Highland Park to Outsource Alarm Monitoring
Remember back on Monday, when the Highland Park Town Council discussed alarm monitoring in a closed session? The town’s Department of Public Safety issued a news release today that says it is requesting proposals from companies who could provide that service.
DPS Director Chris Vinson said in the release that the move is a reaction to the changes in the alarm-monitoring industry, including video.
“The town evaluated upgrading our infrastructure to offer these new services, and it just provides a better value to our citizens to contract it out,” he said. “Technologies and standards now exist to get alarms from a third-party vendor with no time delay. Above all, the town is committed to maintaining our rapid response time.”
Vinson said companies submitting proposals will be carefully evaluated to insure that their services exceed industry standards and meet the town’s standards of customer service. Officials hope to select a vendor by mid-summer.
I’d really be pissed off if UP outsourced their alarm monitoring.
With the new technology out there (video, remote control, etc.) I understand why they might need to upgrade their infrastructure. But outsourcing the service defeats the purpose of having your alarm monitored by the town. This sounds like there will be a third-party between you and the police, no matter what.
The main reason that I bought in HP (at the time, UP did not offer direct monitoring) was the direct monitoring. I not happy at all to hear this.
What the Mayor and Town Council are really saying is…slap! The residence have no one to blame but themselves. Maybe if the free willy spenders on the HP Town Council could learn how to budget, then this would not be an issue.
HP Town Council is saying we’re too cheap to invest into our town and families, but we waste millions otherwise. A huge chuckle. I guess that is what experience gets you. I sure hope they do background checks on the new vendor(s). Oh, I forgot, HP probably hasn’t done these on quite a few of their own, hey. Enjoy, HP residents!
One other funny thing…..and HP Town Council wants to spend nearly $100k on another librarian asst. Where is our $250K per year town manager, Bill Lindley, on this. Oh my my. How about we roll back some of the salaries over at Mayberry Land on Drexel Drive.