07 Aug Less False Alarms is Saving Mizner Big Bucks
Homeowners in some gated communities owe the county thousands of dollars in false alarm response fees. According to Gordon Llewellyn, Director of Security at Mizner Country Club, when police respond to a false alarm, they charge per call.
“Fees can be $150, then $250 for each false alarm,” said Llewellyn. “Mizner residents owe virtually zero because our security team is one of 13 gated communities in all of Palm Beach County that are designated Primary Security Alarm Sites.”
This designation is given by the sheriff’s office after specific safety criteria are met including gatehouse central alarm monitoring, vetting of the security team by the sheriff’s office, annual alarm inspection, alarm response protocols, and specialized training.
What this means is the sheriff’s office does not respond to alarms unless they are correctly called out by the Mizner security team.
“It saves our residents thousands in false alarm fees every year,” said Llewellyn. “Ninety-nine percent of home alarms are false alarms and occur when a landscape guy bumps a door, or a golf ball crashes into a window, or a maid opens the door and forgets the code and sets off the alarm.”
Since every house is wired into the Mizner system, the gatehouse receives the alarm at the same time ADT security receives the alarm. Because Mizner Security is on-site, the response time is generally less than two minutes, often less than one minute.
“We arrive at your house, check windows and doors and determine if the alarm was false or an accidental set-off,” said Llewellyn. “If we see a broken window or something to indicate a break-in, we call in the sheriff’s office. Since we’re designated a primary security response site, they know it’s not a false alarm, and they respond fast.”
For more information about security and membership benefits, call Marie Mitchalk, Membership Director at (561)288.3300