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Alto al Crimen and Valle Escondido Roll out enhanced services

Beginning this week on July 15 Alto al Crimen (AAC) and Boquete Consulting Security (BCS) are offering enhanced security and emergency response services to the residents of Valle Escondido.

BCS provides security services to Valle Escondido, and its personnel are trained to respond in various emergencies. AAC provides a community-wide emergency Hotline service with a bilingual operator to receive and relay emergency calls from anyone, but particularly people who are not fluent in Spanish.

AAC Hotline service will continue as before for the broader community, but for Valle Escondido (and later one or more other gated communities) the AAC Hotline operator will immediately call the BCS security gatehouse to report emergencies and the unit number involved. Then the security force can provide rapid response while police, ambulance or fire services are being dispatched.

Also the AAC Hotline operator will only need to dispatch emergency services to the entry gate. From there security personnel can lead the emergency vehicle to the affected unit. This will save time providing detailed directions by phone to the emergency services.

Anyone living in Valle Escondido, including short term renters and resort guests, can call the AAC Hotline number whether or not registered with a number. All property owners are being asked to support AAC by a minimum annual donation of $20. Each residence will be provided with a laminated emergency calling guide in English and Spanish. Only the Valle Escondido unit number will be needed for dispatching emergency assistance. People who want to sign up individually and provide additional information for the AAC database may do so and are encouraged to do so.

BCS will provide the service of accepting donations for AAC to simplify the donation process, but donations may also be made by checks to Fundacion Alto al Crimen left in envelopes at Mailboxes, Etc.

AAC services to people in non-gated communities and other homes will continue as before, and we continue to emphasize the importance of having very clear directions stored in the AAC database.

The name of the game is community service.  Alto al Crimen and Boquete Consulting Security are pleased to be working together to make things better for our community. If you have any suggestions about AAC Hotline services to your gated community or neighborhood, please send them by email to aac.boquete@gmail.com You may update your registration information by email to the same address.

In any emergency, call AAC Hotline at 6477-6662 (Alternate number 6917-0011)

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13 hours ago, Bonnie said:

Whatever happened with the donations requested by a Valle Escondido resident for a a vehicle for a police detective?

I believe they finally collected enough money and the car was fixed. Their intentions were all good but were somehow misinterpreted by some members of our community.

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I believe it was both buying a car and then having to have it fixed because one of the questions raised was how the car would be titled. I was wondering if everything turned out as planned and if the vehicle is being used for law enforcement investigative work as represented.

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I am concerned about the implications of this posting by AAC. It appears to me that the organization is loosing its objective. Am I the only one with this feeling? What is the mission of AAC? Does AAC now only provide service for Valle Escondido residents? Why the special program, when what is discussed in this posting is what AAC was supposed to be and do in the first place?

I am NOT attacking. I am simply asking because I am confused.

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On 7/15/2016 at 7:56 AM, Bud said:

I am concerned about the implications of this posting by AAC. It appears to me that the organization is loosing its objective. Am I the only one with this feeling? What is the mission of AAC? Does AAC now only provide service for Valle Escondido residents? Why the special program, when what is discussed in this posting is what AAC was supposed to be and do in the first place?

I am NOT attacking. I am simply asking because I am confused.

Puzzling. 

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Bob, A big thank you to Alto al Crimen for joining forces with us to provide a new level of security to the residents of Valle Escondido. One of the largest security challenges in Valle Escondido was the language barrier for many of the English speaking residents. 

BCS security staff will be hand delivering the laminated calling guides, which Alto al Crimen so generously provided, to each home in the community in the next few days. We will also be communicating with the residents through the HOA with non emergency phone numbers and how residents can make a donation to Alto al Crimen through BCS.

We expect to be adding the other communities that BCS provides security services for with this enhanced service over the next few weeks.

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Replies to this topic but from a different forum have now been merged (consolidated) into this topic in this forum. For additional information about this action, please see http://www.chiriqui.life/topic/2904-enhanced-aac-services-for-valle-escondido/

This topic as posted in the News Boquete repository forum has now been locked. Any further replies should be posted here in this forum.

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On 7/15/2016 at 7:56 AM, Bud said:

I am concerned about the implications of this posting by AAC. It appears to me that the organization is loosing its objective. Am I the only one with this feeling? What is the mission of AAC? Does AAC now only provide service for Valle Escondido residents? Why the special program, when what is discussed in this posting is what AAC was supposed to be and do in the first place?

I am NOT attacking. I am simply asking because I am confused.

I observe that VE residents appear to be paying twice for security, but that's their choice. I see it as a way for AAC to make money.

The BCS spokesman's statement about language being a problem for "English-speaking residents" of VE seems to me an inadvisable admission. It suggests that little if any effort is expended by the residents to learn Spanish and that it is an exclusive, English-only enclave. On the other hand, perhaps that is what they want to promote.

According to the original post, " AAC services to people in non-gated communities and other homes will continue as before, and we continue to emphasize the importance of having very clear directions stored in the AAC database."  Were I a member of AAC, though, I would be uncomfortable that a particular neighborhood is getting special treatment.

 

 

 

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I am not tech savvy enough to know how to highlight portions of other posts, but I do think a response to Bud's questions is in order.

 
 
Bud wrote: "What is the mission of AAC?"

My response:  AAC provides a community-wide emergency Hotline service with a bilingual operator to receive and relay emergency calls from anyone, but particularly people who are not fluent in Spanish."   (Whether or not they are "subscribers".  Alto al Crimen provides services to everyone in the community.)

 Bud asked: "Does AAC now only provide service for Valle Escondido residents?"

Again, I reply: "AAC provides a community-wide emergency Hotline service with a bilingual operator to receive and relay emergency calls from anyone, but particularly people who are not fluent in Spanish."

