Police took about 30 minutes or longer to respond to our home alarm (Full Version)

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CCCdnt -> Police took about 30 minutes or longer to respond to our home alarm (7/16/2008 2:55:16 PM)

We have a home security system. About a week ago, while we were away from home, there was a storm. There was a strong enough wind to blow down part of a neighbor's privacy fence in our backyard (however, this fence had blown down before and may not have been put back up correctly). The direction in which the wind blew showed that the wind blew directly against our back door. This moved the door enough to trigger our home alarm. (An alarm tech has been out since then and found that the alarm sensor on that door was not installed correctly and should not have gone off from just the door moving from the wind) When we arrived home I could tell the alarm had gone off (it was no longer going off...I think it shuts off after going off for so long). The code showed that it was the backdoor that had triggered the alarm. I surmized from what I saw that there most likely had not been a break-in. Since the alarm company could not reach us on the phone at home, they dispatched the police. After I found out our alarm had gone off, I called our alarm company to verify that our alarm had gone off and that the police had been dispatched. They verifed all of this. I explained to them what I thought had happened with the back door. I assumed that the police had already been to our home, saw that there was not a break-in, and left. I think this was around 6:15 PM. Then, around 6:45 PM, I get a hard knock at our side door which turned out to be the police. I invited him in and explained what had happened. I told him that I did not call the police station because I thought that they had already been there. To this he said that they had had a lot of calls, or had been busy, or something to that effect.

The fact that it took 30 minutes or longer, as I do not know how long before we got home that the alarm had gone off and the dispatch call was made, for the police to respond greatly concerns me. Our house is less than 1.5 miles from the police station. I am certainly thankful that my family and I were not at home hiding in a closet from intruders waiting for the police to arrive.

I have not called the police department or the city to question this but am wondering if I should. I am looking for suggestions as to what others would think and do about this.



Zhi -> RE: Police took about 30 minutes or longer to respond to our home alarm (7/16/2008 3:08:40 PM)

Hmm. I grew up in the middle of nowhere so we pretty much always expected it would take about an hour. I haven't had to call from home, but our work alarm system has gone off and it took them about half an hour to get there (it was a false alarm, but I was on security call at the time so I had to go down and wait for the police to show up to go check things out). So, at least where we are, half an hour for an alarm seems about normal.

Our home solution is a 12-gauge and a Glock. *shrug*



cog41 -> RE: Police took about 30 minutes or longer to respond to our home alarm (7/16/2008 4:15:18 PM)

In most police depts. this is A low priority call.
If it(the call) doesn't come from you or the AO co.doesn't confirm the call with you,then it is a low priority.
You may check the PD call list for that night to confirm their statement,but it wont change much if any about their policy.



mapachito13 -> RE: Police took about 30 minutes or longer to respond to our home alarm (7/16/2008 4:37:58 PM)

I've had two false alarms at my business and one at home. In all three cases, the police were there in five minutes. The one at my house had three squad cars show up. We're only a small town with 32000 people and maybe that has something to do with it.

I love our police and fire departments. They are more community oriented than the county Sherriffs in the city next door! Those guys went to Gestapo Academy! [:'(]



CCCdnt -> RE: Police took about 30 minutes or longer to respond to our home alarm (7/16/2008 4:42:22 PM)

quote:

ORIGINAL: mapachito13

I've had two false alarms at my business and one at home. In all three cases, the police were there in five minutes. The one at my house had three squad cars show up. We're only a small town with 32000 people and maybe that has something to do with it.



We live in a small town as well of 20000-30000 people (not sure of exact figures - the 2000 count was about 21000), and I thought that due to this their response time would have been faster.



CCCdnt -> RE: Police took about 30 minutes or longer to respond to our home alarm (7/16/2008 4:46:16 PM)

quote:

ORIGINAL: cog41

In most police depts. this is A low priority call.
If it(the call) doesn't come from you or the AO co.doesn't confirm the call with you,then it is a low priority.


