Tag: Joey Rao-Russell

When I arrived in Louisville this week for ESX 2023, one of the first things I noticed while walking to the registration area was a big display with balloons and neon lights celebrating 75 years of the Electronic Security Association (ESA). I said to myself, “Wow, that is quite an accomplishment.” 75 years of ESA serving as the largest trade association in the U.S. representing the electronic life safety and security industry. I’m not exactly going out on a limb to say that...

MCLEAN, Va., and YARMOUTH, Maine—The Monitoring Association (TMA) and Security Systems News (SSN) have announced that Fresno, Calif.-based Kimberlite Corp. is the winner of the inaugural Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) Leadership Award. American Alarm and Communications, Inc., based out of Arlington, Mass., received Honorable Mention for the award. The DEI Leadership Award was presented to Kimberlite at TMA’s 2022 Annual Meeting in Marco Island, Fla., on Mon. Oct. 31. The...

FRESNO, Calif.—The Partnership for Priority Verified Alarm Response (PPVAR), an organization established to promote the value of verification and validation of alarm events during the emergency response process, recently announced the appointment of its new 2022 board members. The 2022 term will be led by President David Holl, Director of Public Safety for Lower Allen Township, PA. Two Vice President positions have been added - one from the alarm industry, Mark McCall of Stanley Security,...

FRESNO, Calif.—Kimberlite Corp., a provider of security services to businesses and residences in California, has acquired Security First Alarm King (SFAK), further strengthening its presence in the central California region, and continuing its growth through strategic acquisitions. “We are excited to welcome SFAK’s team and clients to Kimberlite - Sonitrol,” Kimberlite President and CEO Joey Russell told Security Systems News. “Security First Alarm King will allow...

Coming from a family with many members involved in law enforcement, Joey Rao-Russell, president and CEO, Kimberlite Corporation Sonitrol got into the security industry by accident. She was working as a probation officer when she was recruited by Kimberlite to revamp their credit and collections policy.“I had no idea what Kimberlite was,” Rao-Russell admitted, “but after two interviews and a tour of the main building, I remember finding out it was a security company. This was 18...

FRESNO, Calif.—The Partnership for Priority Verified Alarm Response is working to release updated best practices on video and audio verified alarms and put out new verification training modules for operators in the coming year.PPVAR recently opened the standards for feedback and is looking to publish the new versions in Q1 2018. “We tried to put some framework around how verification should be handled, since we have greater technologies and things now,” Joey Rao-Russell, PPVAR's...

FRESNO, Calif.—Sonitrol-Kimberlite monitoring station assisted law enforcement in more arrests of criminal trespassers and burglars than any other security organization in the United States, the company announced in mid-January. The central station aided law enforcement in 1,254 apprehensions in 2015, beating the company's previous record of 1,081 in 2014. “The numbers have established beyond question that verified alarms are the best technology in the electronic security industry,”...

Joey Rao-Russell, Kimberlite's president and CEO and a Security Systems News “20 Under 40” winner, has worked at Kimberlite for 13 years. She started in the accounting department, was named COO in February 2012 and then CEO later in 2012. She holds a degree in criminal justice and sociology, which made the security industry “a nice fit,” Rao-Russell said. SSN recently spoke with her about the system she uses at home.What kind of system do you have at home?I have a Sonitrol...

Joey Rao-Russell, 39President and CEOKimberlite Corp., an independent Sonitrol franchiseFresno, Calif.How did you get into the security industry?Several members of my family are in law enforcement and didn't have a high opinion of security, with false alarms and things like that. I had worked in retail sub-prime financing as a divisional director of operations and I was recruited to implement credit and collection policies for this company. But I found out it was security and I was like, “Hmmm...