My neighbor has a very sophisticated home alarm system, ringing both into the security company as well as the police station. However, there are a few little quirks in the system, and I’m one of them.
As happened again, the alarm went off while she was away. The protocal is that the company calls the house first, then me, and within x amount of time, the police are on their way. My job, since I chose to accept it, is to go over and see if indeed it is a break-in, fire, etc., or a false alarm. If a false alarm, and if I can call them back in time, it’s cool. But other scenarios did and may happen. 1) They don’t reach me in the shop and watch as policecars and firetrucks whine into the driveway next door. 2) I don’t get inside the house to check and call them quick enough, but am clever enough to come back outside with my hands up to face the cops. 3) I go over and it’s not a false alarm after all, and am shot by a burglar.
Don’t you think that for all the money these systems cost, I wouldn’t be a necessary, unpaid and risk-central part of it?
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A dog might be better. You could feed the dog when they’re away, the dog would know you, and bark at burglars. You could listen from a distance with a baby monitor. The dog would possibly even protect you from said burglar, if you had to go over there to check things out.
Sometimes hi-tech isn’t the answer.
Plus you could steal stuff, and they would just blame it on poor Rover not doing his job…
}:)