Brinks commerical... Just call me a cynic

[Yoda]

For those of you who waste time watching TV (I do), you've probably seen the different variations of the Brinks home alarm commercial. I just saw the one where a young lady is home alone....

So, she sees someone trying to break in the front door, then the alarm goes off and the bad guy runs off. She runs into another room, where the phone rings, and she picks it up, then a Brinks representative asks her what's going on. She expalins the situation, and the representative tells her to stay on the line, and that he's getting help.

Uhhhh... wouldn't it have been smarter to first get a gun? What's the point of talking to someone on the phone? If one MUST talk on the phone, why not talk to the cops? Why go through a middleman?

Just being a cynical critic...

- - - Yoda

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[hankdatank1362]

*Door comes crashing down*

WOOT! WOOT! WOOT! WOOT!

BOOM! Klack-chak Boom!

*ring* This is Brinks, is everything okay?

No, everything is not okay! There's ****ing blood everywhere, and I just had my carpets cleaned!

Hold on, I'm calling the police now.

The police can wait! Call my lawyer! And Stanley Steemer, before this stuff dries!

 

[Maelstrom]

If you believed these commercials you'd think every burglar on planet Earth was a thirty year old white guy wearing a hooded sweatshirt.

 

[Claude Clay]

If you believed these commercials:

reality is followed by 'ducky' explaining A) how those in the dwelling were murderized; or less likely B) how the criminal was demised. Fun thought: the Order part of ' Law and Order' could be eliminated (and the program edited to run in 12 minutes) if the victims had what with to defended themselves in the opening scenes.

 

[30 cal slob]

FWIW,

the brinks home security management team (CEO, CFO, etc) i met with yesterday in NYC didn't sound anti-gun.

BHS is based in Texas, after all. CEO even made a "gun" comment to that effect.

anyhoo, years back when i took an NRA Personal Protection course (for my first CCW), the instructor wisely told me that personal safety is maximized by a combination of things that form a "system."

mindset + intrustion alarm hooked up to POTS + dog + firearm + training = a system.

 

[boredelmo]

There is a better commercial floating around on the internet... cant find it now but basically it is helpless woman vs burglar/rapist until she pull out some NFA items.

 

[polizei36]

Brinks is NOT a good deterrent

Okay as far as the commercial goes.......what a false sense of security for those who live in restrictive states like DC and Illinois.........Please bash lightly..

Brinks, just like the Police Department are “after the fact” organizations who will be there for you later....way later after a BG breaks down your door.

Sorry Brink HS ....I have sad news for you.....in most cases the hooded bad guy is not gonna run away after the alarm goes off. And, as we all know the police department most likely won’t be there for you either at the moment the BG breaks down the door. But one thing is certain....if my wife or I are home Mr. Glaston’s tools of the trade are gonna be there in about 1.5 seconds....

That commercial is very funny though. .

 

[21H40]

I always enjoy how cooperative the bad guys are in these type of commercials... I imagine the script in his head goes:

"I was going to rob them blind and rape/murder everyone inside, but, now that there's an annoying alarm sounding off, I'm going to stop being a violent criminal forever."

If only everyone were as cooperative in life as those hardened criminals on the commercials!

 

[LegalAlien]

For the home security system bashers.

1. Interviews conducted with criminals in jail have confirmed that even the display of a home security sign is already a deterrent for them to avoid that dwelling.
2. Brinks and others actually respond extremely fast to an alarm trigger. We have had a couple of false alarms and not cancelled them fast enough and Brinks was on the phone within 20 seconds. In one instance they were not able to contact any of the 3 provided phone #'s and the local PD was despatched and arrived within 5 minutes.

I know, I know, everybody will now jump in and claim that the 20 seconds or 5 minutes is all the BG needs, but reality is that it is VERY, VERY unlikely that any BG will want to attract attention to themselves and still enter a house where the alarm is screaming to wake the whole neighbourhood. He/they do not want to be close to that place when the PD arrives. The BG might be hardened, but not they are also not brave and foolish

And yes, I also have my 92FS tucked at my bedside. I trust in the Brinks system, but I trust my own protection too.

 

[Tommygunn]

Fun thought: the Order part of ' Law and Order' could be eliminated (and the program edited to run in 12 minutes) if the victims had what with to defended themselves in the opening scenes

.

Yeah but that's New York City, where unless you're wealthy and/or connected you can't own a gun. Mark Hellinger called it "The Naked City" for a reason. Of course "naked" has more than one meaning; it also means "unprotected."

 

[gregj]

hankdatank1362, that was too funny! Thanks for the laugh, I needed it.

+1 with LegalAlien. We also have a home security system (not Brinks), and occassionally forget to disarm it when letting the dog out, thus setting off the alarm. The center has never failed to call the house within a couple of minutes. Now saying all this, it doesnt mean I dont have a "defense in depth" strategy, and no one should consider a home alarm system to be the end all solution. For me, the home alarm system is one layer, the dog another, a lightly sleeping wife another, and my "friend" in my nightstand drawer is another, and most likely the last layer needed.

 

[JoeyJoe]

Doesn't do any good anyway...

My buddy used to be dispatcher for the local PD. He once told me that a call Brinks is very low on the priority list...they get false alarms all the time. So not only do they have to go through a middle man, you then have to go through another person WHO IS NOT THERE but yet they are determining the severity of the situation and whether or not they need to 'hurry up'.

 

[CNYCacher]

My favorite brinks commercial is the ninja disguised as a jogger.

Anyone ever catch that one?

