****************

Ken -

As the executive director of the IESA, I would like to respond to Steve Sargent of

Keltron who stated central stations take 20 minutes to respond to alarms.

For several years, the Illinois Electronic Security Association has actively opposed ordinances that give local governments monopolies over alarm monitoring.

Finally, Keltron’s Director of Sales, Steve Sargent, has stated why his company is pushing the municipal-monitoring plan that uses his company’s private-labeled equipment it receives from AES Corporation.

In the April 16 Ken Kirshenbaum newsletter, Mr. Sargent explained that he has been hearing “20 minute delay stories” about central stations for decades. Further, the letter said, “it really is about public safety,” although as he points out, firemen “can sell it to the bureaucrats using the financial model” of municipal monitoring.

In a nutshell, Mr. Sargent said that central stations put lives at risk and a convenient byproduct of Keltron’s program is that the monitoring revenue stream can be confiscated by the government. Apparently, he completely discounts the life-safety services and decades of experience of accredited central stations throughout the country and disregards the codes and standards with which central stations must comply. Instead, he promotes a position that irreparably harms the fire-alarm industry based on undocumented statements by people who would claim the monitoring revenue by legislating the private sector out in the market.

Also, Mr. Sargent appears to support the concept of growing the government and protecting municipal jobs at the expense of the private sector. He is on record in the March 26 Kirshenbaum newsletter as stating, “The monitoring revenue has saved the jobs of dispatchers and fire service personnel by preventing layoffs and may have actually saved taxpayer lives and money.”

The same message Mr. Sargent laid out is being pushed in Illinois by a handful of sales representatives and firemen. What’s worse is that some communities that adopted this plan have started to offer burglar-alarm monitoring and they even make their services available to adjacent communities, which is a clear indication of the planned growth for this model.

Should Keltron’s municipal-monitoring model expand further, even more subscriber accounts will be taken over by government bodies. A direct result is that private-sector companies lose their capital value and operating funds to pay salaries. Eventually, many alarm businesses will close – and there will be absolutely no public-safety benefit. In fact, communities that buy into the program will be saddled with a technology and model that cannot rival what is offered by the private sector right now at a much lower cost.

Based on Mr. Sargent’s statements without hard evidence and only anecdotal references, he would have all commercial fire-alarm systems monitored by government bodies – using his branded equipment. He’s encouraging the growth of government to the detriment of the private industry that has been his customer base for years.

As an industry, I believe we need to hold Mr. Sargent and Keltron accountable for such irresponsible statements intended to harm installing contractors and central stations across the nation.

My best,

Kevin Lehan, Executive Director

IESA

Illinois Electronic Security Association