Sometimes victories occur after long-fought battles. Sometimes they’re miraculous. They might be unexpected or hidden. Or, little wins can build towards a bigger and better outcome down the road.
In the case of the city of the Detroit, and a recent action by its police department, their win (and our win in the security industry) will occur down the road as unnecessary calls for police dispatch drop down. We can expect this because they recently adopted a two-call verification policy, also called Enhanced Call Verification or ECV.
Their win will occur after years of hard work, including the involvement of key SIAC staff – Glen Mowrey. He began working with the Detroit PD about four years ago. At the time, we made significant progress in reducing unnecessary alarm calls. Times change. The city is not doing well financially, and was beginning to look at new ways to reduce resource needs on city services. The police department was naturally one area that was examined.
This meant, once again, police response to calls from alarm monitoring centers came under scrutiny. SIAC stepped up. Our role is seldom finished, and this was a perfect example. We met with top law enforcement officials, and helped craft the ECV policy, which has proven effective across the country in multiple jurisdictions. We’re confident that this will be the result in Detroit as well.
That’s our victory, and it’s a win for all companies in the electronic security industry, particularly those in the Michigan Burglar and Fire Alarm Association, which also helped broker this deal. Working together, we get things done.
This was a mutual victory, one that began years ago, and took place again near the end of 2010. We hope it’s an ongoing victory, but remain prepared to step forward again, as necessary, if another problem arises. It’s what we do, and we’re glad to be part of a winning team.