 

[Matt G]

I actually have to agree with LegalAlien's remark. (#9) You absolutely should have something to defend yourself, but how do you know where, and what against?

I've slept through my wife's entering and exiting the house too many times. My wife has kept snoring far too many times as I walked in the house, got ready for bed, and got in with her. In the morning, she's been surprised that I had gotten in.

An alarm system can be a valuable tool to let you know of opening doors and windows, of movement in areas where there should be none. Good systems these days have panels at the entry points, and in the master bedrooms, and can be set so the master bedroom panel gives an alert to the homeowner without alerting the intruder. Or however. I've dealt with the good ones, and the bad ones. The main thing is that the homeowner actually use the alarm. I go to alarms all the time in which the homeowner laughs and says that they NEVER use their alarm system. Uh, why not? You paid for it. . .

 

[ilbob]

IMO, a monitored alarm system is a good idea. It adds a layer of protection that is not otherwise there.

Personally I think you ought to add fire/smoke detection, basement water, and freeze protection to it while you are at it.

Keep in mind that many burglars and home invaders now routinely cut phone lines. Consider a system with a backup cell phone.

 

[30 cal slob]

guys,

remember in some large cities, LEO's won't respond to an intrusion alarm (city policy).

you can't blame brinks (or any other alarm company) for that.

in some instances, you can arrange for private security to respond.

BTW ... i learned from the company that the most reliable connection to the monitoring center is plain-old telephone system. because the POTS system is self-powered.

a lot of folks are signing up for wireless or VoIP monitoring ... which is doable now that adaptable panels are being provided. but if your power goes out, your wireless and internet connections go out (unless you have back-up power).

for this reason, brinks home security prefers a wired telephone connection.

 

[Mainsail]

What doesn’t make sense to me is the speed in which the Brinks guy calls the home. Put aside that any burglar or rapist is most likely going to cut the phone line anyway, but everything is precluded on her having the alarm set ALL THE TIME, even when she’s home…right?

Nobody is perfect and many people set the alarm off themselves, I hear it on the scanner every day. What does Brinks do, call every home every time? No, they wait to see if the homeowner enters the proper code into the keypad to shut it off. I don’t know what the time lag is, but in her case it would have been more than enough for the bad guy to pull her from the home and drive away.

 

[alistaire]

The purpose of the alarm is to get the police there if I'm not at home and to wake me up if I am there, so I can have Mr Colt or Messrs Smith & Wesson ready before the BGs get to the bedroom.

 

[JImbothefiveth]

The alarm companys don't call soon enough, in my opinion.

But I think they are very important!
They provide some deterrant, and let you know an intruder is there. Will it scare him off? Maybe, but it will let me know an intruder is there, and to get my firearms ready.


And if your home defense plan is to stay in one place, and you can't get to a phone, having cops on the way is a good thing.(One thing to remember is to have a cell phone ready and your adress memorized, the alarm ties up your phone line.)

Another thing to remember is that the alarm sound, at least for me, really causes stress, making it harder to stay calm. You are supposed to test it weekly, so when you do, practice a bit of dry-firing, to get the hang of aiming under stress.

 

[contenderman]

If you live in an Urban or Suburban setting with neighbors close enough to hear external alarms ... having the systems is a deterrent in that the BG's would greatly prefer peace and quiet. Heck the noise might wake up some grumpy person who has a gun.

Having a monitored system is another plus, but you still want the external horns and lights.

If your in a remote setting the externals will do little other than to alert you or other family members. Again remote monitoring is a plus.

However, unless you are prevented by local law, you still need to take primary responsibility for your and your families safety. You need to have a plan of action and everyone needs to be aware of what to do. No different than fire alarms/drills.

The first several minutes are your responsibility.

Now about the commercials (Brinks or others) hey it's TV and isn't TV supposed to be entertaining. Now that I'm getting up there in years I especially enjoy the "Life Alert" commercials.

 

[JImbothefiveth]

However, unless you are prevented by local law, you still need to take primary responsibility for your and your families safety. You need to have a plan of action and everyone needs to be aware of what to do. No different than fire alarms/drills.

+1

Firearms and alarm systems complement each-other quite well.

 

[frankcostanza]

What I dont get is why the Brinks guy tells the girl to "stay on the line"... If someone just smashed through your window, wouldnt the smarter thing be to tell the girl to get the F outta Dodge and head to a neighbors or someplace safe? Not tell her to hang on the line and wait there helplessly till someone shows up.

Thats always bugged me the most about those commercials. I understand the fact that they dont show anyone with guns - after all theyre trying to sell security systems. If everyone had an 870 by the bed, what the hell do they need Brinks for? At least the one commercial shows the guy grabbing a baseball bat before going to check out the noise... I guess a bat is better than nothing

 

[JDoe]

There is a better commercial floating around on the internet... cant find it now but basically it is helpless woman vs burglar/rapist until she pull out some NFA items.

Here ya go, enjoy.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aPQ5y9UzT28

 

[XLMiguel]

In my very limited experience, the police respond much more quickly to someone on the scene (i.e. the homeowner) rather than some guy in a 'monitoring center'. I think alarm systems definitely have their place, but you should be talking to the police with your weapon in your hand instead of the Brinks person WTSHTF. As they say, 'when seconds count, the police will be there in a few minutes' . . . no dis intended to the police, but why have the Brinks guy adding to the timeline? JMO.

 

[hksw]

IMO, the Brinks and other home security service commercial can be of great benefit when with antis or fence sitters. After the commercial completes, ask them, 'what would happen or what would you do if the bad guy didn't run away?', 'what if you forget to arm the system?', etc.