5/20/05
	PUBLIC SAFETY BULLETIN
WELCOME This edition of the SIAC Public Safety Bulletin announces a new program recognizing companies that are reducing police dispatches. It also announces the availability of public safety briefing papers on the SIAC web site.  You will find these briefing papers useful when addressing alarm issues in your community.  A great deal of facts, figures, and research are available to help support your positions during important public policy discussions.  Throughout North America, law enforcement, security industry professionals and alarm owners are working together every day to enhance public safety with the effective and efficient use of alarm technology and services.  SIAC was created by CANASA, NBFAA, SIA and CSAA to serve as a central resource for information and material to promote responsible use of alarm systems to enhance public safety.  I encourage you to share this information with all those who are involved in creating or managing public policies that affect alarm owners, law enforcement and alarm companies. We appreciate your continued participation and support. Stan Martin, Executive Director SIAC, FARA ANNOUNCE PDQ PROGRAM TO RECOGNIZE COOPERATIVE EFFORTS SIAC and FARA announced a North American Police Dispatch Quality (PDQ) Award program at a news conference April 7, 2005, at ISC West in Las Vegas.   The award is designed to recognize alarm installation and monitoring companies following established industry practices in order to reduce the number of unnecessary police dispatch requests. Honeywell Security Group and Security Sales and Integration (SSI) are providing financial and in-kind support to promote the award and bring the winning security firm's staff to ISC West to be recognized. “Reducing the number of unnecessary police dispatch enhances the effectiveness of alarm systems and improves officer safety,” said Jim Cogswell, First President of FARA.  The winning alarm installation and monitoring company team will receive their award from local law enforcement representatives at a city hall ceremony in their hometown. Representatives of the winning security company team will also receive an all-expense paid trip to Las Vegas to attend ISC West in April 2006 and present their success story.  Highlights of their collaboration will also be published in SSI magazine. SIAC LAUNCHES WEB-BASED PUBLIC SAFETY INFORMATION RESOURCE New briefing papers on how alarm system users, law enforcement agencies and the security alarm industry are working together to maximize public safety are available on the SIAC website, www.SIACinc.org.  The newly-posted items are listed below: · Community Use of Alarms · Commitment to Cooperation · ECV Overview · ECV Implementation Guide - Dealer · ECV Consumer Guide · Best Practices - Model Ordinance Overview CP-01 EQUIPMENT STANDARDS BEING INTEGRATED INTO ALARM ORDINANCES The Security Industry Association (SIA) CP-01 standard for control panels was developed to provide manufacturing guidelines for equipment that would reduce or eliminate the occurrence of invalid alarm activations.  Cities are now beginning to incorporate this standard into their alarm ordinances for new installations. Among the cities requiring equipment meeting the SIA CP-01 standard are: Tucson, AZ; Palm Beach County, FL; Lee County, FL; Lake Charles, LA; Oakland, CA; and Seattle, WA.  In addition, Phoenix, Milwaukee and cities in Colorado recommend the use of control panels that meet the SIA CP-01 standard, and they also urge the upgrading to SIA CP-01 compliant panels for problem systems. IN THE NEWS LEE COUNTY, FL (May 11, 2005, The News Press) Lee County residents and businesses equipped with security alarms will save money thanks to the Lee County Commission. Commissioners voted to do away with the annual $25 fee required when registering an alarm with the Lee County Sheriff's Office. Now, it's a one-time cost. Edward Menninger, 76, encouraged commissioners to change the ordinance. "It was a tax that came in the back door ... by calling it a fee," he said. Sheriff's officials supported the change, saying the annual fee is unnecessary. SUISUN CITY, CA (April 21, 2005, Fairfield Daily Republic) The Suisun City Police Department is preparing an alarm ordinance it plans to present to City Council in June.  Under the proposal, businesses are given a warning for a first invalid alarm before an escalating fine schedule begins.  Homeowner William Padilla, in his fourth year as an alarm user, told the Republic he doesn't worry about the proposed change because he has yet to experience an invalid alarm.   “My alarm has sounded only once since I got it and it turned out to be a prowler," Padilla said. "People who take the time to learn about their alarm system and don't do stupid things shouldn't worry."  