On the evening of December 17, 2010,Sonitrol Security of Delaware Valley’s central monitoring station received a hold-up alarm from a restaurant and liquor store, followed by live sounds from the liquor store area of the facility.

The Sonitrol operator, Chancy McGraw, immediately dispatched the Franklinville, N.J., Police Department to the scene. Officer Christopher Senk arrived within minutes and found one shoplifter on site. This was the second time the store owner had detected the suspect shoplifting in the store in the past week.

The Sonitrol operator could hear the entire event as it unfolded. The operator has the ability to relay any valuable information to the responding officer.

Sonitrol Security of Delaware Valley subsequently issued this event as a “Partners Against Crime Arrest Alert,” provided as a way to immediately inform residents of arrests in neighboring areas.

On the evening of December 19, 2010,Sonitrol Security of Delaware Valley operator Lisa Rindt heard sounds of glass breaking from a side door at a warehouse. The Sonitrol operator immediately contacted the Dover, Del., Police Department and spoke with dispatchers Patricia Sapp and Ryan Knowles. The operator relayed valuable information to the dispatchers: she heard glass breaking, walking through glass and at least one male voice inside of the facility; she also heard a female voice reply back.

Several Dover police officers were dispatched and/or responded to the site. Some of them gave chase and apprehended the intruders.

The owner of the warehouse is familiar with break-ins, as he experienced four of them prior to 2004 and had major losses but never caught the intruders. In April 2004 someone told him about Sonitrol. He had a system installed May 2004 and apprehended an intruder on May 30, 2004. There have been three additional break-ins detected since then, all of which resulted in Dover Police making apprehensions. In one of those cases, police actually caught burglars breaking into a pickup truck outside of the shop. The sounds of a job box being dragged across the bed of the truck tripped the Sonitrol audio system, which caused the operator to dispatch.