Jessica Culver
Police caught a man vandalizing a Kirkland gas station after Sonitrol Pacific audio security sensors detected the sound of him kicking a door and hitting windows January 28.
Monitoring Operator Jessica Culver received the initial impact-activated alert from Juanita Firs 76 just after 2:30 a.m. She heard banging sounds followed by yelling and called police. Culver continued to track the activity while officers were en route.
Police arrived to find a drunk man making a commotion, kicking a door and hitting windows. He was taken into custody.
The man was detected by a Sonitrol Pacific audio security system monitored by a verification expert and apprehended by police before getting inside the business.
Cindy Burr
Police detained a trespasser at a Puget Sound area school after Sonitrol Pacific detected him inside the building January 22.
Monitoring Operator Cindy Burr received an alert from the school around 7:30 a.m. Security sensors tracked activity from a door and down a hallway of the school. Burr called the school’s security guard to investigate.
As the guard searched the school, Burr kept him updated on the detected activity. Soon the guard spotted a young man in the school’s courtyard and apprehended him. Tacoma Police were called.
The police investigation found the man was mentally unstable and looking for his counselor. No damage was done to the school and nothing was taken.
With 257 burglars, vandals and trespassers caught after they were detected by a Sonitrol Pacific security system, the company’s 2011 apprehension record reached a 12-year high. Operator Kris Etheridge’s monitoring expertise accounted for 46 of these, earning her the 2011 Peggy Carman award.
Sonitrol Pacific closed the books on 2011 with the second highest number of detection-to-apprehension of suspects in the company’s history, toppling the previous second place total of 256 set in 1998 and falling two suspects short of the all-time record of 259 set in 1999.
Of the 257, 32 percent were detected and caught before they got inside the Sonitrol Pacific protected facility. Audio security sensors work differently from security systems based on motion sensors and door contact sensors. When Sonitrol Pacific’s audio sensors pick-up abnormal activity at a customer’s facility, a signal is sent to theVerificationCenterand operators listen to live audio transmissions from the site. Once the alarm is verified, they immediately call the proper authorities or if no threat exists, reset the system without disturbing the police or the customer.
Kris Etheridge
Kristine Etheridge monitored Sonitrol Pacific systems and dispatched police to catch 46 suspects in 2011, earning Sonitrol Pacific’s Peggy Carman award for the second time in two years.
Operators Joe Orsborn and Michael Young gave some solid competition, with 42 apprehensions each, but when we rang out 2011, Kris held her lead.
The “Peggy Carman” award was created in 2008 to honor Sonitrol Pacific’s long-time employee, culture ambassador and “Godmother”, Peggy Carman. It is given annually to the operator responsible for the most apprehensions that year. Kris’ monitoring and verification skills led to dispatches resulting in the arrest of 46 suspected criminals, 18 percent of Sonitrol Pacific’s total detections-to-apprehensions in 2011. Kris joined the Sound Security team in August 2007 and is an expert at monitoring audio detection technology.
Stephany Ripley
The Sonitrol Pacific team and the Sound Security Board sees the effort Stephany Ripley puts in and we appreciate her commitment to us and our clients. To recognize the outstanding job she’s been doing, we name her our December 2011 Employee of the Month.
“Steph has been working super hard to be the best employee that she can be and using positive energy to better serve her team and our customers,” Sarah Bailey said.
Thanks to the 100 percent effort Stephany gives each day, she gets things done. She is a “go to” person for programming and monitoring questions. Stephany makes time to help teammates learn how to do things and share the knowledge she’s gained from her extensive experience. She takes action to correct issues and documents the solution for future reference.
“Her attitude is positive, she is very helpful, and her attendance has been great,” Michelle Evans said. “I have high hopes for her future here.”
And so do we. We look forward to having Stephany as a valued member of the team for a long time. She’s definitely earned this recognition.
By Sarah Bailey
Robin Goings
On April 9th, 2011 Sonitrol Pacific Operator Robin Goings received multiple door activations from the SE Gym Doors at a local Elementary School. He quickly dispatched the guard service to investigate the cause of the alarms. While the guard was en route, Robin continued to monitor the situation.
When he began to hear the sounds of small children running and laughing, he dispatched the police to the school. Officers arrived to find four small children between the ages of 5 and 9 on the loose in the school with no supervision. The children were taken into custody, and were later released to their parents. No damage was done to the school, and it was later determined the children had entered through an unsecured door.
Operator Michael Young
By Sarah Bailey
During the early morning hours of April 15 2011, Sonitrol Pacific Operator, Michael Young was keenly monitoring when he received multiple audio activations from the south east multipurpose area of a public middle school.
Mike dispatched the Fife Police Department immediately when he heard what sounded like someone rummaging through school property. His ability to use the Sonitrol Pacific security system to provide audio verification was enough for the dispatcher to request an expedited response time from units heading to the scene. Officers arrived to find an open door and apprehended one suspect.
Although the police believe the intruder must have come through the unsecured door they discovered, activity logs prove the Sonitrol Pacific system did not receive an alarm from this door until the officers arrived and opened it. Within hours, our highly skilled tech was on-site performing a thorough preventative maintenance check of all alarm sensors in the school. Our tech was able to confirm that all devices were, and had been, working properly which leads to two conclusions. First, the intruder hid inside the school until after the Sonitrol Pacific security system was armed. And second, the Sonitrol Pacific security system was the key to apprehending the suspect and preventing damage to the school’s property.
Operator Joe Orsborn
A suspected serial burglar was found hiding behind insulation in a wall of a Seattle area furniture store after Sonitrol Pacific’s audio security system detected the break-in April 26.
Monitoring Operator Joe Orsborn received an impact-activated audio security alert from the store just before midnight. He heard a crashing sound followed by banging noises and called Seattle Police.
Police used a police dog to search the store and located a man. The suspect had torn insulation out of a wall to hide behind.
According to police, the man was the suspect in multiple break-ins in the area and officers were excited to catch him.
Operator Michael Young
Fast officer response to a call from Sonitrol Pacific about a possible break-in at a Puget Sound area high school resulted in the apprehension of four suspected burglars August 16.
Monitoring Operator Michael Young received the impact-activated audio alert from the school a little past 2 a.m. In addition to the usual sounds of equipment running, he heard what could be people moving around inside and called the school’s security guard service.
Soon after placing the call, Young heard more definite sounds of movement, followed by men’s voices and immediately called the Pierce County Sheriff’s Department.
Deputies apprehended four people suspected of breaking into the school
with the intent of burglarizing it.
Kris Etheridge
Muffled sounds of movement captured by security audio sensors inside a Puget Sound area middle school led a Sonitrol Pacific operator to call police and police to arrest one October 20.
Monitoring Operator Kris Etheridge received security audio of muffled sounds of possible movement and something falling around 3:30 a.m. Listening a few moments longer, she heard more indications of someone inside the school and called Lakewood Police. While officers were on their way, Etheridge heard glass breaking followed by prying noises.
Using a police dog, officers tracked down one intruder and took him into custody.
Operator Michael Young
A father, son and friend suspected of breaking into Puget Sound area school were taken into custody after Sonitrol Pacific operator received the security system activation, heard one of them whisper and called police November 10.
Monitoring Operator Michael Young received the initial security system activation from the library area at the school. Listening to live audio, he heard a couple “thunks” and notified authorities. While on the phone with the Lakewood Police Department, Young heard sounds of movement inside the library and someone whisper “shhhhh”.
Officers were at the school within five minutes of Young’s call. Their search quickly uncovered the intruders.
“It sounded like all heck broke loose,” Young said.
Police took three people into custody: a father, a son and a student from the school.
