Alarm calls...

[Blue_Chameleon]

Hello everyone! Well, I'm 2 weeks into my FTO and so far, I seem to like police work. I know I'm not exposed to everything yet but I actually go into work without too much struggling. And all them long hours!! http://www.officer.com/ubb/biggrin.gif What can I say about those?? hehe...

Anyway, back to the subject title.

We seem to get a lot of these alarm calls. Of course, I try not to let my mind settle down as "it's only a false alarm" and I always try to imagine this is the ONE. Well, I know there are several ways to check these alarm calls for residential homes and also businesses.

Can I get some suggestions as to how you go about approaching the house/business? I know I got dinged a whole bunch for some of my approaches, esp. to residential homes because I never know what to do once the times arrive.

[The Cynic]

Well you can do it the old timer way, or maybe better put the lazy way, and turn on your lights and sirens about four blocks away. That way if it really is a bad guy he has plenty of time to get away. Unfortunately a lot of cops do just this so they won't have to do much work and don't have to worry about an arrest.

A better way though is park out of sight and then on foot position yourself in a corner type spot so you can see two full walls of the house, business, whatever. Your partner then will take the oppisote corner. That way between the two of you, all sides are covered - assuming a typical four sided building. Then it all depends on if its just the two of you or if more cops are coming. Most likely there will only be the two of you so you then have to figure out how you want to approach. Thats something you'll be better off working out with your FTO since this will vary depending on time of day, building dynamics, etc.

[Blue_Chameleon]

I'm asking because I went to one of them recently. It was a corner house, the front of the house faced north and the open side of the house faced west. The house had the garage door opened and a pick-up truck backed in on the driveway with the tailgate down. I didn't know what to do once I got into position. I decided to have dispatch call into the residence and have the man come outside to the front lawn.

The man just walked rather swiftly outside, looked around. I stood out a little further from the corner of the fence and motioned him to come over to me. I tell dispatch that I see the "subject". He walked towards me kind of fast and since I didn't know who he was, I told him to stop and asked who he was and present ID and such. My FTO was behind me with the cover officer talking casually to him...and I think they were laughing at my approach and how I treated the man like a "criminal." It turns out he was the contractor for the house and didn't know how to turn off the alarm.

Anyway, I felt really bad cause when they laughed and made that comment, I felt like I did not do a good job. But at the same time, I don't know who that guy was...especially when he was walking so fast towards me. For all I know, maybe he wanted to sock me in the face (maybe...). Are they just really relaxed in thier jobs or am I just too stiff? I know since I'm starting out, I naturally feel like everybody is a threat to me.

[jaybeetee]

BC, I think you did okay, for what it's worth. Wondering if you're too high-strung or they're too laid back? Prolly a little of both. You'll get your groove on after a while. In the end, who cares what ****ty thing someone else may say to you...you did your job and everything came out ok. That's the name of the game. As for approaches...I agree, you have to work that out for yourself. Every sitch is different and requires a 'personal' touch. Hang in there, soon, it'll be YOU bull****ting while someone else is working. http://www.officer.com/ubb/smile.gif

[Don]

Hey Blue,

You did ok. Don't fret about the guys laughing at you. You've seen enough of these posts to know this is gonna happen.

Could be you are taking yourself to seriously. (I'm not talking about the alarm off situation, I am talking about ego.) You have a certain amount of BS to go through just to get through FTO.

It's quite possible that the guys who were laughing at you had previous contact with the contractor and recognized his truck. Two weeks into FTO? You can bet they are looking at you to see what your made of.

------------------
Senility is just a passing stage. . .
Stay safe out there,
6P1 (retired)

[The Cynic]

Sounds to me like you did it very well.

[tcsd1236]

Well, I generally dont get a lot of hold-up alarms from businesses, and I would assume you aren't talking about that type of alarm, only an intrusion alarm. Intrusion alarms here are a single car call, where a panic alarm will at least start two cars headed to it until the facts can be determined . Our policy on the panic alarms, BTW, is extremely outdated, and needs to be addressed, but never seems to be.
For intrusion alarms, I usually park a short distance away and walk around the perimeter; I dont particularly try to sneak and peek, especially on the regular alarms, and by regular the ones that literally come in every day(those are usually businesses). Much of my area is rural, and any attempt to sneak and peek on some places is gonna require a heck of a walk to get to it undetected.
One thing I'm doing, which you might want to consider, is a stamp I had made up. It's a short little blurb advising the homeowner that the property was checked by my agency in response to an alarm, that nothing was found, but that if anything is found, to contact the agency and refer to the report # below.Also, if repeated alarms come in, they need to get their alarm system checked for malfunctions. I throw this on the back of a business card and leave a card in the door.
This solves two things in my mind. We were finding, especially in winter, that we'd go on an alarm, check the place out, then upon the return of the owner (usually the next shift, so the new dispatcher didn't tie in the address to a call), we'd get another call for service because of tracks around the house. This way they know who was there.
Also, after several cards in their door, some of them got the hint about how much time they were tying us up . Some agencies charge for alarm responses after a set number of freebies,most do not. The alarm companies tell the homeowner how many alarm activations they've had, but the owner doesn't tie that in mentally with how much time LEO agencies spend in responding to bogus alarms. A homeowner on about their 3rd or 4th card in the door seems to get the message, and all of a sudden, the number of alarms seems to drop. Seems to work for me.