RE: Police took about 30 minutes or longer to respond to our home alarm
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RE: Police took about 30 minutes or longer to respond t... - 7/18/2008 3:34:35 AM
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Annie64
Posts: 830
Joined: 6/4/2007
From: Indianapolis, IN
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I was really interested in this thread because I work for an alarm company. I'm not surprised that the police took that long to respond to your alarm. Storms just about always increase alarm calls, and they are virtually always false alarms. But because you can never rule out the possibility that there may really be a problem, they do respond. True alarms are so rare that at my company, if we dispatch the police to an alarm and a person is actually arrested, or if we send the fire department to a location where there is an actual fire, we get a bonus on our next paycheck!
That's not to say the alarm is a waste of money. As other people have pointed out, just having one decreases your likelihood of being broken into. And if someone does break in to your home, the sound of the alarm will often frighten away the thief before they take anything.
Several people were telling you to get a gun for protection. I had an alarm one night at my work that really taught me something about that. The alarm was on a residence and there was no answer there so I called the police, then called the resident's cell phone number. The resident was on vacation, but she wanted me to call the police back right away and tell them that if there actually was a break-in at her home, there was a bigger problem. She had a gun in her house, so if the thief wasn't armed before, he was now. Fortunately, it was a false alarm.
One person suggested you call the alarm company again and ask if this was a common response time. Don't do that. The alarm company isn't related to the police and doesn't know how long it takes your police department to respond on average. The alarm dispatcher may not even be in your state. I work for a small alarm company in Indianapolis. We monitor several accounts in Boston.
One last thing: Be thankful you didn't have the opposite problem that we hear about often. A lot of police departments have gotten fed up with false alarms and have started ticketing people for them. Sometimes people have to pay $75-$100 for false alarms.
_____________________________
On Christ the solid rock I stand
ALL other ground is sinking sand.
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RE: Police took about 30 minutes or longer to respond t... - 7/18/2008 6:28:55 AM
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Random
Posts: 1078
Joined: 4/18/2005
From: Zipperhead
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One other point, in most cases the alarm company can tell how the system was armed. For example, we can set ours for "stay" which is arming at night when we're home, or "away" which is for when no one is home. There are a couple differences between what is turned on in the two modes, for example if you do "stay" the motion sensor does not turn on.
So, if the alarm is set for away, and it goes off, the alarm company is going to assume that no one is home, and the police will definitely take that as a low priority. If it is set for "stay" and goes off, then their protocol might be different.
I also agree with Annie, a lot of police forces are charging for false alarms.
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"That which has always been accepted by everyone, everywhere, is almost certain to be false." -- Valery
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RE: Police took about 30 minutes or longer to respond t... - 7/18/2008 6:47:43 AM
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mapachito13
Posts: 2323
Joined: 10/1/2007
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So who protects your home when you are not there? Even doggies can't summon the police!
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Peace Sells....But Who's Buying!
"I would argue that the most serious threat to the United States is not someone hiding in a cave in Pakistan or Afghanistan, but our own fiscal irresponsibility."-David Walker, fmr comptroller general of the US
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RE: Police took about 30 minutes or longer to respond t... - 7/18/2008 11:32:33 AM
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Zhi
Posts: 1328
Joined: 7/31/2007
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quote:
Several people were telling you to get a gun for protection. I had an alarm one night at my work that really taught me something about that. The alarm was on a residence and there was no answer there so I called the police, then called the resident's cell phone number. The resident was on vacation, but she wanted me to call the police back right away and tell them that if there actually was a break-in at her home, there was a bigger problem. She had a gun in her house, so if the thief wasn't armed before, he was now. Fortunately, it was a false alarm.
Mmm, we keep our guns in a digital safe and/or trigger locked. It's safer with the baby, and makes them less likely to be stolen and/or used by someone who shouldn't use them.
I consider proper securement of firearms to be part of responsible firearm ownership.
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The optimist says the glass is half full. The pessimist says the glass is half empty. The engineer says the glass is twice as large as it needs to be.
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RE: Police took about 30 minutes or longer to respond t... - 7/18/2008 3:35:58 PM
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phosadaud
Posts: 9808
Joined: 9/19/2005
From: Washington State
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quote:
ORIGINAL: Zhi
Mmm, we keep our guns in a digital safe and/or trigger locked. It's safer with the baby, and makes them less likely to be stolen and/or used by someone who shouldn't use them.
I consider proper securement of firearms to be part of responsible firearm ownership.
That's good! Too often people get a gun to feel safer but they don't understand gun safety and end up putting themselves or their family in more danger because of it.
And I'll echo about some police departments charging for false alarms. They do where my church is. You get one "freebie", then you get charged after that. It's not a lot, but it does make you rethink how you do things.
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~Kristin~
42.7% of all statistics are made up on the spot.
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RE: Police took about 30 minutes or longer to respond t... - 7/18/2008 4:02:55 PM
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mapachito13
Posts: 2323
Joined: 10/1/2007
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quote:
ORIGINAL: phosadaud
quote:
ORIGINAL: Zhi
Mmm, we keep our guns in a digital safe and/or trigger locked. It's safer with the baby, and makes them less likely to be stolen and/or used by someone who shouldn't use them.
