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sensors actívate alarms in the house.
Floodlamps fill the yard with light. TV
monitor systems watch your every move.
And the homeowner is armed. Just
going to deliver a package? Better have
credentials ready.
Complexity of Security
The complexity of sorne of these
devices for home protection is amazing.
"Forcíble entry sensors" are available
for windows and doors. "Area intrusion
sensors" using ultrasonic waves and
triggered by sounds or movements wiJl
guard surrounding areas. Closed-circuit
monitors, photo-electric beams, emer–
gency telephone dialers and miniature
pocket alarms make security devices -
for the technically minded - a fasci–
nating type of item.
Many of these devices can be hooked
up to a small computer in the home.
If
forced entry occurs at night, the com–
puter would sound a siren, turn on
lights, and flash a red warning light
reading "burglary" on a control panel
in the master bedroorn. It would also
trigger an alarrn in a central emergency
communication center. And, if needed,
instant voice contact with the center
could be established.
Atternpts to develop less expensive
home-protection systems are in the rnak–
ing. Sorne companies are hoping to offer
security systems costing between $100
and $250 that all homeowners could
afford.
Westinghouse corporation believes
that fear of crime is going to cause 25
percent of all homes in the $40,000 and
above class to have sorne sort of built-in
electronic protection system
within the
next decade.
For modern high-rise
apartrnents, the figure will be nearly
100 percent!
Watchdogs and Arrned Guards
The sale and renta! of guard dogs
and trained attack dogs has jumped
neady 100 percent
in the last few years.
Sorne concerns have doubled their
business.
A good guard dog that will respond
to verbal or visual commands without
fail may take up to a year to train and
The
PLAIN TRUTH
may cost anywhere from $1000 to
$4000.
Many homeowners, however, have
gone to less expensive smaller dogs and
prívate tra ining courses. This rnay not
be as inadequate as some might think.
A burglar being imprisoned for life as a
three-tirne loser was asked for helpful
advice on home protection, since easy
entrance no longer rnattered to him.
This professional burglar said the best
home protection device, as far as bur–
glars are concerned, is "a little yap-yap
dog." Most of these little dogs have the
added attraction of making good pets.
Along with this increasing demand
for watchdogs, the services of uni–
formed a rmed guards are greatly
expanding. Fearful that crime may
st rike, sorne housing tracts and whole
apartment complexes are beginning to
call upon prívate armed guard service
for protection.
M. B. Roe, President of the Local of
the International Union of Guards and
Watchmen of San Francisco, estimates
that the number of guards in that area
has more than
doubled
in the past year .
Charles H. Wessel, Secretary of the
Associated Guard and Patrol Agencies
of Chicago, said : "The increase in law–
lessness is the prime factor in the
increased demand for our services." He
estimated their work force has expanded
over 50 percent
in the last four years.
Many shopping centers and large
stores have
both
security devices and
guards. The ubiquitous oval mirror is a
constant companion of the sbopper as
he shufHes clown the aisle.
WHAT lt's Doing To Us
The increased market for weapons
and security equipment - the heavy
demand for watchdogs and prívate
guards - are signs of a society "run–
ning scared" from crime and violence.
And, this fear is having its damaging
effects.
People mistrust each other. Strangers
are irnmediately suspect. Homeowners
are suspicious of a new family in the
neighborhood.
ls
it no wonder that so many lead
socially impoverished lives!
People stay glued to their TV sets
February 1971
rather than risk a walk at night. The
use of libraries is decreasing because
borrowers are afraid to come out in
the evenings. Recreational facilities go
unused. PTA meetings fail to reach full
attendance.
Fearful of criminal attack, Americans
have been infused with a fortress rnen–
tality! Officials now recognize that
unless something is done about crime in
America, the era of an armed citizenry
encamped in borne fortresses will
become a reality!
What CAN You Do?
Just WHAT DO the mid-seventies offer
the American citizen? The ultimate in
comfort and safety?
Oc
an impenetrable
fortress-Jike home in a walled village,
Suburbia, U. S. A.?
Will a visit to relatives in their high–
rise apartment requíre a clearance by the
security guard, waiting for the draw–
bridge to close, a call to the apartment,
screening on the TV camera, going past
another gate, etc., etc.?
Must one's only alternative to crirne
and violence be a withdrawal into
armed fortresses? A return to medieval
times?
Must Americans become prisoners in
the land of the free and fearful in the
home of the brave?
The tragic answer is YES - unless
the vicious spiral of crime that rages in
our cities and towns - and across the
rural countryside - can be broken.
Obviously, what is needed is a whole
change of HEART. A change in basic
ATTITUDES toward God, Country, and
Neighbor. WJLL it take virtual DISASTER
to bring enough Americans to their
senses? Will utter, rampant CHAOS have
to strike before
enough
people begin to
sincerely LOVE LAW and ORDER?
Only the future will tell.
Everyone- whether or not living in
America - needs to become aware of
the total crime picture. Don't ignore it.
lts effects are worldwide! KNOW what
yort
should be doing to help solve
it.
Write for our free booklet
Crime Can
Be Stopped .
. .
Here's Howl,
written in
cooperation with the Los Angeles Police
Department. It exposes the total crime
picture, and tells you
what
you should
be doing, and why. O