U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government, Department of Justice.

NCJRS Virtual Library

The Virtual Library houses over 235,000 criminal justice resources, including all known OJP works.
Click here to search the NCJRS Virtual Library

PORTABLE POLICE-OWNED ALARM SYSTEMS - DRAFT

NCJ Number
48485
Author(s)
L G GUNN
Date Published
1974
Length
89 pages
Annotation
NATIONAL EXPERIENCE WITH PORTABLE, POLICE OWNED, ALARM SYSTEMS (PPOAS) IS DOCUMENTED AND RECOMMENDATIONS FOR THE USE AND FURTHER STUDY OF PPOAS ARE PROVIDED.
Abstract
THIS SURVEY CONCENTRATES ON ALARM SYSTEMS WHICH ARE OWNED AND TACTICALLY DEPLOYED BY POLICE IN SELECTIVE ENFORCEMENT ACTIVITIES. THE SYSTEMS TYPIFY THOSE IN USE IN TAMPA, FLA., LOS ANGELES, CALIF., PHILADELPHIA, PA., AND MORE THAN 50 OTHER MUNICIPAL AND COUNTY LAW ENFORCEMENT AGENCIES. THESE SYSTEMS ARE BEING USED PRIMARILY TO EFFECT ONSCENE APPREHENSION OF COMMERCIAL ROBBERS AND BURGLARS BY IMPROVING RESPONSE TIME. AFTER A LIKELY ROBBERY OR BURGLARY TARGET HAS BEEN IDENTIFIED BY THE POLICE, A PORTABLE ALARM SYSTEM IS SECRETLY INSTALLED. ONSITE PERSONNEL -- OWNERS OR EMPLOYEES -ARE TRAINED TO OPERATE THE SYSTEM, AND SPECIFIC POLICE PATROL UNITS ARE ASSIGNED TO RESPOND TO ALARM SIGNALS TRANSMITTED BY PPOAS LOCATED IN THEIR AREAS. THE NATIONWIDE SURVEY IDENTIFIED PPOAS USERS AND SUPPLIERS. INTERVIEWS WERE CONDUCTED TO ESTABLISH BOTH EQUIPMENT AND OPERATIONAL FEATURES OR PROGRAMS USING PPOAS. AN ENCAPSULATION OF SYSTEM DEVELOPMENT, IMPLEMENTATION, AND RESULTS IN BAKERSFIELD, CALIFORNIA IS PRESENTED. A GENERIC FORMULATION OF THE PPOAS CONCEPT IS PROVIDED, ALONG WITH ASSUMPTIONS AND HYPOTHESES REGARDING ASSETS AND LIABILITIES. A DESCRIPTION OF THE SYSTEM USING BLOCK DIAGRAMS IS PROVIDED. CHARACTERISTICS OF PPOAS USERS AND MANUFACTURERS ARE NOTED, WITH REFERENCES TO APPENDIXES CONTAINING LISTS OF CONTACTS AND OTHER PERTINENT INFORMATION. THE PPOAS CONCEPT AND SYSTEM DESCRIPTION ARE USED AS A FRAMEWORK FOR CITING THE CASE STUDIES OF EXPERIENCES DOCUMENTED IN THE SURVEY. SUBSECTIONS DISCUSS PROGRAM PLANNING, IMPLEMENTATION SUGGESTIONS, AND THE GENERAL EFFECTIVENESS OF PPOAS. THE FINDINGS OF THE SURVEY ARE SUMMARIZED AND RECOMMENDATIONS FOR THE MAINTENANCE OF POLICE CONTROL, TAMPERING AND PHYSICAL ABUSE, AND FALSE ALARMS ARE NOTED. GRAPHIC DATA, CHARTS, AND FIGURES ARE INCLUDED, ALONG WITH A BIBLIOGRAPHY. (KBL)