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For those of you not in the Dallas area. This has been on the news all morning. A business owner gets a call from his alarm company reporting a breakin. He goes to his business and finds two burglars. One or both of the burglars shoot first and he shoots second. Guess who won.

http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent ... 9667d.html

As a point of clarification, the City of Dallas will not respond to commercial alarms unless there is a personal verification of a break in.

txinvestigator wrote:As a point of clarification, the City of Dallas will not respond to commercial alarms unless there is a personal verification of a break in.

That answered my question.

*cues Bon Jovi*

"Shot through the head
and you're to blame
you give love
a bad name, (bad name)"




[/bon jovi]

There are great alarm systems that allow instant verification (Like Sonitrol, that has microphones, that allow the central station to hear what's going on after an alarm is tripped.)

Most municipalities will accept this as verification.

Other systems will hook into digital cameras, allowing a central station to actually SEE what's going on.

Much safer than going to check out the alarm yourself.

nitrogen wrote:There are great alarm systems that allow instant verification (Like Sonitrol, that has microphones, that allow the central station to hear what's going on after an alarm is tripped.)

Most municipalities will accept this as verification.

I don't know if that is true or not.

Other systems will hook into digital cameras, allowing a central station to actually SEE what's going on.

Much safer than going to check out the alarm yourself.

I will be more specific. Dallas only responds to VERIFIED commercial burglar alarms. The Dallas City Code specifies what that is;

City of Dallas Code 15C-1(18) VERIFIED COMMERCIAL BURGLAR ALARM NOTIFICATION means a call to the police from an alarm company, a private responder, or an eyewitness reporting that a burglar alarm signal or notification has been emitted from a commercial alarm site and that a private responder or another eyewitness has visually verified that evidence of criminal activity exists at the commercial alarm site

I don't know of another city around the DFW area that requires a verified alarm before a police response is dispatched. I believe the Dallas ordinance was drafted from other cities who have done the same.

Salt Lake City requires that a Private Security Guard respond.

Madison, WI requires on site responders.

Burien, WA requires on site responders.

In fact, every city I could find that has a verified response ordinance requires an on site personal responder. None allow video or auditory evidence.

nitrogen wrote:Much safer than going to check out the alarm yourself.

But how much fun is that??? Geesh...

txinvestigator wrote:In fact, every city I could find that has a verified response ordinance requires an on site personal responder. None allow video or auditory evidence.

Here's something to chew on...

What if it was a "bonded", customs type holding warehouse???

I may be wrong (I might have observed this incorrectly), but during the lean times I made deliveries to a warehouse that contained items that were being held by customs, that didn't have a 24/7 security person(s)...

Would PD run on that??? If thats truely the case??? Not that it really matters...Looked like it held some high dollar merchandise...

stevie_d_64 wrote:

txinvestigator wrote:In fact, every city I could find that has a verified response ordinance requires an on site personal responder. None allow video or auditory evidence.

Here's something to chew on...

What if it was a "bonded", customs type holding warehouse???

I may be wrong (I might have observed this incorrectly), but during the lean times I made deliveries to a warehouse that contained items that were being held by customs, that didn't have a 24/7 security person(s)...

Would PD run on that??? If thats truely the case??? Not that it really matters...Looked like it held some high dollar merchandise...

It does not appear that Dallas would.

"Hello, this is Joe Smith. My alarm is going off at XXXX Lombardi St. South.
I'm headed there myself, armed, to check it out.
This is just a courtesy call"

nicely done.

WFAA ch. 8's 5pm. news had a sound bite of a DPD spokesperson saying that the business owner would be cited for not having the permit for a verified response alarm. The talking head then said the shooting will be refered to the grand jury, but he would probably would not be charged.

Rex B wrote:"Hello, this is Joe Smith. My alarm is going off at XXXX Lombardi St. South.
I'm headed there myself, armed, to check it out.
This is just a courtesy call"

Hi this is Larry. I thought I should call because my alarm has gone off. I'm on my way now, But I only carry 3 spare magazines. Could you have one of your boys deliver another box of 9mm? please? Thank You....

Color me stupid, no offense meant towards our esteemed member "stupid" but, the business owner is issued a ticket for not having a verified alarm response permit!!! The owner responded not the police.

Personally, I have always thought the lack of response by police to any call is wrong. That is why we pay taxes. My personal history has been that most of the alarm calls I answered were false, but there were a few that were good and resulted in my catching burglars (or robbers on robbery alarms).

But, I have had about the same rate of accuracy on calls from neighbors for suspicious people or burglars in action, too. Police should respond to every call.