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Should You make the Investment in Alarm Monitoring?

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Imagine the effectiveness of the following sign at your front door when a would-be intruder reads it:

WARNING: This house is protected by a remote monitoring service; if you break in while the homeowner is away, he’ll be instantly alerted and the police will be automatically dispatched. And if you break in while he’s home, well heck, you’re still screwed.

2WWhat exactly is a remote monitoring service?

  • It’s always ready for an intruder, 24/7, every single day.
  • A comprehensive service will also detect smoke, water heater problems and other issues like a carbon monoxide leak.
  • You will have a “safe” word that only you (and other trusted people) know.
  • If the alarm is tripped and the monitoring service can’t get the safe word from whomever answers the phone, or there is no answer, police will be on their way.
  • An advanced system will also allow you to remotely revise settings on your customer account.
  • Another feature of a high tech system is that it allows you to set silent alarms, so that the “intruder” won’t know they tripped the sensor, but you will get an alert to your phone indicating this. This feature is great for people who suspect a family member is snooping around where they shouldn’t.

The Technology

  • Joe Thug kicks down your back door (you kept putting off getting a top-flight strike plate).
  • The alarm is triggered.
  • This alerts the monitoring center.
  • They call you.
  • But you can’t answer because you’re not there.
  • The intruder answers, intending to convince the company that it was a false alarm. Instead he’s asked for the secret word. Startled, he hangs up and flees.
  • The police are dispatched.
  • After the dispatch, your secondary phone numbers are called (family, friends, etc.).
  • This same technology has a panic button for fire, police and EMT. Once pressed, help is on the way.

So should you make this investment? How worth it is your home, family and peace of mind? Invaluable.

Robert Siciliano personal and home security specialist to BestHomeSecurityCompanys.com discussing burglar proofing your home on Fox Boston. Disclosures.

How Motion Detectors Work

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Ever wonder how a motion detector works? How can some inanimate object “know” you’re creeping nearby, even if you’re as quiet as a mouse? This amazing technology can be broken down into several types.

3HActive Ultrasonic

  • When an object moves, it can bounce back ultrasonic waves that are directed towards it. An active ultrasonic sensor does just this: sending out ultrasonic waves, that when converging upon the path of a moving object, will be reflected back. If enough reflection is measured, the alarm will sound.
  • The downside is that dogs and cats can hear in this very high frequency range, and if the alarm is on all the time, it can be unpleasant for them.

Passive Ultrasonic

  • This type is peeled for specific sounds, such as glass shattering.
  • The downside is they cost a pretty penny.
  • Another negative is that, due to their high sensitivity level, can send out false alarms.

Passive Infrared

  • Your body emits heat. A dog’s or cat’s body emits heat. That’s because of the warm blood flowing through mammals. This heat is in the infrared range of the light spectrum, invisible to the human eye. The “PIR” type of sensor has a special kind of material that detects this heat emission. Upon detection, the sensor triggers electrical activity. And of course, this is converted to the sound of an alarm.
  • Minimal energy is used by these inexpensive sensors, which have an indefinite lifespan.
  • If an intruder knows where your PIR unit is placed, he might be able to foil it by walking in a straight line smack towards it, as this linear path will not reflect body heat in an easily detectable way.
  • Another minus is that an animal can trigger it.

Tomographic

  • Tomography is when radio waves are emitted. A moving object will upset them.
  • This type of sensor can detect motion in the next room because it can penetrate walls.
  • The downside is that they cost an arm and a leg.

Microwave

  • Microwave pulses are sent out, and any moving object will reflect these.
  • The downside is that the detection might be outside the specified range, setting off a false alarm.
  • Another negative is that this type is a power guzzler. Because of this, it’s commonly set for on and off cycles. And what if a thief knows when these cycles are off?

Duo

  • Two of the aforementioned types are combined. This helps reduce false alarms.
  • Combining two types of sensors, though, can result in missing a real alarm.

Robert Siciliano personal and home security specialist to BestHomeSecurityCompanys.com discussing burglar proofing your home on Fox Boston. Disclosures.

Swatting is potentially deadly

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No, not deadly to a fly that you swat at, but to the homeowners who are subjected to aggressive police searches after the police receive a 911 call that someone was shot at the house. But the call is a hoax.

7HThis happened to Jesse Vanremortel at 3:30 am, says an article at theoaklandpress.com. He and his girlfriend were jarred awake by noises, then next thing they knew, lights were shining under the bedroom door. A police officer crashed through, pointing an assault rifle at Vanremortel, 28. Police searched his house, and of course, found nothing, because this was a “swatting call” incident; the third in one week’s time in Oakland County.

The phony 911 call was by a woman claiming that shots had been fired inside a house on the street. Then she hung up. Thus far, police believe there’s a connection between the callers and the targeted victims. Strangely, Vanremortel says he doesn’t know the woman whom the police are investigating as a suspect.

It doesn’t help when the house’s occupant slept with the doors unlocked. Oddly, the teacher, on summer break, never awakened to a ringing phone shortly before the police entered the house—the call was from the police. So maybe the second lesson to learn is to put your radar on when you go to bed so that you don’t sleep through a ringing phone. My phones on, always, this is essential. If you don’t want to be awakened by a ringing phone, put it on mute, but not advised. But for Pete’s sake, lock up the house!

Vanremortel’s girlfriend and two roommates were held at gunpoint while the house was searched. You can see how swatting can turn deadly.

In other incidents, a caller said he shot his wife and rigged his home with explosives, then said he shot his neighbor. In another, a caller said he shot his mother.

At a minimum a home alarm in these situations would make law enforcement aware the property was in “secure” mode which may send a flag to approaching officers that the 911 dispatch might be fraud.

Robert Siciliano personal and home security specialist to BestHomeSecurityCompanys.com discussing burglar proofing your home on Fox Boston. Disclosures.

Burglar Hits County Sheriff’s Home

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In these posts I often point out what people do wrong and reverse engineer the scenario so we can learn from 20/20 hindsight what to do right next time. I’m happy to say, this post is about what was done right the first time.

There are many reasons why homes are broken into. Money is generally the primary motivation. Sometimes kids may be looking for a place to party or someone may be seeking out drugs or alcohol. But when someone breaks into the Sheriffs home, one has to wonder why.

Fairfield County Sheriff Dave Phalen is used to investigating break-ins, but this time it was his own home. The sheriff is offering a $1,000 reward from his own pocket for information leading to an arrest. Nothing was taken in the break-in on Sunday at the sheriff’s home on Wacker Drive, which makes the incident even more mysterious, Phalen said. “I would almost feel better if something had been taken,” he said. The burglar came between 5 and 6 p.m., while Phalen and his wife were out for a walk. Phalen said that the alarm system triggered and the burglar apparently tried to disable it. The alarm was beeping when Phalen and his wife returned.

The motivation here may simply be for money, but if they knew it was the Sheriff’s house, then more than likely someone was after information or they simply wanted to have bragging rights to say “I broke into the Sheriff’s house.”

What pleases me about this story is the home security alarm that was triggered in the break in. Any one who reads this will see that the Sheriff, knowing that crime happens when someone least expects it, locked his doors and set his home alarm system while he and his wife were out for a quick walk.

Even though he was only gone for a short time he took full responsibility for his families security and enabled the home security system. One thing missing is why wasn’t their any data about the alarm being monitored by a service and a call made to the “Sheriff’s Department.” Seems there is a lesson to be learned here.

Robert Siciliano personal security expert to Home Security Source discussing burglar proofing your home on Fox Boston. Disclosures.