It's a bit like that in the security industry at the moment. There's a perceptible feeling that it's on the verge of big changes ... with installation companies right in the centre of things.
British standards are fading into history to make way for Euro 'Norms', NACOSS now has two tiers, and, despite recent government hints that a Bill will not be introduced this year, regulation of the industry is still imminent. Even more significant for installers, the delayed new ACPO 2000 policy is likely to see a significant change in what is expected from them.
And while all this is going on, one police force has caused a furore over its refusal to attend commercial alarms at certain times unless they are confirmed. Against all this, and sparked by West Midlands' go-it-alone policy (now put on 56-day hold by a BSIA legal injunction), a conference was called by BT RedCARE … and although the West Midlands policy was central to the Birmingham conference, it also took in wider issues about the industry's future.
The event entitled "West Midlands Police Policy Change – the Way Forward" had two sessions. (As an interesting pointer to how much installers are at the hub of things, one session addressed installers and the other addressed everyone else in the industry!)
Co-operation, not confrontation
Tim Geddes, Chairman of the BSIA Systems Section, said the police had told the industry to reduce false alarms by ten per cent and it was a testament to the working relationship between the industry and the police that this had been achieved. "A little of that successful coalition seems to have been forgotten by some. West Midlands action was well intended but with hindsight it has missed the mark. I believe the only way forward should be through the ACPO Liaison Committee."
The ACPO 2000 Policy was in its fifth draft with 43 police authorities consulted. "So why do we have this small but worrying break from the party line?"
He also detailed the "breakaway" by South Yorkshire police who want alarm receiving centres to route calls via a premium rate line at £1.50 per minute, the cost to be passed on to end users. He was fearful of the big price increases if this became a national policy, especially when second calls were made because keyholders were not available.
He called for more consultation from the police, a unified policy and "regional informal dialogue" with the forces. This would result in reducing false alarms and reduce the police waste of time. "Co-operation beats confrontation and the BSIA uses confrontation only as a last resort," he said.
ACPO 2000 'much more radical'
Speaking on behalf of the insurance industry, Steve Clark, of the Royal Sun Alliance, said police response was an "excellent" service and insurers were "very keen to preserve it."
He warned that although the '95 ACPO Policy was successful, the new ACPO 2000 policy was "much more radical and the security industry and their customers will have big adjustments to make."
The security systems policy was not just an 'alarms' policy - it included other systems such as CCTV remote monitoring.
All alarm inspectorates will have to be UKAS accredited.
All alarm systems requiring police response will have to have confirmation technology and only confirmed alarms will be passed to police.
The loss of a single communications path will not result in a loss of police response but police say that is one element of a confirmed alarm.
There will be lower false alarm thresholds: downgrading will result from the present four to three false alarms; withdrawal of response will result from seven to six false alarms.
He recognised that there were genuine concerns:
- That genuine intrusions would not be policed;
- That confirmation systems would bring more opportunities for making mistakes at the installation phase;
- That ARCs could misinterpret signals from audio and video confirmation systems;
- That the cost of such systems was a worry and customers would have to pay higher premiums;
- That it's unproven and there's a need for training.
He added: "We would have preferred it if this confirmation requirement were not so universal. Will it deliver results? Met Police research shows impressive results but once it's applied to a mass market it will be more difficult. But it does have the potential to make significant savings."
The policy would accept all three choices of confirmation used, audio, video and sequential, with the proviso that audio should also deliver sequential alarms as back-up. Hybrid systems would not be acceptable. They would be looking for dual path signalling in new systems.
Loss of one signalling path, or two, is counted as a confirmed alarm.
Alternatives would be considered: either first response by a professional keyholder or static guards or remote CCTV surveillance, smoke devices or other defence systems. The ABI will reissue guidance to insurers and installers will have to liaise with ARCs on what is the best technique for the site.
He said the West Midlands Police decision was "a very unwelcome development arising from a regrettable decision ... indiscriminate punishment of the innocent and guilty alike." It had the potential to cause damage to the new national policy and set a precedent for other police forces. Had it been allowed to continue there would have had to be a complete review of insurance in the West Midlands.
