MARLBORO — In an effort to bring in additional revenue, the Marlboro Police Department will soon offer its services to residents for security alarm system monitoring.
Typically, a resident would pay a fee to a private security company for his home’s alarm service. In the event of an emergency the alarm company would receive the alarm and call the local police department, which would then dispatch officers to investigate.
Marlboro Police Chief Bruce E. Hall said residents who use the police department’s alarm monitoring equipment will “cut out the middle man” and may see faster response times when an alarm is received.
Individuals who use Marlboro’s alarm monitoring service would have a direct connectionwith the police department and would not have to be transferred to the police department through a private alarm service provider.
Since the 1970s the Marlboro Police Department has been performing the alarm monitoring service primarily for local financial institutions, using a small analog board, the chief explained.
The police department currently monitors 75 accounts, the chief said.
Updated equipment that has been installed at police headquarters over the years has upgraded the monitoring system from analog to digital and is now able to accommodate more alarm systems while opening the service to more customers, including residents, according to officials.
Mayor Jonathan Hornik said Marlboro has about 5,000 registered alarm systems. When estimating the number of customers who would switch to the township’s alarm monitoring service, Hornik estimated that at a low, 1,300 systems would take part in the switch, and at a high, 3,000 systems.
The mayor estimated during a recent Township Council meeting that revenue between $351,000 and $900,000 could be seen as a result of the initiative.
The cost of service for those who make the switch could range between $22.50 to $25 per month, Hornik said at the meeting.
Officials are still finalizing the details and figures for the alarm monitoring service. The estimated monthly service rate mentioned by the mayor has not been finalized.
An Internet search of alarm system providers listed monthly fees starting at $31.99 and going up from there.
Hall said he expects an ordinance instituting pricing will be presented for a first reading during the Township Council’s Sept. 10 meeting.
Once the measure is approved by the governing body, Hall said information will be placed on Marlboro’s Internet website and will be handed out during the Sept. 15 Marlboro Day celebration.
— Rebecca Morton