Trevor Leigh shows the live view at his front door on his iPad on an app linked to his alarm system. Leigh spoke to the Rotary Club of Osoyoos on Thursday about home alarm systems, which his company, Insight Security, sells. (Richard McGuire photo)

Crime is increasing and occurring throughout the South Okanagan and criminals are becoming more brazen, says a man who would like to sell you an alarm system.

Trevor Leigh, of Insight Security, spoke last Thursday at the Rotary Club of Osoyoos, where he demonstrated how much more sophisticated alarm systems have become, while at the same time dropping dramatically in price in recent years.

“The RCMP can’t keep up,” he said, noting that Penticton now has the 15th highest crime rate in Canada. “There’s just not enough of them… Sometimes [with] the RCMP it’s two or three hours before they can show up. The area they’ve got to cover is massive and sometimes there’s just one RCMP guy on… It’s not their fault and I know we’re getting some more RCMP officers, but that’s going to take time and even then, I don’t think it’s going to be enough.”

Adding a security system is a serious deterrent to protect yourself, Leigh said, as well as having good neighbours.

While police may bristle at suggestions they can’t keep up with crime, they do agree that alarm systems, along with other measures, can help to deter crime.

And, as Osoyoos Councillor Jim King, also a Rotarian, pointed out, only a few criminals are responsible for the bulk of the break-ins.

Leigh, who partners with ADT to sell their products, showed how customers can monitor who is at their door from anywhere in the world using an app on their smartphone or tablet.

They can be alerted to motion within the home and can operate door locks, thermostats and other home control devices remotely.

Using his iPad, and with assistance from his daughter Zoe Hawitt, he showed the Rotarians on a television screen a live video from a camera at his front door.

Leigh received a message on his phone that someone – in this case Zoe – had pushed the front doorbell. Instantly he showed the camera view of Zoe on the doorstep and the two were talking.

At his request, Zoe greeted the Rotarians loudly shouting, “Hi!” much to everyone’s amusement.

He got Zoe to try the door as he locked and unlocked it to demonstrate the door’s remote control.

“The great thing is if you get a delivery coming to the door, you can talk to the person, open the door, they drop off the package and close the door behind them and then you lock the door,” he said. “You can do it from anywhere in the world.”

Depending on the devices you want to install, you can control lights, irrigation systems and other items remotely, he said.

And unlike the older security systems that required wired phone lines, the newer systems use cellular networks and the panels have battery backups in the event of power outages. They also trigger an alarm if a burglar tries to damage or tamper with them.

Video images are sent over wi-fi and the internet.

Beyond the costs of purchasing and installing equipment, the monthly fee is less than $35, Leigh said.

The alarm will contact two specified contact people in order, and if there’s no response, it alerts Quail Security, he said. Only as a final resort does it contact the RCMP.

Sgt. Jason Bayda, commanding officer at the Osoyoos RCMP detachment, however noted that the practice of contacting a security company first before attempting to reach police could result in delayed police response time.

This, he said, is sometimes done because high numbers of false alarms have led some municipalities to bill homeowners for repeated false alarms that police attend.

“When looking at security systems, one should consider CCTV (closed circuit television) cameras,” Bayda said. “They have come a long way over the years and have also become quite affordable. High-definition cameras that are also equipped with night vision (and some models audio recording) are not only a deterrent, but can capture a great deal of evidence to help secure an arrest and conviction of an offender… We would have a much better chance of identifying a suspect if there was CCTV footage.”

Bayda also suggested other measures to reduce the chance of becoming a victim of a crime.

“Locking your doors, keeping valuables out of sight, watching out for your neighbours and notifying the police of suspicious persons are a few of the ways to help reduce crime,” he said.

Bayda said that overall, Osoyoos has a low crime rate. Property crime did go up compared to the previous year, he said, but not significantly.

When you start with a low number of crimes and double it over a year, that specific crime appears to have increased by 100 per cent, he said. But an increase from 30 to 60, for example, would still be relatively low compared to other places.

“Having said that, zero property crimes is the only number I find acceptable and as such, we are looking at several means of reducing crime,” said Bayda.

RICHARD McGUIRE

Osoyoos Times