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Q. LW - The Sheriff mentioned you have 681 calls from alarms <br /> of business and homes and mentioned the residential break- <br /> ins becoming a high priority. I know that Radio Shack <br /> sells those automatic dialers real cheap. Is there any <br /> particular type of new equipment we may need or is the <br /> contractors prividing adequate equipment to deal with that. <br /> A. BB - The alarms that are being answered currently at the <br /> county communications center are of two different types: <br /> (1) the dial alarm simply utilizes a telephone number and <br /> when the alarm is activated in the business it is just a <br /> tape that dials 929-2211 or 929-2212 which was the old <br /> Chapel Hill Police number that we kept for a while after <br /> going to 911 should there be an emergency call on that <br /> number and we have utilized that for tape dialers. The <br /> dial activates a recording that says there has been an <br /> intruder at Mr. Jones' residence on Whitecross Road; please <br /> dispatch the Orange County Sherriff's Department. When the <br /> alarm is put in we require the vendor putting the alarm in <br /> and the home owner contacts us and we make up an emergency <br /> card file of that alarm giving two numbers to call and a <br /> little map on it. Before they tie into or system we ask <br /> that they provide us with that information. <br /> Q. LW - how many do we have tied in like that? <br /> A. BB - 260 or 270. <br /> Q. LW - and those generated 681 calls? <br /> A. BB - very possible. <br /> Q. LW - now that these devices are becoming so cheap and if <br /> it becomes a priority to reduce residential breakins; a <br /> little bit of money could go a long way but could also <br /> swamp central capabilities to deal with it. <br /> BB - to this point we have not seen that as a problem. A <br /> lot of the other counties that we have talked with that it <br /> eventually has become a problem with than -not so much the <br /> number of alarms but malfunction in the tapes; we <br /> have seen that proplem here and I feel that if someone puts an alarm in their <br /> home and the alarm goes off we can get the tape on the telephone and dispatch <br /> the Sheriff's department and have someone there sooner than we could wait on <br /> a neighbor down the road who may hear the alarm; goes up to look and then <br /> goes back and calls us to let us know the alarm is going off plus the fact <br /> that we have a little bit of control over the location and who to contact <br /> about the alarm. <br /> Q. LW - I can see this number growing and just want to be <br /> sure we are prepared to deal with that. <br /> A. BB - at the present time they are growing at a fast rate. <br /> The business and bank alarms are tied into a completely <br /> different system and they are approximately 110 of those. <br />