9
Jun
2010
HELP! WHEN YOU NEED 911 RIGHT NOW
I hope none of you ever needs this information but I know better….someday, someone will want to know how to get the fastest response from a 911 call. A friend of mine recently went from being a paramedic in the ambulance to dispatching. Very interesting what she told me…..what the caller doesn’t know is that the dispatcher is a real multitasker. While she is asking you questions that she HAS to ask, she is sending out the information to get the ambulance to you….but it doesn’t sound that way from your end of the phone. What sounds like needless questions to a hysterical caller is verifications so help arrives as quickly as possible. Addresses MUST be verified even though help is already on the way. Call back numbers MUST be repeated so there is no drop in communications in this day of bad cell phone coverage. If you ever have to call 911 do so knowing that the dispatchers’ questions will help, not hinder. Just to make the job harder a surprising number of people cannot remember their addresses…believe it or not. Guru
28
Apr
2010
Things Your Burglar Won’t Tell You, (but I will)
1. Of course I look familar. I was here last week doing a service for you in your home or delivering something. And, while I was in the house I might carefully unlock a window.
2. I’ll knock first to see if there is anyone home. I’ll be looking for someone who doesn’t live there if you answer. I am very polite. I’ll try all the doors to see if you left one unlocked before I try a window. It is so much easier to get in that way. Lots of people work on Oahu and are gone during the day so I have a lot of potential targets.
3. I try to never look like a thief. I dress nicely and am very pleasant if anyone talks to me. You will describe me as “such a nice boy or girl”.
4. You can count on me to pretty much trash the house because I just know you have valuables hidden somewhere. It doesn’t matter if you or your house looks like you have money. You will have something I want.
5. Your dog will make some noise but will shut up when I give him a bag of treats and then will think I am the greatest. We’ll be friends the next time I come around.
6. Sometimes I like to make an entry at a very unexpected place, maybe the second story just to show you how smart I am and how you can’t keep me out.
7. Sometimes I work with several guys, one at one end of the street and on at the other so if the police show up or you pull in your driveway they can call me on my cell phone and I will get out fast.
8. I do this pretty much every day. I like to think of it as “my job” and I have the whole of Honolulu and Oahu to work on. I figure you will just buy new things for yourself.
9. I don’t like burglar alarm systems. When the siren goes off I pretty much expect the police to be coming so I have to get out of the neighborhood as fast as I can which is humbug for me.
10. I particularly like to work my own neighborhood. I can watch to see exactly when you leave your house. You only have to be gone a few minutes for me to get in and get out.
11. These days I also look for anything I can sell to identity theft fences. They pay a lot for a birth certificate, social security card or just the social security number and, of course, if I find a credit card I will use it until you cancel it. That’s why I go through your file cabinet. I will take everything and sift through it later to see if I can find something useful to identity thieves.
Well, now you know me. Even I think that if you are smart you will get a burglar alarm system as fast as you can. Otherwise you can plan to “entertain” me as your guest as soon as I get around to you.
Guru
12
Apr
2010
DOOR TO DOOR
Check out www.ilind.net. Ian’s April 8 post takes the door to door salesmen to task. Ian investigated these guys last year and found out a lot of very bad information on how they operate. He is a retired investigative reporter and knows his stuff. It takes a lot of effort to thwart burglars and other lawless people out there. Ian has given us a lot of support in going after these guys. The April 8 post is still up on his blog. Check it out. Guru
5
Apr
2010
YIKES!
The door-to-door boys of summer are back going door to door and selling burglar alarm systems to unsuspecting families on Oahu again and ripping them off while tying them to a 36 month contract. Even worse, they are telling people the Security One, Inc. is their service company! We are getting calls from people who want us to cancel their contracts or fix their systems. A complete lie and very much against the law. They are operating under new names this year such as Frontier Security Solutions but the scam is the same. Sell and install a system, get that monthly obligation in place and then disappear. Beware! Guru
7
Jul
2009
True Story
It is 6:00 on the morning in Lanikai, Hawaii and a beautiful June day, perfect for an early run. She has a great Security One alarm system that she turns on every day and night but today she is only going to be gone for 30 minutes max so she doesn’t bother. As she goes out the gate she sees a man up the street but doesn’t think much about it. When she gets home her purse with her credit cards, driver’s license, all her keys and her remote for the alarm system, as well as some jewelry is gone. She cried on the phone when she called me to find out if I knew a good locksmith and what to do about her keyfob keypad. Just a few minutes can make such a difference in how you view life from now on.
Security Guru, Honolulu, Hawaii