Jordan O'BrienIncreasingly, local authorities are levying steep fines for false alarms, or they’re simply not responding to security events when there is no eye witness or video verification.
This reality of over-burdened police forces was made clear during a discussion at the recent International Security Conference (ISC) West 2015, where law-enforcement officials explained how alarm calls are prioritised.
“When we get a call that the operator tells us there’s video associated with a video alarm, we treat that with the same priority that we treat a crime in progress,” says Chief Chris Vinson, chair of the Texas Police Chiefs Alarm Committee. “The calls that truly do merit a higher response, those get pushed to the top. Those get the response they need to actually make arrests. And that’s what we’re all going for.”
Today’s DIY alarm systems – even those that offer professional monitoring – for the most part do not deliver video verification to central stations.
As self-monitored DIY systems wreak havoc on emergency response services, we could very well imagine a time when police stop sending crews to alarms called in by consumers of such systems.
If you need help selling consumers on the importance of professionally monitored systems with video verification, show them this clip.