I consider proper securement of firearms to be part of responsible firearm ownership.
That's good! Too often people get a gun to feel safer but they don't understand gun safety and end up putting themselves or their family in more danger because of it.
And I'll echo about some police departments charging for false alarms. They do where my church is. You get one "freebie", then you get charged after that. It's not a lot, but it does make you rethink how you do things.
Only one? Wow, they allow up to six a year in my town. I got false alarms when I forgot to turn off the coffee pot in my office before going home. The heat from the empty pot I guess was just enough to set off the IR detectors. I moved the pot and no more false alarms!
_____________________________
Peace Sells....But Who's Buying!
"I would argue that the most serious threat to the United States is not someone hiding in a cave in Pakistan or Afghanistan, but our own fiscal irresponsibility."-David Walker, fmr comptroller general of the US
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RE: Police took about 30 minutes or longer to respond t... - 7/19/2008 12:38:22 AM
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SovereignIsHe
Posts: 4458
Joined: 4/15/2005
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quote:
ORIGINAL: mapachito13
So who protects your home when you are not there? Even doggies can't summon the police!
Claymore mines...
John
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RE: Police took about 30 minutes or longer to respond t... - 7/19/2008 8:29:44 AM
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SteveSund
Posts: 559
Joined: 11/8/2005
From: Michigan
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quote:
ORIGINAL: SovereignIsHe
quote:
ORIGINAL: mapachito13
So who protects your home when you are not there? Even doggies can't summon the police!
Claymore mines...
John
Great idea, just remember, Front Towards Enemy.
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RE: Police took about 30 minutes or longer to respond t... - 7/20/2008 2:17:03 AM
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Annie64
Posts: 830
Joined: 6/4/2007
From: Indianapolis, IN
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quote:
ORIGINAL: Random
One other point, in most cases the alarm company can tell how the system was armed. For example, we can set ours for "stay" which is arming at night when we're home, or "away" which is for when no one is home. There are a couple differences between what is turned on in the two modes, for example if you do "stay" the motion sensor does not turn on.
So, if the alarm is set for away, and it goes off, the alarm company is going to assume that no one is home, and the police will definitely take that as a low priority. If it is set for "stay" and goes off, then their protocol might be different.
I also agree with Annie, a lot of police forces are charging for false alarms.
Actually, alarm companies can't always tell whether an alarm is armed in stay or away mode. You can have it set up that way so that in the history it will say "armed in stay mode," or "armed in away mode," but it doesn't come to the computer screen with an alarm, so we don't make assumptions about whether or not someone is home. At least in our company, as well as the other one I have worked for, we always call first anyway. Nor have any police stations I have called ever asked for information on how a system was armed. It doesn't make a difference to the priority of alarms. Arming a system in stay or away mode makes a difference to how it works on your end, but it doesn't really make a difference to how an alarm is handled. Sorry.
_____________________________
On Christ the solid rock I stand
ALL other ground is sinking sand.
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RE: Police took about 30 minutes or longer to respond t... - 7/22/2008 9:55:59 PM
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garsyt
Posts: 2275
Joined: 4/12/2005
From: the bottom of the laundry basket
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Actually where we live I'd be surprised if we had a response from the police within a half hour. They'd have to be in the neighborhood for that to happen. Fire and rescue is a bit faster, but it is unlikely that your home could be saved by the time they got here, unless you called right away and the fire wasn't out of control yet.
Our biggest problem is that we live in a teensy town that is on a county line so often there is a question as to which county's sheriff's department is responsible, especially when the problem involves parties from both sides of the line (school districts are split along county lines here and we do sometimes have altercations between teens from both sides of the line). Our town marshal is only part time as that is all we, as a town, can afford to pay him, and he does his best, but because he is part time and he has another job with the state patrol, he is not always available.
This isn't a problem so much for fire and rescue. They all just show up! Eventually. Considering the nearest VOLUNTEER station is 6 miles away, and the nearest station with full-time on-site personal is 10 miles out, we're just glad they show up!
Around here - your best defense is your neighbors. Getting to know your neighbors is key! Knowing each other, letting each other know when you are going to be away for a period of time, and being observant goes a long way. That and not being afraid to call things in even if it ends up being nothing.
Blessings,
Garsy
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My Blog: www.moredayslikethisplease.wordpress.com
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RE: Police took about 30 minutes or longer to respond t... - 7/22/2008 10:22:04 PM
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mapachito13
Posts: 2323
Joined: 10/1/2007
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quote:
ORIGINAL: SovereignIsHe
quote:
ORIGINAL: mapachito13
So who protects your home when you are not there? Even doggies can't summon the police!
Claymore mines...
John
Did I tell you I have friends in the ATF? 
_____________________________
Peace Sells....But Who's Buying!
"I would argue that the most serious threat to the United States is not someone hiding in a cave in Pakistan or Afghanistan, but our own fiscal irresponsibility."-David Walker, fmr comptroller general of the US
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