I guess I can see on one hand why they would rate it this way. However, this seems to be assuming that if the call does not come from a home resident or is not confirmed, then it probably is a false alarm. This could potentially be a dangerous assumption since there is always the possibility that a break-in did occur and the family is unable to call or confirm the alarm for some reason - could be hiding in a closet without a phone, could be being held at gunpoint, etc.



phosadaud -> RE: Police took about 30 minutes or longer to respond to our home alarm (7/16/2008 4:55:07 PM)

I would encourage you to sign up to do a ride along with your local police department. You will have an entirely new understanding of why sometimes it takes them longer than you think it should to respond to calls. [;)]

And you'll gain a whole new amount of respect for your local officers and what they do and sacrifice.



tapestry -> RE: Police took about 30 minutes or longer to respond to our home alarm (7/16/2008 5:33:42 PM)

quote:

there was a storm. There was a strong enough wind to blow down part of a neighbor's privacy fence in our backyard
the wind blew directly against our back door. This moved the door enough to trigger our home alarm

If the storm did this to your home and fence then it most likely caused more damage in the area which was keeping the police busy. Other parts of the city may have had a power outage affecting traffic lights, etc.
Calling the police and asking about the situation would put your mind at peace. Sounds like you got things in order with the alarm company to prevent this from happening again. (something the police will like)



Starbucks880 -> RE: Police took about 30 minutes or longer to respond to our home alarm (7/16/2008 9:39:44 PM)

That is scary. If it had been someone and you were there, you could have easily been killed in that time. I would defer to the others on what to do, since I don't know about normal police operations. I do know in my area, the police are stretched thin and they respond in order of priority. But I would think given it was a storm, they probably had a bunch of calls, since the number of traffic accidents increase in bad weather.



Dragonnie -> RE: Police took about 30 minutes or longer to respond to our home alarm (7/16/2008 10:27:15 PM)

Lk 22:36 "... he that hath no sword, let him sell his garment, and buy one."



Ps103 -> RE: Police took about 30 minutes or longer to respond to our home alarm (7/16/2008 11:38:43 PM)

If there was a lot of damage due to the storm, they could have been really busy that night, and 30 minutes for a low-priority call on a busy night doesn't sound that unreasonable to me.

I had a traffic accident on an icy street (none of us in these parts know how to drive in winter weather) and the police came 2.5 hours after they were called. I left when two squad cars drove by at shift change and waved... There were no injuries, and there were plenty of other accidents that *had* injuries, so I was more interested in getting out of the cold than anything else. (I did leave a message for them at a store where the accident occured and they called me the next day.)

But I would call the alarm company and ask if that is normal. I have a friend who has a cottage she inherited, and on the off-season it always takes a couple of hours for the police to show up, just due to the distance. I am not sure what good an alarm does in that instance, as thieves are long gone in two hours.



mapachito13 -> RE: Police took about 30 minutes or longer to respond to our home alarm (7/17/2008 12:19:32 AM)

quote:

ORIGINAL: Dragonnie

Lk 22:36 "... he that hath no sword, let him sell his garment, and buy one."


He was speaking figuratively about how as missionaries the Apostles would be facing a world hostile to their message. The Apostles took Him literally too when they answered there are two swords here and Jesus said "It is enough!" Twelve Apostles - only two swords is enough?

If they were supposed to use them to defend themselves they didn't get the message. They never once started a war or did any violence to anyone (including their persecutors) with any type of weapon. Except in the Garden of Gethsemane when one lopped off the high priest servant's ear and Jesus rebuked him saying "Stop, NO MORE OF THIS!" And this was just 15 verses later on the same night he said that verse you quoted!



SteveSund -> RE: Police took about 30 minutes or longer to respond to our home alarm (7/17/2008 8:24:40 AM)

quote:

ORIGINAL: Dragonnie

Lk 22:36 "... he that hath no sword, let him sell his garment, and buy one."


