The price of home security

Drive or walk through the wealthier streets of Auckland and there seems to be a common theme. Expensive homes are disappearing behind high walls and closed gates, easy access discouraged by video cameras, keypads and intercoms. And outside on the curb, a green reflector pad signals those who pay to have a private security patrol car cruise by regularly and pounce on suspicious-looking characters.

These days a burglar alarm is not enough.

Instead, residents opt for private policing, paying security companies to make them feel secure in their homes. For $76.50 a month, Matrix Security will respond by phone to alarm activations and follow up with a site visit if needed. The service includes daily and nightly checks by Matrix cars which cruise the eastern suburbs, Remuera, Epsom, Mt Eden, Takapuna and Milford. If a client is home alone frightened by intruders on the property, Matrix will send a car around.

Its quick response time means clients are increasingly calling the security company before the police. A Remuera resident recently called Matrix to report two men on his back verandah shortly before the phone line was cut. Matrix officers tracked the getaway vehicle to nearby Shore Rd and called the police to make an arrest.

Another Remuera resident, Prue Johnson, is often home alone with her two children and would not hesitate to call Matrix or use the panic alarm. "I'd think I would ring them [Matrix] first because they would get here more quickly than the police."

Clients will also call the security company first if they see suspicious activity in their neighbourhood, knowing that police might not be able to attend a minor incident in a city which demands attention to serious crime every night.

For companies like Matrix, business has never been better. Matrix employs 120 staff and has an annual turnover of $7 million, with revenue up 15 per cent each year. The company's chief executive, Scott Carter, a former policeman, sees the close working relationship with the police, including good communication between the police helicopter and dog handlers, as a smart use of available resources.

"By working closely with Matrix and not being coy about that, they are actually getting a bigger bang for their buck. We can't operate successfully without the goodwill and the support of the police. We have to do something with the offenders that we catch and it's wonderful the police are prepared to do the paperwork. And we are quick to support the police if they need extra support."

Matrix staff have strong local knowledge from patrolling the same areas day after day, effectively replacing traditional community policing. Following and apprehending criminals - everything from tagging and vandalism to car theft and burglary - is part of what Carter expects his staff to do, whether or not the activity directly affects a paying client. He sees Matrix's service as keeping the street and the neighbourhood clean. If his staff ignore a car break-in down the street, he says, a paying client could be the next target.

For Matrix's operations manager Ray Chisholm, working as a security officer is the next best thing to police work. Damaged knees from an old rugby injury means he would never pass the police physical but in 10 years on the road with the company he's seen plenty of action.

One night the company handed over nine offenders to the police.

"I love my job. There's a lot of satisfaction in catching baddies and handing them over to the police and knowing that you've helped someone."

A fledgling Hamilton private investigation company has taken working with the police one step further. Former drugs squad detective Dale Kirk and his business partner Andreea Williamson, another former detective with the Hamilton police, launched their company Aperio Investigations last week in response to slow burglary attendance rates by police.

Witnessing an under-resourced Hamilton police convinced Kirk there was room for a private burglary service as well as criminal and civil fraud investigation. Flick through the Yellow Pages and there's any number of private investigators offering to delve into everything from dishonest employees to cheating spouses. But burglaries, in the main, are left to the police.

Kirk and Williamson see a gap in the market and will draw heavily on their police credentials to help solve burglaries. Who better than two former detectives to dust for fingerprints, sift through broken glass and make a list of what's missing when the police say it could be some days before officers get there? Even better if the insurance company is paying for it.

Kirk and Williamson are still having talks with insurance companies but are confident the demand is there.

"The market will say whether or not people are prepared to pay the extra money to have the burglary dealt with," says Kirk. He won't say what the cost will be but it will include a two-hour scene attendance fee.

Williamson will move to Tauranga to set up an office and the next target will be Auckland. The company will recruit extra staff with police training when needed - from New Zealand or overseas.

Hamilton police referred Herald on Sunday questions about the new company to police headquarters but Jon Neilson, spokesman for the Office of the Commissioner of Police, says it is a matter for local police and regions to sort out with private companies.

Police still want to hear about burglaries and more serious crime, he says, but it is not unusual for private companies to provide support. However, only the police can lay charges and any evidence, including that gathered by a private company, has to stack up in court.