In this issue:
- Association News
Make Plans to Attend NBFAA Fall Conference in New York
Hosts of the Discovery Channel’s ‘It Takes a Thief’ to Kick Off ISC East
Long Island Alarm Association Holds False Alarm Symposium
NFPA 731 Nearing Vote
2005 NBFAA Officer Elections
Association News
Make Plans to Attend NBFAA Fall Conference in New York
It’s not too early to plan to attend the NBFAA Fall Conference, which will be held in New York from August 22-25 in conjunction with ISC East.
Among the many highlights of the Fall Conference are the CSA Symposium, NBFAA Awards Luncheon, NBFAA Breakfast, committee meetings and the NBFAA Reception. NBFAA, CSAA and SIA will also present the 2nd Annual Triton Award at the Tri-Association Dinner on August 24.
Members who register for the NBFAA Conference will also receive free admission to ISC East, which will take place August 24-25.
We will provide more details on the NBFAA Fall Conference in coming issues of Member Update. You can also visit www.alarm.org for information.
We hope to see you in New York!
Hosts of the Discovery Channel's 'It Takes a Thief' to Kick off ISC East
On the morning of Wednesday, August 24, the opening day of ISC East, Jon Douglas Rainey, a former thief who hosts the Discovery Channel’s “It Takes a Thief,” and Frank Santamorena, the show’s security consultant, will deliver an interactive keynote address.
Each week, “It Takes a Thief” exposes home security flaws by having burglars size up, break in and ransack a volunteer’s home in search of valuables. Afterward, the show’s experts give the property a full home-security makeover. They then pay an unannounced visit several weeks later to see how good the solutions really were.
At ISC West, Rainey and Santamorena will host an interactive discussion of some of the biggest home invasion misconceptions and best security practices.
The keynote address will take place at 8:30 a.m. on August 24th.
Long Island Alarm Association Holds False Alarm Symposium
With an alarm ordinance on the Suffolk County, N.Y., drawing board, the Long Island Alarm Association (LIAA) held a False Alarm Symposium on May 19th.
LIAA organized the event and invited police and fire officials from Nassau and Suffolk Counties. The event was open to the industry in general.
LIAA President Phil Lagravinese said the idea behind the Symposium was to show the authorities that the industry is concerned about false alarms.
“We need to discuss in an open forum what our options are to work collectively to reduce false alarms” he said. “We need each other; This isn’t going to be successful if we don’t work together hand in hand with the authorities”
Ron Walters of Security Industry Alarm Coalition (SIAC) spoke about Enhanced Call Verification (ECV). Ron Petrarca presented a demonstration of the Central Station Alarm Association’s False Alarm Online Training Course and the IQ Certification Program. Both programs are designed to address the false alarm problem.
The Association rated the event a success and plans to continue the dialogue with the local authorities. At the end of the evening, President Phil Lagravinese presented SIAC with a $1,000 Donation.
NFPA 731 Nearing Vote
The Technical Committee of the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) will submit NFPA 731 - Standard for the Installation of Electronic Premises Security Systems at the NFPA World Safety Conference & Exposition in Las Vegas from June 6-10.
NBFAA is encouraging all members who are also NFPA members to attend the committee report sessions on June 8, 9 and 10 and vote against the standard.
The majority of equipment manufactured to meet current design specifications cannot mechanically meet the proposed requirements of NFPA 731. Any standard that is put into law without the technology being capable of complying with the law will be catastrophic to the industry.
NBFAA members could see a significant loss of business in elective system installations with the increased cost that would accompany system compliance. A complete position paper on the standard is available online.
2005 NBFAA Officer Elections
It's time to vote for NBFAA Officers. The positions up for election this year include: Vice President/President-Elect (one-year term), Vice President (two-year term), and Treasurer (two-year term). Ballots are to be completed by the primary or alternate representative of a NBFAA regular, associate, multi-location or national member company in good standing.
Ballots must be mailed-in to the NBFAA headquarters by 2 p.m. EDT on June 15, 2005. The ballot must be enclosed in the official envelope provided or another envelope that specifically states the following information on the outside:
"Official NBFAA ballot enclosed"
Name of Member Company (in good standing)
Name of registered voting representative
Signature of registered voting representative
Ballot envelopes without this information will not be counted. Faxed ballots will not be accepted.
If you have questions about the voting procedure, the name of your company's primary or alternate representative, or if you have not received your 2005 ballot in the mail, please call the NBFAA office at 301.585.1855.
Sonitrol Helps Foil Drug Theft
On April 12, 2005, an operator for NBFAA member company Sonitrol of St. Petersburg received an audio-activated alarm signal from a drugstore in Safety Harbor, Fla. Upon hearing crashing sounds from the premise, the operator dispatched police to the verified burglary in progress.
When police arrived at the scene within six minutes of the alarm, they found that the suspect, a 45-year-old woman, had tried to break into the back door of the drugstore. When she couldn’t open the back door, she rammed her SUV into the front of the store. Police blocked all the building’s exits and sent in a K-9 unit.
The suspect had attempted to steal 4,000 pills, among them Valium and Xanax. She was treated at the hospital for dog bites to her legs and then taken to Pinellas County Jail and charged with commercial burglary.