Excellent point, but I believe it would be worthwhile to be prepared even if scripture did not say so. Sripture says nothing specific about having supplies of medicine on hand, but I think this is a good idea in the case of some kind of natural disaster. I have lived in places where the average response time is close to a 1/2 hour, and that is assuming it is a high priority call. Realistically speaking, there are circumstances where they would be busy on other calls or otherwise unavailable. I think it is wise to be as prepared as possible.



stamper_ben -> RE: Police took about 30 minutes or longer to respond to our home alarm (7/17/2008 10:24:05 AM)

You need Joe Horn as a neighbor.[:D]



mapachito13 -> RE: Police took about 30 minutes or longer to respond to our home alarm (7/17/2008 10:46:47 AM)

quote:

ORIGINAL: SteveSund

quote:

ORIGINAL: Dragonnie

Lk 22:36 "... he that hath no sword, let him sell his garment, and buy one."


Excellent point, but I believe it would be worthwhile to be prepared even if scripture did not say so. Sripture says nothing specific about having supplies of medicine on hand, but I think this is a good idea in the case of some kind of natural disaster. I have lived in places where the average response time is close to a 1/2 hour, and that is assuming it is a high priority call. Realistically speaking, there are circumstances where they would be busy on other calls or otherwise unavailable. I think it is wise to be as prepared as possible.

If there was a really big disaster you could be without services for a couple of weeks. If you live in the sticks it might take longer. This was told to me by a very close relative who is in the DHS as a emergency logistical coordinator who rode out Katrina in Mississippi.

On a different note, if you are going on vacation let the police know when you'll be gone so if they recieve that alarm call they'll probably check it out quicker.



TaoPoohBear -> RE: Police took about 30 minutes or longer to respond to our home alarm (7/17/2008 11:10:12 AM)

If you need a fast responder, and don't want to have a gun in the house (for various reasons), you need a good sized family dog.
9-1-1 works pretty quick too, even if you hang up (as my kids found out by accident, when one of them thought their fist fight was getting out of hand).

A gun & a dog both properly used, maintained and controlled beats any alarm company.

My problems with guns is people reaching for them 1st and allowing access to them by others.
I'd rather reach for my dog 1st and allow HIM access to others (he's a big friendly fellow who loves kids, but I trust he would recognize a threat); A dog allows me plenty of time to assess the situation properly.
Man's best friend, indeed!



CCCdnt -> RE: Police took about 30 minutes or longer to respond to our home alarm (7/17/2008 12:15:51 PM)

quote:

ORIGINAL: Starbucks880

That is scary. If it had been someone and you were there, you could have easily been killed in that time. I would defer to the others on what to do, since I don't know about normal police operations. I do know in my area, the police are stretched thin and they respond in order of priority. But I would think given it was a storm, they probably had a bunch of calls, since the number of traffic accidents increase in bad weather.


I figured that when the officer said they had been busy, he was referring to situations from the storm. I completely understand having to prioritize calls. If, for example, three calls were received at relatively close times where one was from a person in a home saying an intruder was currently in his house, one was from a major traffic accident and one was from an alarm company saying that a home alarm went off with no home resident confirmation of the alarm, then I would expect the last call to receive the least priority since in the other two situations, it is known that people are in danger. I still, of course, felt concern since just because the alarm is not confirmed does not mean that there is no danger.



mapachito13 -> RE: Police took about 30 minutes or longer to respond to our home alarm (7/17/2008 5:20:34 PM)

quote:

ORIGINAL: TaoPoohBear

If you need a fast responder, and don't want to have a gun in the house (for various reasons), you need a good sized family dog.
9-1-1 works pretty quick too, even if you hang up (as my kids found out by accident, when one of them thought their fist fight was getting out of hand).

A gun & a dog both properly used, maintained and controlled beats any alarm company.

My problems with guns is people reaching for them 1st and allowing access to them by others.
I'd rather reach for my dog 1st and allow HIM access to others (he's a big friendly fellow who loves kids, but I trust he would recognize a threat); A dog allows me plenty of time to assess the situation properly.
Man's best friend, indeed!


But a gun can't guard your property when you're not there like an alarm system or dog can do! So I'll stick with my alarm and pit bull!



iluvatar -> RE: Police took about 30 minutes or longer to respond to our home alarm (7/17/2008 7:17:18 PM)

A couple years ago, I had a backpack stolen from a concert I was working at - in the backpack was the paycheck I had picked up earlier that day.