At the moment it was in "a limbo state of suspended animation" But insurers were, in the meantime, searching for at-risk policy holders in the event of West Midlands introducing the measures.
All alarm systems requiring police response will have to have confirmation technology. Only confirmed alarms will be passed on
Risk was based on the trade, the location and value of goods plus the increased vulnerability.
They were looking at a "sizeable, expensive survey".
The West Midlands Police plan was to respond only to confirmed alarms at commercial premises between 6am-7pm Monday to Saturday. This meant supermarkets, staffed all hours, would not be at any more risk but lock-ups and 9 to 5 offices would be "considerably more vulnerable". But insurers would not have to ask for changes in security arrangements if there were guards on the premises or shopkeepers living above shops.
He hoped the police and BSIA could settle their differences outside court.
"If West Midlands do succeed in pushing through these unpopular proposals, it might be the beginning and the end of the ACPO Policy."
Police need better 'marketing'
Representing end users, Alex Berry, Director of Security & Risk Management at Booker plc, said the "43 variations" of the ACPO Policy caused confusion with security managers and installers.
"Active criminals do monitor response times and and police frequencies and know what the police are doing," he said. He also criticised police "marketing".
"The only letter I ever get from the police is to tell me, 'we're not coming anymore' The police require the services of a good marketing man. Why don't they create their own ARC and insist all calls come into it?
"Why don't they create an alarms response force? Why don't they allow false alarms built into the monitoring fee and then charge for a service – charge a fee but always attend? If you're not going to do that, come clean … leave it to the commercial world. Let's have one thing or another. In the discovery of a crime we will notify the police. Are these views too extreme? Why not?"
Concentrate on user error
Representing alarm receiving centres, Bill Huxley, MD of Custodian Monitoring Services, said Custodian had 930,000 total alarms per year, 4.8 alarms per system.
After filtering that was reduced to 231,000 per annum, 1.2 alarms per system. "We cut out 75 per cent of all activations", he said.
Police response was an essential ingredient but the ACPO policy penalises the industry financially.
He believed police should consult with installers, end users, insurers, industry bodies and especially ARCs because they had so much experience in filtering out false alarms.
Policies and standards should be industry driven not police driven. The industry should concentrate more on user errors. "They are 50-70 per cent of the problem and confirmation will not attack that problem.
"The Met says 79 per cent of alarms do not cause an activation so is the policy going to meet its objectives? The ACPO policy must have a greater understanding of alarm management. The ACPO policy could be seen to penalise the industry, consumers and insurers. There's an environment for change but this can only be through consultation."
RedCARE fully compliant
The conference also included an explanation and demonstration of BT RedCARE's product range which was "fully compliant with all proposed police policy changes", said Scott Elder, Sales Manager, New Products.
They included:
- Normal or "classic" RedCARE (8 pins + , up to 11 pin STU); and the confirmation systems:
- Serial (via Scantronic 8136-75);
- ISDN (digital, offering much greater speed and enhancements, up to 1,000 alarm inputs. It lets managers know who's setting the alarm, can track intruders through separated alarms giving police a better chance of capture. As soon as a cleaner etc puts in their code in it will tell the ARC so they know if it's a likely error);
- RedCARE GSM (radio back-up, polls every five minutes for line cut and does activation check after alarm detected. Delivers messages on a duplicated path to the ARC and recognised as the most secure and failsafe system. Only used if a landline is down. Has its own power supply);
He pointed out that it was only a £30 connection charge to to upgrade from classic RedCARE to GSM. End user pays, typically, £15 per month charge by ARC. No further charges or call costs.
Better definitions needed
Brian Wells, General Manager, Sales, BT RedCARE, who introduced speakers and summed up, said he believed confirmed alarms would be a standard policy.
One of the problems was the different interpretations of 'false alarms' between the 43 different police forces. A specific definition was needed. In signalling systems the industry should be looking to Class 4 pro-active monitoring on both paths.
Source
Security Installer
