comments on carrying fire arms / California issues - automatic renewal and service calls July 15, 2017

KEN KIRSCHENBAUM, ESQ
ALARM - SECURITY INDUSTRY LEGAL EMAIL NEWSLETTER / THE ALARM EXCHANGE
You can read all of our articles on our website     Having trouble getting our emails?   Change your spam controls and white list ken@kirschenbaumesq.com, secure.mybiz.com and mybiz.com 
***********************************************************************
comments on carrying fire arms / California issues - automatic renewal and service calls
July 15,  2017
***********************
comments carrying fire arms from June 28, 2017 article
************************
Ken,
    I am a former licensed/certified/sworn Deputy Sheriff here in Ohio. If it helps anyone there is a live talk show about firearms and self defense on a radio station here in Cincinnati, Ohio on Sunday nights at 7:00Pm eastern time on 550AM WKRC. It is called Ballistic Radio. They are on iHeart radio or you can listen on their website. They have a forum where you can call in and ask questions about issues like this one. 
    I can tell you in Ohio if you are carrying a firearm in the position of an armed security guard you must have a minimum of a class C private security license issued by the Private Investigators and Security Guard Services Department which is under the Ohio Department of Commerce. In Ohio, retired police officers can get a certification through their department and must re-test every year. Private security must also re test every year too. 
    The regular standard concealed hand gun license in Ohio is good for 5 years and requires no additional training after your initial class to get certified. This is insane in my opinion. There needs to be some type of recertification and training. Further more in my opinion, you as a person carrying in your position of employment need to re-qualify at least once every year at a minimum and should have a certificate provided by a training agency that employees state certified training officers. This is usually accomplished by police officers that are certified as training instructors in your state. 
    Check with a vocational school that has a police training program in your area. Should you get involved in a shooting incident, you will need some type of certificate and also a training officer that can attest to your level of proficiency. Just shooting at your local firing range on your own might not be enough. There are insurance policies you can get to cover you for using your firearm should the need arise. Most of them advertise on the Ballistic radio show above. God help you if you if you ever need to use your gun; Just look at what the police are going through in our country and if you shoot a gang member that might be robbing you, the liberal media will cover this story and make sure your name and where you live is out there in every newspaper and on every TV news cast. Scary stuff I wish all the best!     
Ron Baumann
ProAlert Security Systems, LLC
Cincinnati, Ohio
*************************
Ken
    I am writing to ask advice on setting a company policy which addresses employees carrying a weapon while:

• on duty
• off duty but in a company vehicle
• on a customer’s property
• on company property
• off duty but talking to a customer by cell phone from the employee’s personal vehicle
• off duty but stopping by an installation site late one night to check our progress because it was convenient on his way home from partying.

    We do not provide any guard or alarm response services and carrying a weapon is in no way part of any job description at my company.  In Texas it is legal for a licensed person to carry a weapon, open or concealed. Do I or my company bear any civil or criminal liability if one of my employees is a hero and  kills or injures a criminal to stop a crime and the criminal’s family sues?  What if the employee accidently kills or injures someone or if an employee just loses it one day and caps someone in a road-rage incident? I know already I’m going to meet some resistance from the people who possess firearms as there is some big talk and competition around the office about who among them carries the most powerful sidearm and the highest capacity ammo clip. We even had one of our top level managers bring an AR15 into the office because he didn’t want to leave it out in his car in the parking lot. When I asked him if he thought the office was  an appropriate place to show off a semi-automatic rifle and if he thought the ladies in the office might feel intimidated  about it, he gave me a really puzzled look, like he didn’t understand what I was asking so you can see any restrictive company policy is going to be met with an attitude that I am taking away their basic human rights.
    Please tell me if I’m worrying about nothing and should just let it go.
Matt Bishop
Central Alert, Inc.
*************************
Response
*************************
    An employer is responsible for the actions of its employees while they are working.  Certainly if you required your employee to carry a weapon you would be responsible if it is misused.  Since you don't require your employee to carry a weapon you would only be responsible if you know your employee is carrying the weapon during performance of employment and you have reason to believe the employee should not be carrying the weapon.  If you employ a known hot-head then you can't send that employee out to interact with your customers, with or without a weapon.  
    You could have a no-weapon policy.  If an employee carrys a weapon, unknown to you, most likely you would not have exposure, though you can expect to be sued. By policy I mean in writing; in your handbook or Employment Agreement.  And if you know your employee violates that policy you need to terminate employment after appropriate warning, or no warning, depending on how that policy is expressed in the handbook or Employment Agreement.
************************
California issues - automatic renewal and service calls
*************************
    Two inquries this week invovled California's automatic renewal law.  Unless you intend to comply with the automatic renewal law [https://www.kirschenbaumesq.com/article/sec-73-section-759954-of-the-business-and-professions-code-effective-january-1-2017-] [check your state's auto renewal law here: https://www.kirschenbaumesq.com/page/alarm-law-issues]
    The Standard Form Agreements DO NOT have to comply with the automatic renewal law because the auto renew is month to month.  If you want us to modify the contract for a longer term renewal we will make the necessary changes.  Let us know when ordering the contracts at www.alarmcontracts.com by calling our Contract Administrator Eileen Wagda at 516 747 6700 x 312.
    Another issue was service calls, specifically if a 3 day notice is required when making a service call for a customer you don't have under contract.
    First, you shouldn't be making a service call for a customer who is not under contract.  The customer should be required to sign an All in One and opt for service on a per call basis.  However, if you do decide to service a non-customer alarm account you should use our Service Slip [it's not on our contract order page and you have to call Eileen to get it].  The Service Slip should provide protection for the service call, though I prefer you use the All in One contract.  The service call cannot exceed $750.00 and you don't need a 3 day notice of cancellation and of course you don't need to wait 3 days to do the work.  If the service call is going to exceed $750 then use the All in One Agreement because it's a sale, not service call.
**************************
THE ALARM EXCHANGE

Ken Kirschenbaum,Esq
Kirschenbaum & Kirschenbaum PC
Attorneys at Law
200 Garden City Plaza
Garden City, NY 11530
516 747 6700 x 301
ken@kirschenbaumesq.com
516 747 6700
www.KirschenbaumEsq.com
oovoo account: KenKirschenbaum