panic.
One neat trick is to use 2 holdup buttons almost
side-by-side.  Set the system to trigger a silent
holdup if only one is pressed and an audible panic
if both are pressed.

> Besides what if you were home and you set
> off a silent alarm...the police would catch you right?

There have been instances where homeowners were
shot by police after setting off their own alarms.
Presumably this was not part of the local false alarm
reduction ordinance.  :^)

BTW, a policeman in our area recently shot and
critically wounded his own daughter when she returned
home late at night after sneaking out.  He thought she
was an intruder.  The newspaper didn't say whether
there was an alarm involved.  I assume there not.

--

Regards,
Robert L Bass

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Bass Home Electronics
941-925-8650
4883 Fallcrest Circle
Sarasota · Florida · 34233
http://www.bassburglaralarms.com
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