Date/Time of Incident: 10/23/2012 1:44 a.m.
Location: Indianapolis, Ind.
Incident Type: Break in at TC Electric, 205 W. Morris Street, Indianapolis
Offender: White male; Michael A. Scott, 43 years old
Charges filed: Subject arrested on site and charged with possession of drug paraphernalia; one count of burglary; one count of criminal mischief; and one count of criminal trespass.
Responding Alarm Company: Logistics Safety & Security Corp.
Monitoring Firm: Acadian Monitoring Services, Lafayette, La.; Dispatchers Brandon Villery and Gustavo Sanchez, video analysts
Responding Law Enforcement Agency: Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department, 50 North Alabama Street, Indianapolis
Narrative: According to Kelly Steven Zeigler, chief security officer, Logistics Safety & Security (LSS) Corp., Greenwood, Ind., TC Electric had a rash of robberies in a month, with about four occurring during that time period. LSS installed video verification equipment from RSI Video Technologies (Videofied) and within one week of the installation, a catch was made. Video taken Monday morning on October 23, 2012 at 1:44 a.m. at TC Electric shows a man walking through the parking lot after cutting the fence.
“You have seen suspected thieves caught on camera before, but the camera that caught this guy also sent the video to a dispatcher at Acadian Monitoring,” said Zeigler of Logistics Safety & Security. (Zeigler is a former Indiana State Police Officer). Zeigler said the video verification equipment definitely aided in the arrest and capture of the intruder. "The dispatcher sees the footage, 2 o'clock in the morning...’got an intruder, doesn't look right’," Zeigler said, adding that the police were then dispatched.
Success comes in minutes of alarm
“With this video verification technology police were dispatched and had the perpetrator in cuffs in less than 12 minutes of the breach. It works like a motion sensor light and sends 10 seconds of video via a cellular signal, which can tell police for sure if someone is on the property or not.”
The wireless digital cameras are activated by motion and capture a clip of the event. The system then sends that video to a monitoring station to determine if a crime is taking place. If so determined, police will be immediately dispatched to the scene with priority response.
Acadian Monitoring Services is the monitoring services partner for Logistics Safety & Security. According to the Indianapolis Police Department and Marion County Sheriff’s Department report, Michael A. Scott was arrested on the scene and charged with burglary, criminal trespass and criminal mischief. The police dispatcher reported that the video clip had captured a male, bald with a with white shirt outside of the business in the back lot by the utility trucks and trailers and said the alarm company could see the male walking around. The suspect, when approached by dispatched police officers, ran from the scene and was chased and caught by responding officers. The officers also discovered drug paraphernalia on the subject as well as a hacksaw and pair of bolt cutters in the gravel, and observed a fresh hole cut in the fence.
Editor’s note: This is our new blog focusing on the value of central station dispatching and alarms in thwarting crime and preventing losses. For more information or to submit an entry for the online and in print feature, contact [email protected].
