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Old 05-03-2011, 04:11 PM
 
Location: Sugar Land
2,465 posts, read 5,792,835 times
Reputation: 2733

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I am trying to educate myself with the police response time as it relates to home alarms. I know each police department and county is different. In my case the neighborhood I live in is served by the Fort Bend County Police Department. Even thou I am in Sugarland somehow the SLPD is not assigned to us. Don't know why....
That being said our cleaning lady triggered the home alarm by mistake right after she left. My alarm company couldn’t get a hold of anyone so naturally they called the police department they have in file and that number was provided by me when signing the contract with them.
To my not so surprising disappointment police showed up after 50 minutes and very briefly, REALLY briefly look around my house. Having a CCTV system I could tell exactly what time and what the police did, all the way from arrival to departure.

My question now is around response time. Is that a best effort, or is that some kind contractual agreement with the HOA or the county? How does it work? Not that I can’t protect myself, but other families may need police response quicker that 50 minutes. What do you guys think about it?

This is all I could find about alarms on the police site, how to take your money after so many false alarms.

http://www.co.fort-bend.tx.us/getSit...?sitePage=5545

And some more about the "Alarm Unit" here http://www.co.fort-bend.tx.us/getSit...?sitePage=5530

Last edited by ethanw; 05-03-2011 at 04:27 PM..
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Old 05-03-2011, 04:53 PM
 
1,632 posts, read 3,327,162 times
Reputation: 2074
Quote:
Originally Posted by ethanw View Post
I am trying to educate myself with the police response time as it relates to home alarms. I know each police department and county is different. In my case the neighborhood I live in is served by the Fort Bend County Police Department. Even thou I am in Sugarland somehow the SLPD is not assigned to us. Don't know why....
That being said our cleaning lady triggered the home alarm by mistake right after she left. My alarm company couldn’t get a hold of anyone so naturally they called the police department they have in file and that number was provided by me when signing the contract with them.
To my not so surprising disappointment police showed up after 50 minutes and very briefly, REALLY briefly look around my house. Having a CCTV system I could tell exactly what time and what the police did, all the way from arrival to departure.

My question now is around response time. Is that a best effort, or is that some kind contractual agreement with the HOA or the county? How does it work? Not that I can’t protect myself, but other families may need police response quicker that 50 minutes. What do you guys think about it?

This is all I could find about alarms on the police site, how to take your money after so many false alarms.

Fort Bend County - Alarm Ordinance

And some more about the "Alarm Unit" here Fort Bend County - Patrol
You're really complaining that it took the cops 50 minutes to show up to what they thought was just another home invasion? Don't you realize that they have better things to do, like fine people with outdated safety inspection stickers and make sure people are wearing seat belts? Click it or Ticket baby!
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Old 05-03-2011, 05:01 PM
 
Location: Charleston Sc and Western NC
9,273 posts, read 26,496,019 times
Reputation: 4741
I like the Constables better. They are my first contact with the security company after an alarm. HPD is great, but they have bigger fish to fry than an alarm.

The one time a barking dog triggered a glass break ( too sensative) they were at the house within 5 minutes.
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Old 05-03-2011, 05:08 PM
 
Location: Fondren SW Yo
2,783 posts, read 6,676,273 times
Reputation: 2225
Quote:
Originally Posted by ethanw View Post
I am trying to educate myself with the police response time as it relates to home alarms. I know each police department and county is different. In my case the neighborhood I live in is served by the Fort Bend County Police Department. Even thou I am in Sugarland somehow the SLPD is not assigned to us. Don't know why....
That being said our cleaning lady triggered the home alarm by mistake right after she left. My alarm company couldn’t get a hold of anyone so naturally they called the police department they have in file and that number was provided by me when signing the contract with them.
To my not so surprising disappointment police showed up after 50 minutes and very briefly, REALLY briefly look around my house. Having a CCTV system I could tell exactly what time and what the police did, all the way from arrival to departure.

My question now is around response time. Is that a best effort, or is that some kind contractual agreement with the HOA or the county? How does it work? Not that I can’t protect myself, but other families may need police response quicker that 50 minutes. What do you guys think about it?

This is all I could find about alarms on the police site, how to take your money after so many false alarms.

Fort Bend County - Alarm Ordinance

And some more about the "Alarm Unit" here Fort Bend County - Patrol
My $500 a year HOA fee is more than worth it for the Constable service we have. Not only are they on site in minutes or less when dispatch is called, there is no charge for alarm follow up no matter how many times they have to come out.

That being said, there really is no way for a PD to guarantee response times. It's a factor of prioritized calls, efficiency of the department, available resources, etc.
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Old 05-03-2011, 08:13 PM
 
Location: Sugar Land
2,465 posts, read 5,792,835 times
Reputation: 2733
Thanks for feedback....So I hear many of you talking about Constable services... How does it work? When I built my house here I was told that this is Police that is assigned to us, Fort Bend County Police.... Can I actually call other Police department for alarm coverage? I am pretty confused now....
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Old 05-03-2011, 08:18 PM
 
1,211 posts, read 3,557,794 times
Reputation: 1593
Chances are you mean the Fort Bend Co. Sheriffs dept.
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Old 05-03-2011, 08:21 PM
 
Location: Tricity, PL
61,721 posts, read 87,123,005 times
Reputation: 131695
Police Response Time When Selecting a Security Company
Alarm responses directed to the police are quite ineffectual due to the large number of false alarms triggered every day. According to a police survey at one of the cities in the U.S, the average home alarm response time was forty-five minutes. Since then, it became mandatory that home security companies confirm and attempt to “verify”security alarms before police take up the issue.
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Old 05-03-2011, 08:23 PM
 
Location: Sugar Land
2,465 posts, read 5,792,835 times
Reputation: 2733
That is correct... Their names are so complicated now.... You have police departments over police departments. Sugarland, Missouri City, Fort Bend, you name it.....

Quote:
Originally Posted by RCH99 View Post
Chances are you mean the Fort Bend Co. Sheriffs dept.
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Old 05-03-2011, 08:29 PM
 
Location: Fondren SW Yo
2,783 posts, read 6,676,273 times
Reputation: 2225
Quote:
Originally Posted by ethanw View Post
Thanks for feedback....So I hear many of you talking about Constable services... How does it work? When I built my house here I was told that this is Police that is assigned to us, Fort Bend County Police.... Can I actually call other Police department for alarm coverage? I am pretty confused now....
Not sure how it works in FB, but in Harris County the constable dept. serves a number of functions that the HPD may or may not handle in a given part of the city (process serving, traffic control, etc.) The Constable dept. also contracts out to HOA's providing contract patrol. So for example in my neighborhood, we have an almost constant law enforcement presence by at least one constable, paid for out of our HOA dues. They are sworn peace officers, so they are better than private armed security because they can do traffic stops, etc. Because the residents of my HOA are truly the "customer" of the Constable, they are very service oriented. It's a level of local policing that the HPD just can't provide. And since we are paying for the services through an HOA dues funded contract, there is never any charge for things like alarm calls, vacation watch, etc.
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Old 05-03-2011, 08:38 PM
 
Location: Where nothing ever grows. No rain or rivers flow, Texas
1,085 posts, read 1,581,344 times
Reputation: 468
5 mins. or our HOA will cut their 'funding'
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