Comments on: Speaking of “Those Dumb Brinks Home Security Commercials”…

By: ritesh

ritesh — Sun, 21 Jun 2009 09:55:42 +0000

hi..
I read this article ,three times & there are many dumbs which add as they can provide security but they are hopeless & they need too security.Join September 1 to make a genuine difference through a first day for humanity’s children .
—–
Hardy
—-
Sept 1–Sept 1

By: Scott

Scott — Sat, 20 Jun 2009 01:55:45 +0000

I have ADT. Contract runs out next month, letting it go. Alarm goes off about once a month or so, about 2 or 3 in the morning, to let me know the alarm system lost contact with ADT. After turning it off, I’m just about back to sleep 15 minutes later when ADT calls, asking if my alarm went off.

Not impressive.

By: bbhack

bbhack — Fri, 19 Jun 2009 17:33:58 +0000

Alarms are good for when you’re not at home, and for waking you up when you are there.

By: bbhack

bbhack — Fri, 19 Jun 2009 17:30:40 +0000

BWE BWE BWE BWE BWE BWE BWE BWE Riiing…..
This is Brinks, I hope you’re well armed. The police will be there in about 3 minutes, maybe.

By: bbhack

bbhack — Fri, 19 Jun 2009 17:28:57 +0000

BWE BWE BWE BWE BWE BWE BWE BWE Riiing…..
This is Brinks, are you still alive?

By: The Ace

The Ace — Fri, 19 Jun 2009 13:41:28 +0000

there is no sound on earth like a pump shotgun chambering a round.

Exactly. And this point I reiterated to a girlfriend I lived with over & over as I taught her how to pull back the slide on my sig and fluidly take aim. I explained that most criminals will hear that sound and know exactly what it means.

By: Don Gwinn

Don Gwinn — Fri, 19 Jun 2009 13:03:05 +0000

My alarm system consists of two large dogs with loud voices. They’re the alarm; we’re the defensive system.

Closing your bedroom door and cowering isn’t an option when you have three kids in two other bedrooms.

By: Kevin S.

Kevin S. — Fri, 19 Jun 2009 11:44:48 +0000

My burgler alarm goes off and “Captures the Phone line” for about 20 seconds while notifying the monitoring company…
The Monitoring Company calls b4 the phone is released…
I always get a message that they called and when…
They also call my Cell and my wife’s cell…
With no answer, they send the cops,…
The LEOs arrive to investigate the event in about ten to thirty minutes…
Long after the blood will be drying on the walls, ceiling, floor…
Whether it is mine or some faceless loser’s will be determined by my determination to survive and God’s will…
Oh yeah and Sam Colt’s 45acp 1911 design…

By: Bob McCarty

Bob McCarty — Fri, 19 Jun 2009 03:42:53 +0000

In January, I researched this very issue and found that, in 7 out of 8 of the TV spots produced by the nation’s two largest home security systems companies and available on YouTube at the time, Caucasian men appear as the bad guys committing home invasions.

These stats are disturbing in light of crime statistics reported by reputable media outlets that show, from 1976 to 2005, blacks committed more than 52% of all murders in America. In 2006, the black arrest rate for most crimes was two to nearly three times blacks’ representation in the population. Blacks constituted 39.3% of all violent-crime arrests, including 56.3% of all robbery and 34.5% of all aggravated-assault arrests, and 29.4% of all property-crime arrests.

I made inquiries to the media relations folks at both ADT (Ann Lindstrom) and Brink’s (Dave Simon), asking them to explain why the vast majority of their respective companies’ television commercials feature light-skinned and/or Caucasian individuals in contradiction to the crime statistics highlighted above. Only ADT’s Ann Lindstrom responded via e-mail: “Bob, Thank you for the opportunity, but ADT does not wish to provide a comment for your article. Sincerely, Ann”

Hmmm.

By: Kathleen

Kathleen — Fri, 19 Jun 2009 03:35:35 +0000

Dogs work great. I have two – if one doesn’t bark the other will.

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Fri, 19 Jun 2009 01:53:56 +0000

I have an alarm from ADT. It’s sole purpose is to wake me up so I can address the problem with some .45acp

By: Jonathan

Jonathan — Fri, 19 Jun 2009 01:28:19 +0000

Thanks, J. Good points.

