It has been two decades since leaders of The Monitoring Association (TMA), previously named the Central Station Alarm Association (CSAA), the Electronic Security Association (ESA), the Security Industry Association (SIA) and the Canadian Security Association (CANASA) made a decision that would help shape the future of law enforcement relationships with the alarm industry. They joined together to create a new organization that would focus on false alarm reductions, outreach to law enforcement and alarm ordinances that impacted the industry.
“Leaders of these organizations had the foresight to recognize that the industry needed to speak with one voice on alarm management issues at a time when the electronic security industry was coming under attack by a small but committed group of individuals,” said Stan Martin, SIAC executive director. “There was a concerted effort by a handful of public safety agencies to push the concept of verified response (non-response) that would eliminate police response to traditional alarms unless there was eyewitness verification that a crime was being committed.”