New Public/Private Partnership Created to Fight Property Crime with More Arrests

PRLog (Press Release) - May 4, 2012 - Insurers / Law Enforcement / Alarm Industry announce the
Partnership for Priority Video Alarm Response

The PPVAR (Partnership for Priority Video Alarm Response) is a true public/private partnership that brings together all the stakeholders in property crime to promote video alarms to make arrests and reduce losses.   Video alarms have proven arrest rates hundreds of times greater than traditional blind alarm systems; arrest rates with traditional alarms are less than one tenth of one percent (0.08%).  In best case scenarios, video alarm systems have delivered arrest rates of over 50% of actual burglaries with many examples of over 20%.  With leadership from the Police community, National Sheriffs Assn., and the National Insurance Crime Bureau, this public/private partnership reaches out beyond the security industry to include all the stakeholders in property crime.   This is the first organization that brings together all the property crime stakeholders to focus on combating property crime using video alarms to protect the residential and commercial property owners in the community.

The PPVAR has been working gathering data with many alarm companies, law enforcement and PSAPs, and especially the insurers who ultimately pay the bill for property crime.  Beyond promoting the adoption of video intrusion alarms, this partnership will help gather real world examples of what is working best for all the stakeholders.  This will mean approaching the issue from a variety of applications including indoor, outdoor, commercial, residential, etc.  Ultimately, the goal is to package these "best practices" and work with official "standards creating organizations" like the CSAA (Central Station Alarm Assn.) to create standards that meet the needs of all the stakeholders and were created with their input.  The current Board of Directors is composed of representatives from each of the stakeholders.

•   Police Community
Chief Yost Zakhary is from Woodway, Texas where he has been working chief for over 27 years.  Chief Zakhary began his career as a dispatcher in the Woodway 911 center over 30 years ago and alarm/response issues are one of his many interests.

•   Sheriffs - National Sheriffs Assn.
Sheriff Paul Fitzgerald, current president of the National Sheriffs Assn., will join the board after his term is completed in June.

•   Insurance Industry
Fred Lohmann, Director of the NICB (National Insurance Crime Bureau).  The NICB is supported by over 1,100 property/casualty insurance companies and is the primary liaison with law enforcement.

•   Alarm Industry
o   Donald Young, CIO of Protection One
o   Steve Walker, Vice President - Customer Service Centers, Stanley Convergent Security Solutions

Press conference news clip explanation: http://www.gptx.org/index.aspx?page=634&recordid=2775

For more information please contact:
Keith Jentoft - Coordinator, Partnership for Priority Video Alarm Response
651-855-7802
kjentoft@videofied.com