The Reminder is making its archives back to 2003 available on our website. Please note that, due to technical limitations, archive articles are presented without the usual formatting.
Two city councillors are accusing a home-security company of exaggerating Flin Flon's break-in rate in order to sell more alarm systems. Councillors Ken Pawlachuk and Bill Hanson made statements to that effect at last week's council meeting. Coun. Pawlachuk began by stating that he had seen representatives of an alarm company 'pawning off' the systems in town. He said the systems sometimes produce false alarms that needlessly summon firefighters at a cost to taxpayers. As he has on previous occasions, Coun. Pawlachuk suggested that if that problem continues, the city may begin fining residents for false alarms. Coun. Pawlachuk said people have told him that the company's sales reps embellish Flin Flon's break-in rate. Making full use of hyperbole, he added, 'We don't have break-ins.' Coun. Hanson, who said he has listened to the sales reps' pitch, agreed that they exaggerated the volume of break-ins Flin Flon faces. Coun. Hanson said he chose not to buy a security system because he believes Flin Flon's crime rate is too low to warrant one. But one resident who owns a home system from the company in question, Reliance Protectron Security Services, said the reps she dealt with made no attempt to embellish the break-in rate. The resident, who asked that her name not be published, said she purchased the system because she was a single woman with children at home. She has no regrets about her decision. 'Everybody knows that there's been a lot of trouble going on around town,' she said, 'and for (Coun. Pawlachuk) to say there are no break-ins, well, there's been a lot of vandalism and people breaking into cars lately, but not necessarily breaking into people's houses. But it's going to give you peace of mind to maybe deter people from coming into your house.' The resident said hers is 'a wonderful system' but acknowledged difficulties in stopping it from summoning the fire department in the event that cooking sets off a smoke alarm. The Reminder left a message with a spokesperson for Reliance Protectron Security Services, offering an opportunity to comment, but as of press time had not heard back. On its website, the company says that for more than two decades it has 'demonstrated its leadership through Home Security and Home Burglar Alarm Security Systems, protecting over 270,000 satisfied homeowners.' The question of whether Flin Flon has a worrisome break-in rate is, of course, subjective. Flin Flon RCMP data shows that in 2012, there were 35 reported break-and-enters, or about one every 10.5 days. Not all of them necessarily involved homes. That was a 53 per cent drop over 2011, when Flin Flon had a higher per-capita break-in rate than both The Pas and Thompson. In one of Flin Flon's latest break-ins, an intruder entered a home on Dominion Blvd. during the early-morning hours of Aug. 11. An unknown male entered the residence, where he was confronted by an occupant before leaving, at which point the police were summoned. While some people swear by home security systems as the ultimate deterrent to break-ins, others are more skeptical. A recent article on MSN.com, for instance, was headlined '14 reasons monitored home security isn't worth it.' It cited as factors a high false alarm rate (and the potential for homeowners to be billed for those alarms), snowballing costs and inconvenience. But even if one accepts that break-ins are no reason to purchase a security system, proponents say there remains the question of fire protection. For all of the false alarms they have caused in Flin Flon, the systems will notify firefighters of a real blaze if you are not home. That, in turn, could save your house. Ultimately, it is up to each individual to decide how much risk is acceptable _ and how much money worth spending to lower that risk.
