by: Jill Ostrow
It was a struggle in the early years of the security alarm industry for the public to recognize the need for protection & monitoring with police notification against criminal break in and home invasion.
Gradually over a period of 45 years security systems became recognized & accepted finally reaching the point of being included in virtually all types of businesses & new residential construction as well as existing homes.
Since 1920 when the industry began in New York to present day the industry could easily boast about being a multi-billion dollar endeavor continuing to grow at paramount proportions.
The ensuing years revealed that there was an extremely large segment of the public that did not have a security system. The reasons varied. Some did not want to take on the burden of ongoing monthly monitoring expenses for police notification as well as servicing. Many did not want unsightly wiring throughout their homes while others could not tolerate the common annoyance of false alarm panic disturbing the household & the neighborhood thereby causing penalties and fines by the local authorities. Simply put many could just not afford it.
It became apparent that since there was no physical sign of a security system visible on the outside that the criminal could not tell if a home or business did actually have a security system.
The foremost objective is a DETERRENT before an invasion attempt is ever made.
It has been historically proven that those homes and businesses who display the presence of an alarm system from the outside have far less attempts or none at all than those who have no security indication. Industry experience documents these facts and are supported by the U.S. Department of Justice and Uniform Crime Reports.