By Howard Koplowitz
As a former police officer, John DiBella knows about preventing crime.
And as the owner of Protection Systems Inc. in Flushing, DiBella has helped residents protect their homes against burglars since 1985.
“I call us a full-service security company,” DiBella said of Protection Systems. “We pride ourselves. We’re not salespeople, we’re security professionals.”
DiBella, a former NYPD officer, said his Flushing business has the upper hand over alarm companies such as ADT and Slomin’s, whose security services are based on telephone lines.
“The burglars come in and cut the phone line,” DiBella said, making such services useless.
But he said Protection Systems, which costs less per month than ADT or Slomin’s, sends its security signals over GSM radio signals connected to cellular networks.
“With the radio, there’s nothing [burglars] can do,” he said. Protection Systems is “trying to target people that have ADT and don’t realize this.”
DiBella’s company is offering free installation of a basic alarm system, which consists of a motion detector and alarms for the front and back doors, although monitoring costs $29.95 a month.
DiBella’s security systems are affiliated with COPS Monitoring, a central system that calls authorities when a home is broken into and can detect a fire or carbon monoxide in a residence.
“They get the signal and they will call the premises to verify whether it was a false alarm or not,” DiBella said, then the company dispatches police and calls an emergency number to notify the customer.
Protection Systems also offers security guards.
Customers can hire unarmed guards for $15 an hour or armed guards for $40 an hour, DiBella said.
DiBella said the company also has a referral program.
“If they refer customers to us, we give them free months of monitoring,” he said. If a customer refers four people to Protection Systems within a year, they receive three years of service free, he said.
“Families are struggling with their bills and here’s a great way” to offset economic difficulty, DiBella said.
Besides its Flushing office at 146-35 Horace Harding Expwy., the company has a Greenlawn, L.I., location.
DiBella said his company has customers stretching from the five boroughs to Westchester County, Long Island and New Jersey.
Protection Systems can be reached at 718-961-6700.
Reach reporter Howard Koplowitz by e-mail at hkoplowitz@cnglocal.com or by phone at 718-260-4573.
