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10
Aug 2010
Posted by admin
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Local crime watch on guard against scams

We encourage community activism, especially in the area of crime prevention. Good neighbors make good security.

A member of the Firethorne Community Crime Watch Committee near Katy, Texas, recently contacted us after receiving a Monitronics postcard warning of door-to-door scammers. They thanked us for the head’s up and said they’re taking action. We appreciate the shout-out and want to share their community notification:

DON’T BECOME A SUMMER SECURITY SCAM VICTIM
Firethorne Community Crime Watch Committee Warns of Door-to-Door Scammers

At least one security alarm company is warning its customers to beware of door-to-door salespeople this summer in Firethorne. Monitronics, a Dallas-based alarm monitoring company, recently called many Katy-area customers to warn about possible con artists.

These scammers, shady representatives of other alarm security providers, often offer fraudulent “deals.” Victims that fall prey to these scams can end up with double bills, non-working systems, and the huge headache of trying to get out of the situation.

According to representatives at Monitronics, these double dealers will knock on your door and likely claim that your current security provider is out of business or that they have a better deal for you if you will switch providers. They use high-pressure sales tactics to get you to agree to a “free upgrade” or other system bells and whistles. These swindlers often urge you to do the “upgrade” the same day.

Monitronics has a dedicated Summer Alert Hotline further describing this scam at 800-396-9815. You can also visit http://www.monitronics.com/SecurityScam.

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Posted in: Home Security, What Is Security?

30
Mar 2010
Posted by Leah
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Do gated communities have less crime?

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I was a bit of a rebel in my youth, talking smack about “the man” and aspiring to a sort-of hippie lifestyle on a farm or maybe a commune. At the very least, a vintage house in an old neighborhood.

Many years and fewer tie-dye t-shirts later, I live somewhere I never, ever thought I would: a gated housing community. They always seemed so…bourgeois? Isolated? But with age and experience, I now appreciate the sense of security and safety I have from those brick walls and that iron gate. I’ve lived in a house that was broken into and I know that terrible feeling. I never want to that experience again.

About 7 million households are in gated communities—that’s about 6% of the total in the U.S. About 4 million of those 7 live with restricted access through gates, entry codes, key cards or security guards.

But there’s a basic question there that needs examining: Do those gates add protection and security for homes inside? Do they really keep the bad guys out? Or are we living under the false illusion of security?

The general answer is yes—there is less crime in gated neighborhoods for several reasons. First, there’s usually a stronger sense of community there because they are geographically unified, often have area associations, and have better pedestrian traffic because of the lack of through-traffic. Second, those security guards and restricted access may actually, well, restrict access.

But the truth is that the crime rate is not as low as many of the builders of those gated communities would have you believe. The city of Miami reports that “some forms of crime such as car theft are reduced, at least immediately after the streets are closed. However, data indicates that the long-term crime rate is at best only marginally altered.”

But one type of crime goes down and stays down in gated communities: crimes against the person. This seems to occur because criminals want easier escape.

So what’s the verdict? Mixed. There are lots of pros and cons to a gated community, but don’t let it fool you into complacent behavior, like not locking the door or setting your monitored home security system.

Of course, no matter your neighborhood, one of the best things you can do it start a neighborhood crime watch (read more about that here). So take care and think safety, no matter where you live.

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Posted in: Home Security

16
Mar 2010
Posted by Leah
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Tuesday Tips: Prevent graffiti tagging vandalism

Is grafitti art or vandalism? It can be as simple as a few words or images sprayed or scrawled on a surface, like a fence or a wall (or a building, which makes people quite unhappy). It can be complex as full color, elaborate murals. The debate rages on the art versus vandalism question, but one form of graffiti is generally agreed to be more dangerous than the rest: gang tagging or gang graffiti.

iStock_000006400881XSmallGang tagging is when someone marks a place with some sort of image or word that indicates gang territory, fights between rivals or collaborations, or as a way of marketing street drugs. It can mean that you’re in the cross hairs of danger. Plus it’s ugly and makes a neighborhood look trashy.

Many police departments offer graffiti control programs–check with your city to see if they can provide you with more information on how to prevent graffiti vandalism. Here are our tips.

How can you keep graffiti out of your neighborhood?
* Call your local police or sheriff and report all vandalism.
* Remove or paint over any graffiti on your property right away after taking a pictures of it.
* Educate your child about this crime.
* Help neighbors in graffiti removal.

For Business Owners
* Protect spray paint from theft–consider locking the up. And remember not to sell them to minors.
* Place signs in the spray paint area about the penalties for graffiti vandalism.
* Keep spray paint displays in an area that is easily seen by employees.

How to Remove Graffiti
* Keep matching paint on hand so you can cover it right away.
* For glass or previously painted metal surfaces, use MEK (methylethyl ketone) to remove graffiti.
* Ask your local hardware store for other graffiti removal products for glass, unpainted metal surfaces, brick, and cinder block.

What if You See a Tagger in Action?
* DO NOT speak to or attempt to stop the person.
* Get a good description of the person and get a license plate number if possible for police.
* Call 911 to report a vandalism-in-process.

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Posted in: Business Security, Home Security, Tuesday tip

12
Mar 2010
Posted by Leah
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Moni Sponsors Conference on Crimes Against Women

Greg Hurst mans the Moni boothMonitronics celebrated International Women’s Day on March 8 by being a gold sponsor at an inspirational event.

The annual Conference on Crimes Against Women (CCAW) was held in Dallas, Texas, March 8-10at the Sheraton Dallas Hotel in Downtown.

