Crime Prevention Security Systems widens Florida territory

GAINESVILLE, Fla.—Crime Prevention Security Systems has acquired Scott Alarm, expanding its territory into Northeast Florida.

Crime Prevention gained 1,100 accounts in the deal, 70 percent of which are residential. “But the commercial part will probably start growing,” John Pastore, owner of Crime Prevention, told Security Systems News.

Scott Alarm, based in Jacksonville and owned by Bruce Scott, specialized in alarm systems and home technology and business coverage. Scott contacted Pastore when he was ready to sell.

“Bruce has always been an icon in the industry, so out of respect for him I always stayed out of his territory,” Pastore said. Now he's free to move in.

The acquisition adds $27,000 in RMR to Crime Prevention's previous RMR of about $319,000, he said. Last year's Crime Prevention revenue was $9.75 million. The company employs 105 and will add 11 more workers, the full staff from Scott Alarm, with the acquisition, Pastore said.

Family-owned Crime Prevention, marking its 40^th anniversary this year, has a redundant monitoring station in Gainesville that partners with EMC Security in Atlanta.

“If there's a hurricane, we don't skip a beat. For example, during the Atlanta ice storm, we handled everything out of Gainesville,” he said.

Pastore's two daughters and a son-in-law are part of the family business. “They have reenergized me,” he said, and their work has provided him with more time for planning.

Part of that planning involves being in acquisition mode, he said, with a target on Florida and possibly South Georgia. “We don't want to get into EMC's territory,” he noted.

He's looking for small companies whose owners are ready to retire. Crime Prevention now has locations in Orlando, Gainesville and Jacksonville and looks to grow in all of those areas, Pastore said.

Orlando's builder market “has been exploding for two years now” and Gainesville's and Jacksonville's are starting to pick up, he said.