By: J

Fri, 19 Jun 2009 01:07:18 +0000

“I’m knocking the concept of alarm as panacea, which the Brinks ads exploit or even promote”

There are other problems too, starting with the fact that the overwhelming majority of residential burglaries occur during the day; if a “burglar” is breaking in when someone is obviously or even apparently home, that is not normal burglar behavior, and you need to take action long before the cops can get there.

“One of the reasons why there are few criminal break-ins of occupied homes in the USA is that many Americans do have real security systems, particularly firearms”

It’s not enough that homeowners possess firearms. What really matters is the right to use them against an intruder without fear of being prosecuted or sued. For those of us who live in “Castle Doctrine” states, the purpose of an alarm is not to call the police, but to 1.) let the homeowner know an intruder has entered the house and 2.) make it clear to the intruder that the homeowner is aware of their presence (my alarm system verbally announces exactly where in the house the alarm was activated). What I’d really like is an alarm that goes for 15-20 seconds, then stops and plays the sound of a shotgun round being chambered; I think that might actually scare a burglar away.

By: Mikey NTH

Mikey NTH — Fri, 19 Jun 2009 00:48:40 +0000

Despite the commercials, there is no sound on earth like a pump shotgun chambering a round. If you have broken into a house, in the dark, and you hear that sound and you don’t leave…well, Mr. Darwin has an award ready for you.

By: Jonathan

Jonathan — Fri, 19 Jun 2009 00:16:29 +0000

I appreciate the clarifications here from people who use alarms. I’m not knocking alarms or any other tool. I’m knocking the concept of alarm as panacea, which the Brinks ads exploit or even promote.

By: tammy

tammy — Thu, 18 Jun 2009 23:37:26 +0000

Actually, I have Brinks. There was a break-in at my house. They called me immediately, the police arrived in less than 5 minutes. Before getting Brinks, I looked at average response times to different alarm companies (independent study). It was 30 seconds for Brinks. That’s why I chose them. True, the biggest benefit is that intruders will move to a different house but the reason they leave is that there is a very good chance of them being caught if the house has an alarm. Some homes even have hidden cameras – easier to prove guilt.

By: Willy

Willy — Thu, 18 Jun 2009 23:34:17 +0000

Shannon is right, the stalker, or whacked ex-boyfriend is a large percentage of threats to women. So the “home security” system does precisely the wrong thing – it rings the phone, putting the woman in a predictable place in the house, while distracted from looking around for the threat. Placing her “on the X” as it’s sometimes termed.

Dumb, dumb, dumb.

By: Conservemus

Conservemus — Thu, 18 Jun 2009 23:08:05 +0000

I seriously wonder if the Brinks systems will work if someone other than a white guy breaks into your house. The only guys who set off the Brinks alarm on the commercials are white guys.

By: Erich

Erich — Thu, 18 Jun 2009 23:00:31 +0000

Lasorda said, "As someone who has a home security system and several firearms, let me educate you how these systems work. When a door is opened or a window is broken while your alarm is on, the security company calls ~~immediately,~~ after about 30 minutes and asks you to recite your password. If you answer the password incorrectly, cops show up at your door ~~after a few minutes~~ in a few hours, after they are done doing EVERYTHING else, including eat dinner - as home security alarms are at the very bottom of their priority list. When you own a security system, you know that the phone is about to ring when the alarm is tripped. You know this because you, yourself, accidentally trip the alarm about once a month. The phone rings immediately and you rush to answer it. I am quite certain that if there were a real emergency, I would remember that the phone was about to ring. The piercing, louder than you can possibly imagine screeching of the alarm would tip me off. Those of us with alarms have actual experience operating the alarm. It’s ~~not~~ a passive system. Sort of like a firearm." There, I fixed a few parts for you.

By: Oh, bother

Oh, bother — Thu, 18 Jun 2009 22:38:45 +0000

Sir, ypu overgeneralize. Firearms for defense are wonderful for those who can rely upon them. Although I own more guns than my husband does, I also have vision so poor that if I woke in the dark, I wouldn’t recognize someone standing at the foot of the bed. With my glasses on, I shoot well enough. But I don’t wear my glasses when I sleep. I doubt if the bad guy would give me time to put my glasses on to determine friend of foe, and I’m sure you understand I’d be reluctant to shoot unless I was certain where my husband was. Thus I cannot rely solely upon firearms. Fortunately, my husband has excellent vision and shoots far better than I do. Unfortunately, he also sleeps with a CPAP machine so noisy he probably wouldn’t hear a break-in. An alarm system makes more noise than both a break-in plus our dog. Call it belt-and-suspenders.