tag: Security Resources
Social Media in Blizzard 2010
DC's blizzard of 2010 has highlighted the main-streaming of social media as an emergency communication tool. In our house in AU Park the battery operated emergiency radio was no where in sight despite the 30 hour power outage. Replacing it were two iPhones and twitter feeds. While twitter has generally been a vehicle for the masses, we followed a number of government and infrasturecture authroities who kept us informed on a minute by minute basis.
Not only were the feeds informative but also two-way. While I got solid busy signals trying to notify PEPCO of a downed line behind our house a twitter message to DDOT was met with a quick response:
The dialog with DDOTDC was extensive with residents tweeting information on problem areas, pictures of unplowed streets, and DDOTDC acknowledging resident concern passing information to and from the DDOT snow response command center. Other District agencies provided excellent information on bus routes, school closing, and more.
The tweeting was also valuable on a smaller scale. Broad Branch Market twittered hourly updated on the status of the store and availability of high-demand blizzard items (e.g., milk and toilet paper). zBurger announced their $1 "snowburger" to the local inhabitants and got a tremendous response.
While the ability of officials to be so responsive on a one-to-one basis may be diluted as adoption and volume of messages increases there is no doubt that social media will serve an increasingly critical role in emergency and community communications.
We have created a list of twitteres we found particularly useful durring the snow emergiency. Check with stores you frequent in your neighborhood to see if they use social media. While you are at it be sure to follow Urban Alarm on twitter as well.
Lessons from the Fairfax Gold Burglaries
This week, police apprehended three suspects of the Fairfax Gold Burglaries mentioned in the previous post. At the time of their arrest, the burglars had robbed 26 Loudoun County homes, mostly during daylight hours, stealing gold jewelry, statues and saris with gold thread. Tom Jackman of The Washington Post reported:
A search warrant filed Thursday in Fairfax Circuit Court revealed that witnesses helped police identify two possible suspects: a Hispanic man in a blue jumpsuit or work uniform, appearing to be a maintenance or repair worker, and a Hispanic woman with pink- or red-tinted hair who knocked on doors soliciting plumbing work.Even though these particular burglars have been caught, there is still a lot to be learned from their crimes:
Some witnesses also told police that they had seen a small, blue sport-utility vehicle, possibly a Ford, parked in the neighborhoods where some of the break-ins occurred. The thefts often occurred during the day.
- The break-ins occurred during daylight hours when most residents were at work. By installing a webcam to monitor properties from their offices, PDAs or iPhones, residents could have captured valuable footage of the intruders and may have been able to order a police dispatch before the burglars fled the property.
- These burglars gained access to homes and information of the people who lived there by interacting with residents beforehand, disguised as service workers. Had these homes been equipped with video intercom security systems, the residents would have automatically captured images of the intruders at first contact, possibly leading the police to an earlier apprehension.
- This neighborhood did hold three town hall-style meetings to share information and speak to local authorities. This type of gathering is often useful for targeted, repetitive break-ins because it enables residents to share information and develop a suspect profile. In fact, the police apprehension in these burglaries was based on a tip from neighborhood witnesses who had been to these town meetings and knew who to look for. Hold a neighborhood meeting or use websites like groups.yahoo.com , blogspot.com or facebook.com to develop an online portal for your community. Encourage residents to post photos, video and information regarding suspicious activity and to check the site regularly.
- Always remember to keep your alarm system alarmed even if you are gone briefly during the day. These intruders spent a lot of time parked around the neighborhood and may be tempted to burglarize even during short intervals of absence. Walking in on a burglar is the worst-case scenario; eliminate that risk by setting your alarm during any absence of any length and locking your doors while at home.
Developing a Security Strategy
Developing a Security Strategy
Securing your Freedom of Speech (or, at least, your yard signs)
Political yard signs can trigger emotional reactions in heated elections. Stories abound of yard signs "walking" away. So what can you to to secure them?
I saw a story last week about few people who have taken to video surveillance to monitor their their yard sign and maybe nab a disgruntled activist gone thief. Video is great as it shows you who took it and gives some excellent You Tube fodder. But it is not the most cost effective solution.
So we at Urban Alarm have taken a lower cost approach to protecting our political voices in the week leading up to election day.
Wireless alarm systems offer tremendous flexibility as the sensors can go just about anywhere. We can use a simple wireless contact sensor, wrapped in a plastic zip lock to protect it from moisture, and bury it in the ground taped to the yard sign and corresponding magnet.
The solution is simple but effective if you want to run out and nab the thief in the process. However, you may not want the who house alarm going off, and the police being dispatched (or maybe you do) when the sign is pulled. And, you want to know about it even if the alarm system is disarmed.
This can be addressed in the alarm system by using a special sensors group. The GE alarm systems we install have special sensor groups just for "chime" or "enunciate" sensors. These are sensors that do not trigger an alarm but simply announce "Garage Door" or other meaning full report. It is similar to how a sensor would behave when you turn on the "chime" mode but it acts this way at all times (e.g., without chime turned on and even when the alarm is armed) and does not trigger a full reported alarm.
Of course, there are many other applications for wireless sensors and these special sensor groups which is why we take the time to understand our customers concerns and come up with solutions that address them. For example, we recently installed this sort of special sensor on a pool gate so that adults are notified when the smaller kids enter the pool area. Give us a call and we can discuss your specific concerns and how security technology might be used to address them.
Reading Crime Statistics on the Internet
Crime statistics in the local paper has evolved as much as classifieds or any other reference information. It is now easily available online. Online Websites take it one step further by creating "mashups" with Google Maps overlaying crime information right on the map.
Crime report mashup websites can be an excellent resource for researching crime events. Information can be easily broken down by crime type, timeframe, and location. A summary of the crime information from police reports is available to clicking on event icons. This can be particularly valuable.
We regularly review the information to see how criminals entered the homes and businesses. With that information we can provide better guidance on how to secure properties with an alarm, video, and access system. For example, a recent month showed that in almost half of the residential burglaries in NW DC the burglar gained entry to the home through a basement window. This is a natural point of entry because it is generally out of site of passers by and gives the burglar the sense they are less likely to be detected.
Since basement access is usually a visible space it is an important part of securing a home. We often advise that all basement windows are secured and that, if feasible, a secondary motion sensor is located in a basement that is armed even when residents are at home.
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