The local sheriffs were so friendly that a couple nights later, they stopped by my house at 3am to inform me that they had in custody someone who was in possession of my (now-cancelled) paycheck. [8|]

-Dan.



agapetos -> RE: Police took about 30 minutes or longer to respond to our home alarm (7/17/2008 7:24:25 PM)

quote:

Since the alarm company could not reach us on the phone at home, they dispatched the police.
Perhaps you need to invest in a cheap mobile phone (pay-as-you-go) for instances like this ~ with only the security company knowing the number if you don't already have one. That way, they can try you at home, try you on your mobile and find out if you are at risk.

I'd agree with other posters though that if the weather was bad, they'd probably be taking a bunch of similar calls.



phosadaud -> RE: Police took about 30 minutes or longer to respond to our home alarm (7/17/2008 8:59:25 PM)

quote:

ORIGINAL: CCCdnt
I still, of course, felt concern since just because the alarm is not confirmed does not mean that there is no danger.


I think that's a normal feeling, but most of the calls they go to, there is no way of knowing if there is danger or not unless it's confirmed. When I've been on ride alongs, most of the calls that came in were such that just about anything could have been happening. How do you prioritize based on a maybe or what-if? It's actually one reason that most alarm companies around my area will send their own security officers FIRST before dispatching the police. Most alarms are false alarms.

And they aren't going to fly like a bat out of hell and risk other's folks (and their's) safety (or leave a call where there is a known threat) based on the low probability that this is the rare time where the alarm is legit - and the extremely rare occasion that someone might be in trouble. Seriously. Even if there was an intruder, they will almost always flee when the alarm sounds. Reality isn't what we see on TV.



mapachito13 -> RE: Police took about 30 minutes or longer to respond to our home alarm (7/17/2008 9:17:57 PM)

quote:

ORIGINAL: phosadaud

Seriously. Even if there was an intruder, they will almost always flee when the alarm sounds. Reality isn't what we see on TV.


In my neighborhood, there was one year where the house to the side of me and behind me were robbed during the day. Talking with the police officer taking the report for my next door neighbor (who is an LAPD officer BTW. No help from his handgun there!) he said a lot of houses in the neighborhood have been targeted. When I mentioned my concern, he said that since I had an alarm system I shouldn't worry because the thieves hadn't touched one home in our neighborhood that had an alarm system.

Usually when thieves see an alarm company sign they move on to the next one.

Oh and lastly usually alarm systems have a panic switch which will cause the alarm company to immediately summon the police. I had to use it once when we heard glass breaking in the middle of the night. Three squad cars were in front of my house before I could even get down the stairs.



phosadaud -> RE: Police took about 30 minutes or longer to respond to our home alarm (7/17/2008 9:32:36 PM)

Yep. An alarm isn't a guarantee, but 95% of the crooks out there are looking for the easy targets. Why put a lot of effort into crime when you don't have to? [:D]Last year, we were having all kinds of problems with people breaking into our vehicles at church. Without exception, the vehicles that were broken into were either left unlocked or had left valuables sitting on the front seat for all to see.



HisFish -> RE: Police took about 30 minutes or longer to respond to our home alarm (7/17/2008 9:41:44 PM)

quote:

Our home solution is a 12-gauge and a Glock. *shrug*

Yes, this is the same home security plan we have in our home (substitute a Tauras .357 for the Glock though), plus a nice big doggie that no one is getting past.



SovereignIsHe -> RE: Police took about 30 minutes or longer to respond to our home alarm (7/18/2008 1:32:59 AM)

quote:

ORIGINAL: HisFish

quote:

Our home solution is a 12-gauge and a Glock. *shrug*

Yes, this is the same home security plan we have in our home (substitute a Tauras .357 for the Glock though), plus a nice big doggie that no one is getting past.



M1 Garand, Mini-30, Mini 14 or a 40 cal SIG... Where I lives the police were always on the other side of the lake and 30-45 minutes out...


John



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