ADT to monitor judges' homes--at least for a few months

BOCA RATON, Fla.--ADT may score a big chunk of federally funded recurring monthly revenue if it is awarded the ongoing monitoring contract for a new program that provides home security services to federal judges. The residential security giant has been awarded the monitoring contract for the initial phase; whether they'll get the whole contract is yet to be determined. Following the 2005 murder of two family members of a Chicago federal judge, Congress appropriated $12 million to increase security for federal judges. The U.S. Marshals Service, the enforcement arm of the federal courts, will administer the funds. In December, ADT won the $3.5 million contract to install the security systems in up to 2,200 judges homes across the country. On Feb. 9, ADT was awarded the initial contract to monitor the security systems. The value of that contract, which covers "several months," is $369,000, said Nikki Credic, a spokeswoman for the U.S. Marshals Service. In December, David Turner, another spokesman from the U.S. Marshals Service, told Security Systems News that the judges will not have to pay the monthly monitoring fees for their home systems. (See stories in the January and February issues of Security Systems News.) "The funding for the monitoring will be paid for from the U.S. Marshals Service budget. As of the next fiscal year, it will be built into our annual budget request," Turner said. However, according to Credic, it has not yet been determined if ADT will be the recipient of an ongoing monitoring contract, how long the contract will be or what the value of the annual contract will be. "The monitoring contract is only for several months," she said. "As far as if the monitoring part of the contract will be permanent or ongoing, at this time that decision has not been made," she said. As of mid-March 1,694 out of 2,200 eligible judges had expressed interest in having systems installed. Credic predicted that number would rise as more judges learned about the program. The monthly charge for monitoring a home security system varies. Many standard home systems are monitored for roughly $25; at that rate, the annual amount of a contract for 2,200 judges homes would be $660,000.