October 20, 2010
Pamela J. Petrow Named President & CEO of Vector Security, Inc.

Philadelphia, PA (October 18, 2010): The Board of Directors of Vector Security, Inc., and its parent company, The Philadelphia Contributionship, has unanimously approved the appointment of Pamela J. Petrow as President and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Vector Security, Inc.

John A. Murphy identified Mrs. Petrow as his successor by appointing her, with Board approval, as Executive Vice President, and then Chief Operating Officer (COO) of Vector Security, Inc. The current appointment is the culmination of a carefully thought out succession plan for Vector Security. Mrs. Petrow will now be in charge of moving the company forward on the successful path which Mr. Murphy began when he became President and COO of Vector Security, Inc. in 1991.

Mrs. Petrow graduated from Shippensburg University with a Bachelor of Science degree in business administration in 1982, with focuses in management and marketing. In spring of 2006, she graduated from the prestigious Harvard Business School's Advanced Management Program.

In 1997, Mrs. Petrow was promoted to a senior level position in the company, as Senior Vice President of the Central Stations and Information Services Group and became a member of the Office of the President. She was directly responsible for overseeing the company's three UL-Listed Central Stations, as well as its IT staff. In 2003, Vector Security was awarded the Security Dealer of the Year award, which is the industry's highest award presented by SDM, a leading industry magazine. SDM magazine described our company as a "Company of Leaders" and Mrs. Petrow was prominently pictured as a key leader. In 2004, she was promoted to become the company's Executive Vice President, and also became the Chief Administrative Officer responsible for the company's Insurance and Human Resources groups. In 2006, she was again promoted to Chief Operating Officer.

In 2006, her central station leadership resulted in the company earning the prestigious Central Station of the Year Award, which recognizes the best central station monitoring services in the industry. She and her staff authored and launched a 12-step plan to minimize false alarm dispatches, which in the same year earned the company the industry's first Police Dispatch Quality (PDQ) award. This award recognizes a company that demonstrates its commitment and excellence in minimizing false police dispatches.

Since 2007, Mrs. Petrow has served as Secretary on the Executive Committee of the Board of Directors of the Central Station Alarm Association (CSAA), the trade association for the alarm monitoring industry, representing the owners and operators of UL-Listed/FM Approved central stations. She has also co-chaired CSAA's Education Committee. Earlier, while a committee member, she worked with a group of CSAA members to develop and lead a Distance Learning Program which now has two very successful levels of online training for operators. Thanks to her ongoing effort in leading this initiative, more than 4,000 operators have graduated from the Level I course since its inception in 2003.

Mrs. Petrow has also conducted the CSAA's Operations Management Conferences, held biannually, which has tripled its attendance over a five-year period. She has co-chaired the CSAA's mid-year expo and educational conference and is a member of its Marketing Committee. On behalf of CSAA, she also represents the electronic security industry at large with APCO (Association of Public-Safety Communications Officials International), the world's largest organization dedicated to public safety communications, to develop and implement the beta testing of electronic transmission of alarm data to 911 Centers. For her efforts in supporting the alarm industry, she was given the 2002 CSAA President's Award.

In 2009, Petrow received APCO's highest honor, the President's Award. She was recognized for her outstanding contributions to the electronic transmission of signals between central stations and 911 dispatch centers. Petrow worked for several years, representing CSAA and Vector Security, in a CSAA/APCO joint project with representatives from law enforcement, fire services, emergency medical services, industry, emergency management, transportation, APCO International, and Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA).

Mrs. Petrow is also a member of the Security Industry Standards Council, overseeing standards efforts for the industry; and has participated in legislative efforts, alongside the National Burglar and Fire Alarm Association and Central Station Alarm Association, to promote reciprocity and to lobby for an AMPS ruling extension.
 

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