Security company sues for subscriber list

November 11, 2003 ALEXANDRIA, Va. - A security company here will have its case heard by the Maryland Court of Appeals in its quest to gain access to a list of alarm subscribers compiled and managed by Prince George County, Maryland. Officials from Police Patrol Security Systems, whose request for the list from the county was denied two years ago, have already obtained similar lists from other jurisdictions, such as Montgomery, Fairfax and Arlington counties and the city of Arlington, according to a report in The Washington Post. A circuit court judge denied Police Patrol's Prince George County appeal last year, and now the company is appealing to the state's highest court. Attorneys for Police Patrol are arguing, according to The Post, that the county's decision not to release names, phone numbers and address of county residents with security systems could infringe on state law that mandates what information is available to the public, and instead relying on decisions made at the county level. County officials maintain that handing over the lists, which the company would use for marketing purposes, The Post said, would essentially advertise all unsecured properties in the county and would jeopardize public safety.