ADT'S AWARE Program Honors Sacramento P.D. for Domestic Violence Protection Program

May 18, 2006
14-year-program at S.P.D. uses ADT alarms to protect domestic violence victims
SACRAMENTO, Calif. -- May 18, 2006 – The Sacramento Police Department was honored for its 14-year commitment to a national domestic violence protection program that has helped save the lives of more than 30 battered people nationwide.

The Sacramento Police Department will be presented with the AWARE (Abused Women’s Active Response Emergency) award – named after the landmark program – during a ceremony in the Atrium at police department headquarters. The award will be presented by ADT Security Services, which developed AWARE in 1992 and has helped launch programs in 177 cities nationwide.

The ADT AWARE Program is a cooperative effort between public and private sectors of the community that provides free emergency duress alarms to domestic violence victims.  Launched in December 1992, the Sacramento AWARE Program became the fifth in the U.S. and the first in California. 

“It is fitting that we honor one of our longest-standing partners, the Sacramento Police Department, with the first AWARE Award.  The Department has been unfailing in its support of this life-saving program and has been a valuable partner in fighting the scourge of domestic violence,” said Nancy Chisholm, regional vice president, West, ADT Security Services. 

“We are delighted to be honored for our participation,” said Captain Brian Louie, Sacramento Police Department. 

After people who meet the necessary criteria are placed in the program, ADT installs, at no charge, security systems in each of their homes and provides them with emergency duress alarms for as long as the need exists.  The system can send a silent alarm, when activated, to ADT’s network of customer monitoring centers, which are staffed by trained professionals 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

If a person involved in the program feels in imminent danger of attack, he or she presses either the pendant or the emergency button on the ADT security system panel mounted in their home.  ADT operators can then alert the appropriate law enforcement agency that an AWARE call has been received. Officers will then be dispatched to the victim’s residence on a priority basis.

Participants in the AWARE program are victims of domestic abuse and are assessed to be in the highest level of danger.  The necklace pendants serve as another tool to use in life-threatening situations.  If a victim is unable to get to the telephone, having access to the pendant alarm could potentially save their life.

In Sacramento, a system of rotating the security systems and pendants into the residences of other “at-risk” individuals is utilized. 

ADT Security Services has been in business in Sacramento for nearly 75 years, increasing business as the area has grown.   “Being part of the AWARE program is a natural extension of our support of the community and our concern for the growing incidence of domestic violence nationwide,” noted Chisholm, adding, “The AWARE program has been extremely successful.  ADT has introduced it in one hundred and seventy-seven cities across the country since January 1992, and it is responsible for not just saving lives, but bringing peace of mind to countless victims.”