Success stories like this are exactly what NBFAA and SDM Magazine are seeking for consideration for the 2006 First Line of Defense Award. If you have a similar story about a time when one of your company's electronic security or life safety system helped save lives, avert property damage, or prevent a crime, send it along. If your story is selected, you and your customer will win a free trip to Las Vegas during the 2006 ISC West Show, courtesy of NBFAA and SDM. There you will be honored at the awards ceremony and your story will be featured in SDM Magazine.
Brinks Home Security Opens Atlanta Office
NBFAA member company Brink’s Home Security has opened a new branch office in South Atlanta, Ga. This is the second new branch office Brink’s has opened in the last eight months.
The new office also gives Brink’s three branch offices in the Atlanta Metro area.
In addition to operating residential, commercial and new construction lines of business, the South Atlanta branch will house functions dealing with national accounts for commercial and national builder accounts.
Bryant Waller will serve as general manager and Jared Pope will serve as technical manager at the new South Atlanta branch.
Vector Security's National Accounts Division Undertakes Expansion Plan
The National Accounts Division (NAD) of NBFAA member company Vector Security has undertaken a nationwide expansion plan, which is intended to place regionally based offices in strategically located areas of the country.
According to NAD Vice President Joe English, the expansion project has been designed to reduce the degree of separation between the NAD project managers, their existing and prospective customers, and their nationwide network of Technical Service Partners (TSP).
The NAD appointed Jim Shepherd, Manager of Field Operations, with the responsibility of setting each office, and hiring the right people to staff them.
Vector Security has also announced the appointment of two newly acquired staff members, who will manage offices being opened for the first leg of the expansion project in Southern California and Texas. John Staph will be heading the Southern California office, and Michael Karnish will head the Texas office location..
Safeguard Security Aids 'Extreme Makeover'
On a recent episode of ABC’s “Extreme Makeover: Home Edition,” NBFAA member company Safeguard Security and Communications provided a security system for a veterans center built to honor Spc. Lori Piestewa, who died in 2003 at the beginning of the Iraq war.
In the episode, the show, which specializes in remodeling homes for deserving families, built a new home for Spc. Piestewa’s family in Flagstaff, Ariz. The show also provided the Piestewa Native American Veterans Center in nearby Tuba City to honor the first Native American woman to be killed in combat. Piestewa died from injuries suffered in the same attack that left good friend Jessica Lynch a prisoner of war.
The system that Safeguard installed included keypads, door and window sensors and motion detectors.
According to Security Sales & Integration, Safeguard’s involvement came at the last minute. As the projects were nearing completion of the center in early April, producers realized the center lacked a needed security system. They called Safeguard, which sent technicians 200 miles to Tuba City within hours.
We want to hear from you. If you have a story you'd like to share with other NBFAA members, contact us at 301-585-1855 or by email at communications@alarm.org.
Member Benefit Spotlight: Mass Marketing Insurance Consultants
Without a doubt, health insurance is one of the largest expenditures for any business, and costs have risen substantially over the last few years.
NBFAA recognizes that finding affordable health insurance can be especially difficult for its members. Through a partnership with Mass Marketing Insurance Consultants, Inc. (MMIC), NBFAA members can receive personalized health insurance-needs analysis from an impartial consultant.
Because MMIC has no ties or obligations to any one insurance company, its representatives are free to represent NBFAA members without any restrictions.
Among the benefits NBFAA members receive through MMIC's service are:
- Choice of plan designs
- Choice of deductibles
- Choice of doctors, specialists and hospitals
- Choice of doctor office co-pays
- Choice of prescription drug card co-pay
- Choice of co-insurance options
- Choice of optional benefits
The service provided by Mass Marketing Insurance Consultants is just one of the many benefits available to NBFAA members. For more information and a customized quote, contact Ed Sturcek at 800-349-1039 ext. 15, or visit www.mmic.com.
The Texas House of Representatives recently passed a burglar alarm policy bill that would impose guidelines on what burglar alarm policies municipalities in the state can enact. The bill also limits how much cities can charge for alarm permits and false alarm fines.
Passed in early May without a voice vote, House Bill 2304 also requires that police respond to every burglar alarm as long as false alarm fines are paid. But it also allows municipalities to revoke alarm permits from customers with eight or more false alarms.
Four amendments were added before the bill was submitted to the Senate, among them a mandate that cities cannot refuse to issue an alarm permit to someone who lives in one unit of a multi-unit housing facility. Another would require alarm companies to furnish a written alarm contract that includes the client’s fee arrangement.
With the legislative session ending on in late May, the Senate was expected to act on the bill quickly. However, there has been no further action on it since May 22, when the Senate Intergovernmental Relations Committee passed the voted unanimously to send the bill to the full Senate for a vote.
If passed, this bill will have far-reaching consequences for the alarm industry, affecting everyone from the dealer/installer to central stations. NBFAA will keep you posted on the status of this bill and its effects on our industry.
Baltimore Camera Network Goes Live
A network of surveillance cameras intended to monitor criminal activity in Baltimore’s downtown area recently went live as part of a $2 million federally funded homeland security initiative.
At present, 43 cameras are up and running in a 40-block area, according to the Baltimore Sun. This area will be monitored and recorded 24 hours a day.
City officials are also working on a separate 80-camera network to watch over other high-crime areas in the city. Twelve cameras are already in place to keep watch over parts of the city’s harbor.
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