Issue link: https://read.dmtmag.com/i/40004
12 NEWS www.securitysystemsnews.com SEPTEMBER 2011 SECURITY SYSTEMS NEWS SIAC has a busy summer so far in California By Daniel Gelinas BAKERSFIELD, Calif.—The Secu- rity Industry Alarm Coalition has been proactively advocating for alarm industry interests and better municipality/industry rela- tions in California this summer. The mission of SIAC is to cre- ate a structure for all interested parties—alarm companies, police departments and municipalities— to come together under the com- mon goal of dispatch reduction and alarm management, with the end result of false alarm reduction. SIAC has been working with the city of Bakersfield on false alarm issues, trying to fashion a workable and acceptable ordi- nance. SIAC and the city appear to have finally come up with an acceptable plan, and the first draft of the ordinance just went through its first reading by the city council on July 13. "[SIAC director] Ron Walters and I provided a lot of informa- tion on behalf of SIAC, but the local alarm companies helped craft the final draft in coopera- tion with the Bakersfield Police," SIAC industry/law enforce- ment liaison Jon Sargent said. "The alarm ordinance that the Bakersfield alarm companies' committee worked closely on with Bakersfield Police and the city is finally done … This one has been years in the works since 2004. Much of it is from [SIAC's] model ordinance." Bakersfield City Clerk Roberta Gafford said the first reading of the ordinance went smoothly. The ordinance was scheduled to be adopted in late August, after press time. The ordinance takes effect 30 days after adoption, Gaf- ford told Security Systems News. Sargent said Bakersfield would See it all. All the time. "The police will soon be requesting alarm companies to provide updated lists of their active customers with the intent of bringing them into compliance with their alarm ordinance." – Jon Sargent, SIAC most likely outsource ordinance program management to third party administrator Cry Wolf, which administers alarm reduc- tion programs for many munici- palities. With our unifi ed security platform Imagine a world where one advanced platform, packed with powerful features, seamlessly manages all your security and safety systems. We did. Now thousands of customers are reaping the benefi ts of our unifi ed security platform worldwide. See what you need at genetec.com License Plate Recognition | Video Surveillance Access Control Visit us at ASIS | September 19-21 Orange County Convention Center | Booth 846 Bakersfield is not the only Cali- fornia municipality where SIAC has been busy lately, however. "Three of us from SIAC— myself, Chuck Brobeck and Glen Mowrey—and Cathy Rempel rep- resenting the San Diego Alarm Association—are engaged in pre- liminary cooperative work with San Diego police on improvements of their alarm program and revi- sions of their alarm ordinance," Sargent said. "The police will soon be requesting alarm companies to provide updated lists of their active customers with the intent of bringing them into compliance with their alarm ordinance." Sargent said he and Brobeck were also on the move in Long Beach. "[We] met with the outgoing president of CPOA (California Peace Officers' Association), Jim McDonnell, who is the Police Chief of Long Beach," Sargent said. "We will be reviewing his city's very outdated alarm ordi- nance and providing recommen- dations including best practices and a simplified alarm ordinance for consideration." Finally, Sargent said SIAC was Innovative Solutions returning to a former alarm ordi- nance battleground. "We are assisting the Cathedral City Police chief in his endeavor to move forward with a concep- tual project for managing bur- glar, holdup and panic alarms in his city," Sargent said. "Under a previous police chief, Cathedral City moved to a verified response, broadcast and file policy. Morgan Hertel of the Inland Empire Alarm Association is also assisting." SSN Client / Customer: Genetec Magazine: SSN