Crime & Safety
Gates Mills to Outsource Home Monitoring Service
This week, American Security will begin monitoring the homes of vacationing village residents who request the service.
Gates Mills residents who ask the village to monitor their homes while on vacation will receive the service from a new provider starting this week.
The village has entered a one-year contract with American Security, in which Gates Mills pays $8 per house, per month. The final amount paid to the company will depend on how many homeowners sign up.
American Security, based in Northfield, will take over the requested monitoring service on Thursday, Aug. 1, Police Chief Ron Whitmer said.
Whitmer agreed to the contract around the same time the Village decided to join Chagrin Valley Dispatch. That switch, which begins Aug. 5, should save the community $200,000 next year.
As for home monitoring, Whitmer believes American Security will provide a better service because it's the company's specialty, and the firm would certainly have better technology than the village in the future.
"Anyone who wants to continue using the Village-provided service will get that free of charge," Whitmer said. "We just think it's a public safety issue we can provide for our residents. There's not many communities who can do that.
"One of the biggest things we can do here is being proactive."
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