Major Crime Reporting sees Ordinary Crime Ignored

women security personnel

For centuries people around the world have pursued a simple desire that is becoming increasingly complicated as time goes on: Security.

Switch your TV to a news channel and the need for security becomes alarmingly clear.

In 1974, Aussie glam rock band Skyhooks sang of a Horror Movie known as the six-thirty news. Over 40 years later not much has changed (although the six-thirty news is now on the Internet 24hrs a day).

While sometimes encouraging security awareness, the repetitive reporting of security incidents, terrorism, burglary, theft, cybercrime or fraud may also desensitise people who throw their hands up or adopt the potentially dangerous thought: “It could never happen to me”.

The upswell in major criminal and terrorist incidents has resulted in relatively smaller crimes being relegated to the proverbial back page. If the media is reporting major crimes or mass casualty incidents it’s less likely that less ‘newsworthy’ stories make the cut. So a vehicle ramming attack in Melbourne will dominate the news while the nearly 2000 burglaries in Melbourne every single day or the 2500 burglaries in Sydney every day go wholly unreported. A Melbourne household is burgled every 15 minutes and you won’t read about it.

While such a robbery is small in comparison to fatalities, terrorism or major acts of crime, should it happen to you it would not seem so minor.

A recent interview with Daniel Lewkovitz, CEO of Calamity Monitoring, highlighted one of the benefits of having a monitored alarm system:

“A well designed alarm system is a dead-simple step to make your home appear a ‘hard target’ which is likely to make criminals choose elsewhere. It is however important that alarm systems are monitored otherwise they are little more than noise-makers.”

He added a warning on quality: “While any company can claim to offer monitoring, not all monitoring is of an acceptable standard. Only ASIAL certified ‘graded’ monitoring centre are recognised by most insurers and police services.”

Modern IP Monitoring alarm systems offer lifestyle benefits in addition to security. Lewkovitz says: “These modern security systems add convenience features for example allowing you to open a gate, garage or front door from anywhere using a smartphone app. This is great for receiving deliveries and online purchases when you’re not at home”.

Calamity’s IP monitoring does away with phone line costs and is NBN compatible and can’t be sabotaged by having the line cut, unlike older alarm systems. Calamity has also helped lift owners upgrade their lifts and elevators to NBN compatible emergency phones.

In an industry with low barriers to entry there are many companies that offer security services, alarm installation and camera installation. In most cases the customer has no idea they’ve installed a defective system until after they’ve suffered loss. Insurers frequently uses these deficiencies, such as non-graded monitoring providers or non Australian Standards (AS2201) compliant design and installation, to deny the claim.

Lewkovitz says: “I’ve been an expert witness for the courts in a number of cases where the poor customer simply had no idea that the local security bloke they’d been using for years was taking them for a ride.”

Calamity prides itself in being one of the top rated security companies in the country and recently won the Optus Business Awards for Personal and Business Services Provider of the Year. The company was A Graded on its first day of operation and has continually maintained its A grading every day of operations and continues to set benchmarks for excellence in an industry that’s failed to innovate.

This innovation has resulted in numerous efficiencies which allow Calamity to provide a higher level of service at rates competitive with far lesser competitors. In many cases clever application of technology has allowed Calamity to save customers’ money while improving their security levels.

Calamity’s excellent medical and lone-worker safety system Silent Sentinel™ is a good example allowing seniors and mobility impaired customers to have constant support through a help button, as well as a wearable pendant that will automatically detect if they fall and can call for help even if they can’t. Calamity has saved multiple lives.