Response to Alarms

Our alarm company requires that we supply them with a list of employees who can be called when there is an alarm or a problem after hours. The people on the list must have an alarm code and keys. There must be a minimum of 5 people on the list to ensure that someone will be reachable at all times but more is better.

Management and other trusted personnel with codes and keys will be listed for the alarm company to call, mainly based on distance to the store from their residences. Everyone on the list will be given access to dial in and see the cameras in the store. If you are on the list and feel you have legitimate reasons why you can’t perform the responsibility properly, you can ask to be removed from the list.

If you receive a call from the alarm company:

The first rule is to always answer the call! Find out what the situation is and then act accordingly. Bay Alarm calls from 800-470-1000 – please add them to your contacts if you are on the call list.

They will tell you the nature of the alarm. Here are the most common situations and how to respond.

• An internal motion detector has gone off: do nothing. No one can get to an internal motion detector without setting off other alarms. If more alarms go off, then there might be a situation. For extra precaution, open the cameras app and look for any motion in that area.
• A door alarm has gone off but no other alarms have gone off: do nothing. No one can get inside a door without setting off other alarms. If more alarms go off, then there might be a situation. For extra precaution, open the cameras app and look for any motion in that area.
• A door alarm has gone off along with other motion detectors: there is likely to be a situation. Open the cameras app and look for any humans in that area.
  • If you see one of our employees in the store, call the backline to find out why they set off the alarm.
  • If humans are seen that are not our employees, tell the alarm company operator to call the police.
  • If humans are not seen, and no additional alarms have gone off, tell the alarm company operator to contact us again immediately if any additional alarms go off.
• The sensors will reset after they are tripped.

If glass has broken on doors or windows but no other alarms have gone off: do not send the police. The glass will need to be boarded up immediately and repaired as soon as possible. Contact a 24-hour glass repair company and meet them on site or get someone else to meet them onsite. Once the door or window is boarded up, press them to get the glass replaced as soon as possible. Pay a premium if necessary.

If you are called by the alarm company and can’t respond to the alarm, it is your responsibility to call the next person on the list until you get someone who can respond. Not every call will require someone to come down to the store; if it does, try to have another person accompany you, for extra security. We discourage women from coming to the store alone, only because women are typically smaller in stature and could be overcome by larger male burglars.

Never put yourself or anyone else in danger!

If the police are called, wait for them to arrive before attempting to enter the store. Once the police arrive, introduce yourself and offer to let them into the store. Unlock the door and turn off the alarm. They will do a sweep of the store to ensure that there are no burglars inside.

Once the police have done their sweep and/or the broken glass has been boarded up, reset the alarm system (bypassing broken zones as necessary) and go home. Ensure that the person in charge of Security or Estates Maintenance is informed about the incident and will follow up to ensure that any broken glass is repaired.