The "stars" of these movies are criminals, the exotic locations are actual homes and small businesses similar to yours. They're not fun to watch, but a Minneapolis security company wants the world to see 10-second video clips of real-life burglars in the act.

Wellington Security Systems has recently begun offering a video verification alarm system for homes and businesses that sends a 10-second clip of activity after an alarm is tripped. By allowing police to see who - or what - has broken into a location, the video verification cannot only better prepare police officers arriving on the scene but also curb false alarms, thereby saving police time and taxpayers money, say company officials.

Personnel at the security company's central monitoring station receive the video approximately one minute after the alarm sounds; if they see intruders, they will immediately dispatch local police. However, if all they see is Scout, your beloved family Labrador, police officers will avoid wasting time on a false alarm.

"Everything else on the market tells us what happened: a door was opened, an alarm was tripped - but this shows us," said Gene Earhart, a partner with Wellington and a Burnsville resident. "No one else can do this."

A March 2007 study by the Office of Community Oriented Policing Services at the U.S. Department of Justice reported that in 2000, Salt Lake City, Utah, adopted a visual verification response system. By significantly reducing the number of alarm calls to which officers needed to respond, the city's Police Department gained an equivalent of five full-time officers and decreased response time to other calls for service.

"The time alone to deal with the false alarms takes a uniformed officer off the street, away from other responsibilities," said Burnsville Police Capt. Eric Gieseke. He said that in Burnsville, two police officers are usually dispatched for an alarm, spending between 15 minutes and an hour at the site, even if it's a false alarm.

Earhart recently conducted a demonstration of the visual verification system for the Burnsville Police Department. The system was created by the French engineering company RSIalarms.

Gieseke said he is receptive to anything that assists his officers.

"Obviously, anytime there is new technology out there to help us respond to an incident safely, we're supportive of that," he said. "When we get the alarms, a lot of times we're going in blind. If we're able to identify [a threat] before we go in, that's a plus."

Video verification is not an entirely new concept (there are more than 70,000 such systems currently used in Europe), but the RSIalarm system is different in that the video can be transmitted quickly over phone lines, through cellular communication or over Ethernet connections.

The alarm system is also entirely wireless, so it can be used for mobile protection on shipping crates, boats or recreational vehicles. Earhart said this is also useful for protecting construction sites, which often house valuable materials (including copper or lumber) but don't have electricity or phone hook-ups.

At about $1,500 for installation in a home or small business, RSIalarms' video verification is comparable in cost to standard alarm systems, said company officials. There is a monthly charge for monitoring; for an extra cost, e-mails can be sent directly to a cell phone whenever the alarm is tripped.

Wellington is the only Minnesota company to sell the RSIalarm systems and has installed them in five locations statewide since June, including the Norberg household in Burnsville.

After a July break-in at Doug and Laura Norberg's home, they decided to install a security system, an idea they'd toyed with for a long time. They reviewed their options and chose the RSIalarm video verification.

"I liked the idea of the new technology," said Doug. "If someone breaks in, the chance of actually catching them is better than today, when unless they leave fingerprints, they're not going to get caught."

He said the system has brought a great deal of comfort to his family, particularly his two teenage daughters, who aren't afraid to stay home alone anymore, as they were after the burglary.

Earhart said once word spreads, he believes video verification will become immensely popular.

"It's a win-win," he said. "Everyone wins - law enforcement, the business owner or homeowner and the taxpayers.

For more information about the RSIalarms video verification system, visit www.videofied.com or www.wellingtonsecurity.com.

(You are invited to comment about this story on our website at www.mnsun.com and/or write a letter to the editor at suncurrentsouth@acnpapers.com.)

Wellington is the only Minnesota company to sell the RSIalarm systems and has installed them in five locations statewide since June, including the Norberg household in Burnsville.

After a July break-in at Doug and Laura Norberg's home, they decided to install a security system, an idea they'd toyed with for a long time. They reviewed their options and chose the RSIalarm video verification.

"I liked the idea of the new technology," said Doug. "If someone breaks in, the chance of actually catching them is better than today, when unless they leave fingerprints, they're not going to get caught."

He said the system has brought a great deal of comfort to his family, particularly his two teenage daughters, who aren't afraid to stay home alone anymore, as they were after the burglary.

Earhart said once word spreads, he believes video verification will become immensely popular.

"It's a win-win," he said. "Everyone wins - law enforcement, the business owner or homeowner and the taxpayers.

For more information about the RSIalarms video verification system, visit www.videofied.com or www.wellingtonsecurity.com.

(You are invited to comment about this story on our website at www.mnsun.com and/or write a letter to the editor at suncurrentsouth@acnpapers.com.)