The conference serves to educate and inspire those who are in and those who support law enforcement. Prosecutors, medical personnel, social workers, police officers, forensic examiners, and victims’ advocates from across the country were in attendance.

The cause is an important one to us at Monitronics because we are committed to protecting women and all people from violence. In the United States, an estimated 1.3 million women are victims of physical assault by an intimate partner each year. One in six women will experience a sexual assault or an attempted sexual assault. One in 12 women has been stalked in their lifetime. Almost one third of female homicide victims are killed by an intimate partner.

SignageThe Monitronics informational table saw dozens of visitors who learned about our award-winning monitored alarm services and our efforts to partner with law enforcement. Several employees manned the table to show support and learn how we can be of assistance in communities across America.

The key note speaker was the Honorable Judge Ronald Adrine, an acting Judge in Ohio and co-chair for the National Judicial Institute on Domestic Violence. Judge Adrine set the tone for the conference which was advocating for top-notch police work, followed by committed prosecutions using the latest in technology to ensure convictions of violent offenders.

CCAW organizers left no stone unturned when selecting workshop topics and speakers. Attendees were able to receive continuing education credits for attending workshops such as:

* The Change Process for Abusive Men
* Women in Gangs
* The Power of DNA Technology in Solving Crimes
* Sex Offender Registration: What you need to know
* Ethical Considerations for Prosecutors in Sexual Assault cases
* Case Study: The Bike Path Rapist

Workshops were led by experienced professionals including:
* Jennifer Markowitz, Forensic Nurse
* Bob Morton, FBI
* Sergeant Chuck Young of the Dallas PD
* Jodi Rafkin, National Center for Victims of Crime
* Christine Mansour, Human Rights Initiative of North Texas
* Dottie Laster US Attorney’s Human Trafficking Rescue Alliance
* Kristen Anderson, National Center for Missing and Exploited Children

The Conference on Crimes Against Women was founded in 2005 by the Dallas Police Department and the Genesis Women’s Shelter.

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Posted in: Behind Our Doors, Industry Happenings

05
Mar 2010
Posted by Jason
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Start a neighborhood crime watch

We’ve mentioned it before: good neighbors make good security. And what better way to get good neighbors than to start a crime watch program if you don’t have one?

How to Start a Neighborhood Crime Watch

1. Think about the things you want to accomplish: get to know each other? Talk about  crime? Start a patrol? Organize a committee?

2. Pick a date. Evenings are best, around 7 p.m. Schedule the meeting in someone’s home so neighbors can walk and feel comfortable in their own surroundings. You’ll also increase attendance. If no one is willing to host, consider a local church or public space. At least 30% participation is required to organize your group.

3. Call your local police department and ask an officer to attend. That officer is a wealth of information, from crime statistics and prevention tips to community policing, and information about how the police can help deter crime. In particular, ask the officer to address what is needed when calling the police about a suspicious person or vehicle.

4. Make a flyer, one for each home or apartment. This is to inform everyone of the meeting; the brochure speaks to the implementation of Neighborhood Watch. Your local police department may have ready-made brochures for you to distribute. Be sure to ask.

5. At the meeting, identify a neighborhood chairperson and organize the first meeting. Set up a telephone chain to be shared with neighbors participating in the crime watch. The chain is a list of phone numbers and addresses, as well as any special information about that location. This is how people stay in touch and it is a critical part of the program.

6. Ask if the police can provide crime watch signs, house stickers, or t-shirts for your group.

7. Set up a regular time for meetings each month and make plans to distribute the telephone chain.

This is not an easy process, but it’s one of the best things that can happen to a neighborhood!

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Posted in: Home Security

06
Oct 2009
Posted by Leah
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Tuesday tip for preventing crime

This time of year, many of us open up our windows to enjoy the beautiful fall weather. Nothing wrong with that. But an open window, particularly in an unoccupied house, is an easy target for a burglar. You need to secure them or keep them shut (and turn on your Monitronics monitored alarm system when you’re away or sleeping).

So if you want the window cracked, make sure it is no more than six inches open and use secondary blocking devices, like a wooden dowel or stick for a horizontal sliding windows or a through-the-frame pin or “screw lock”for vertical sliding windows. Make sure that you can’t reach through the open window and remove any of these things.

For the times when the window is shut, place a highly visible alarm company sticker. Monitronics makes some nice ones that are available from customer service at 800-447-9239.

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Posted in: Home Security, Tuesday tip

22
Sep 2009
Posted by Leah
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Tuesday tips for preventing crime

According to the FBI, a burglary occurs somewhere in the United States every 15.4 seconds. No home is burglar-proof, but there are dozens of simple tips you can use to make your residence a harder target. After all, time is the enemy of a thief, who wants to work quickly. Make your house a less attractive target and the burglar may move on.

Tuesday tip: Secure your sliding-glass patio doors

That sliding glass door lets in lots of light, but it can let in a burglar, too. Here are some quick tips for securing it:

  • That latch is not worth a lot—it’s easily forced open. Use a “charley bar” or two-by-four in the track to block it from being opened.
  • Older sliding doors can actually be lifted up and off their track from the outside. To prevent this, keep the door rollers in good condition and well adjusted. Check out your local hardware store for an “anti-lift device;” it looks like a pin that goes through both the sliding and fixed portion of the door.
  • Consider placing a Monitronics window decal on the sliding door to prove you’re protected 24 hours a day
  • Place a monitored glass break, door sensor, or motion detector on that entry way

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Posted in: Home Security, Tuesday tip