FREMONT, CA (April 21, 2005, Oakland Tribune) A month after police officers stopped responding to most burglar alarm calls, nearly a third of the citizens with alarms systems are unprotected by law enforcement. Many of the non-patrolled accounts are monitored with an ECV protocol in which an operator will try to get through to a customer, first by phoning the alarm-equipped residence or business, then calling a secondary phone, such as a cell phone. Mike Salk, vice president of the East Bay Alarm Association, said that despite no longer expecting a police response, the Fremont users still value their alarm systems.      SALT LAKE CITY, UT (February 15, 2005, The Salt Lake Tribune) A police beat covering the Northern edge of the city was the target of burglaries at a rate of one every other day between September 2004 and February.  A 4-year-old police department policy says officers respond to burglar alarms only after a third party has verified suspicious circumstances.  Owners and managers of businesses within the beat's boundaries have been frustrated by the number of break-ins - and by the police response. Their complaints range from unreturned phone calls to late arrivals to valid alarms.  Ron Wyman, owner of R&L Boilers, 375 W. 400 North, said the slow police response to an alarm at his business allowed one burglar to go free.  One morning when the alarm sounded at his business, it took police 40 minutes to respond. By the time police arrived, a security guard had chased the burglar for a distance, but had to let him go. NOTES FROM THE FIELD George Gunning, CEO of USA Alarm, Inc., Monrovia, CA, has been selected to represent the National Burglar and Fire Alarm Association (NBFAA) on the board of directors of SIAC… Richard A. Ader, Director of Sales Applications Support for Bosch, Inc., has been named to represent the Security Industry Association (SIA) on the board of directors of SIAC….SIAC honored Ron Haner of The Alarm Center of Olympia, WA with the William N. Moody SIAC Excellence Award.  Haner was selected in recognition of decades of service to the industry to maximize the benefit that alarm systems provide to communities.   The award was presented during a SIAC press briefing at ISC West in Las Vegas… Boulder Police Chief Mark Beckner has received the Director's Award for Successful Alarm Management from SIAC.   The award is in recognition of his leadership in successfully implementing ECV. LAS VEGAS (AP) May 6, 2005-- A California man was sentenced for the murder of a jewelry store security guard.  Vu Nguyen, 36, of Santa Ana, CA, also was ordered to pay $885,880 in restitution for watches stolen during the robbery and slaying of 37-year-old Kenneth Bailey at Chong Hing Jewelers in Las Vegas, the U.S. Attorney's office said. A jury convicted Nguyen in February of conspiracy, interference with commerce by robbery and use of a firearm in a crime resulting in death. He was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Kent J. Dawson in Las Vegas…. CLEVELAND (The Plain Dealer) April 23, 2005-- A false alarm in East Cleveland turned into a drug bust for police.  The Plain Dealer reports that police responding to a burglar alarm on April 22, greeted by the woman who lived at the house, who explained the alarm was tripped accidentally. However, officers then noticed a strong odor of marijuana on the woman.  After obtaining a search warrant, narcotics detectives confiscated a large amount of marijuana, several weapons and more than $100,000 in cash and took the 31-year-old woman into custody…. ALFRED, NY  (The Buffalo News) April 26, 2005-- Alfred police have accused two brothers of attempting to steal drugs including OxyContin, Oxycodone, morphine and Ritalin, valued at $27,000 ($100,000 on the street). Police said they discovered the break-in after the store's burglar alarm sounded, and they found the brothers hiding in the rafters of the store….OTTAWA (CBC News ) May 18, 2005-- A man wanted after escaping from prison 14 years ago is back behind bars, thanks to a bit of luck.  Ottawa police answering a burglar alarm at a home in Orléans earlier this week found a contractor at work. He said he'd simply forgotten to turn off the alarm. The officer ran the contractor's name, Pierre Lalonde, through the computer and discovered there was warrant out for the arrest of a man by the same name. Lalonde, 40, is now in custody at the regional detention centre.
	Security Industry Alarm Coalition (SIAC) 11209 New Orleans Drive , Frisco , TX 75035 972-377-9401 Stan Martin, Executive Director For More Information, Contact: Margulies Communications (214-368-0909) David Margulies (davidm@prexperts.net)