Bud asked: "Why the special program, when what is discussed in this posting is what AAC was supposed to be and do in the first place?"

My response:  I understand this to be a collaborative effort between Alto al Crimen and Boquete Consulting Security to facilitate response by the Bomberos, Policia, etc, by informing the security personnel on duty at the gate so they can be ready to  guide emergency responders to the appropriate unit, and to provide assistance as indicated.

Alto al Crimen is an organization that provides services to anyone and everyone who picks up  the phone and calls.  From the family who has lived here for years to the couple who arrived last Tuesday, the services of AAC are available to EVERYONE.  The phone numbers (6477-6662  and 6917-0011) are public knowledge.  There is no annual subscription fee.  AAC relies on voluntary donations, but it provides services to donors and non-donors alike.  It is, in fact, the only bi-lingual emergency hotline service available to tourists.  I believe that a public bi-lingual emergency hotline is a valuable asset to this community.
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So sad to see members here think that there is some kind of special treatment for Valle Escondido residents. Any person living in the Boquete area, including those who happen to live in VE, could call Alto al Crimen at any time to request emergency services. The only difference now is that one of the first calls calls the "911" operator makes prior to calling the appropriate agency is to notify the full time security guards that are always on duty. As stated in my earlier reply, there are many residents of Valle Escondido that are not fully fluent in Spanish. There are many that are.  There are also many Panamanian families that have homes in  Valle Escondido their home. To make a statement that somehow a new partnership between security and a "911" system is indicative that VE is "an exclusive, English-only enclave" and "perhaps that is what they want to promote" demonstrates pure ignorance and is insulting.

Real simple example of how this would work; A VE resident who is not fluent in Spanish calls ACC stating thet their significant other is having a heart attack and to please send help. The "911" operator calls VE security first so a trained guard can immediately respond in the dedicated patrol vehicle with the first aid kit, Oxygen, and defibrillator to the house. Then the "911" operator calls the ambulance and it responds and is met at the front gate to be escorted to the location of the emergency.

How does this arrangement in any way mean "that a particular neighborhood is getting special treatment"? Sad to see individuals take something positive and try to spin it against ACC. For the record BCS is happy to provide our phone numbers to Rodney Direct so any of his subscribers living in VE could get the same exact response. 

 

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20 hours ago, Brandy said:

I am not tech savvy enough to know how to highlight portions of other posts, but I do think a response to Bud's questions is in order.

 
 
Bud wrote: "What is the mission of AAC?"

My response:  AAC provides a community-wide emergency Hotline service with a bilingual operator to receive and relay emergency calls from anyone, but particularly people who are not fluent in Spanish."   (Whether or not they are "subscribers".  Alto al Crimen provides services to everyone in the community.)

 Bud asked: "Does AAC now only provide service for Valle Escondido residents?"

Again, I reply: "AAC provides a community-wide emergency Hotline service with a bilingual operator to receive and relay emergency calls from anyone, but particularly people who are not fluent in Spanish."

Bud asked: "Why the special program, when what is discussed in this posting is what AAC was supposed to be and do in the first place?"

My response:  I understand this to be a collaborative effort between Alto al Crimen and Boquete Consulting Security to facilitate response by the Bomberos, Policia, etc, by informing the security personnel on duty at the gate so they can be ready to  guide emergency responders to the appropriate unit, and to provide assistance as indicated.

Alto al Crimen is an organization that provides services to anyone and everyone who picks up  the phone and calls.  From the family who has lived here for years to the couple who arrived last Tuesday, the services of AAC are available to EVERYONE.  The phone numbers (6477-6662  and 6917-0011) are public knowledge.  There is no annual subscription fee.  AAC relies on voluntary donations, but it provides services to donors and non-donors alike.  It is, in fact, the only bi-lingual emergency hotline service available to tourists.  I believe that a public bi-lingual emergency hotline is a valuable asset to this community.

Thank you, Brandy, for addressing my concerns and answering my questions. Well done. I now understand better what is changing.

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22 hours ago, Boquete Consulting Security said:

So sad to see members here think that there is some kind of special treatment for Valle Escondido residents.

... Yadda-yadda-yadda. 

But sir, special treatment for Valle Escondido residents is precisely what is being described. I now understand that.

Based on Brandy's clarification and rereading Bob's announcement three times and your words four times, I now understand what service is going to be provided in VE. If I (as a non-VE resident) were to call AAC, I am very confident that you/someone on your behalf would NOT dispatch "a rapid response [in advance of of regular emergency services]" similar to what will now happen for VE residents.

Even your own words contradict your caustic and elitist rebuttal: "...to provide a new level of security to the residents of Valle Escondido." No one from your group is going to send a "first aid kit, oxygen, and defibrillator" to my home, are they?

I submit that the spin and negativity that you rile against are on your part, not mine or others who posted here. I was confused, and asked some questions. Brandy answered my questions in a straightforward manner without resorting to inflammatory labels. You may wish to consider the same approach in the future.

Have a great day. :) 

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 Alto al Crimen is not a "dead horse".  It is quite alive and well, quietly serving the ENTIRE community: homeowners, renters (both long- and short-term), visitors and tourists.  It is not a "members-only" exclusive service, but is available to everyone.  I would hate to think that, as a tourist in Boquete, I would have to pay $80 for access to a bi-lingual emergency hotline operator for the two weeks I was here. 

 

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You misunderstand.  No, the service is certainly not dead.  What I said was the dead horse is the issue of arguing about the details of the service in a very defensive and quite thin skinned way.  That said, I believe as Esther has noted so well, it would be good to let it all rest.  No one here has "it in" for AAC.

Peace,

Alison

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