Trouble Indicator Light on a Security System in album security

In Albums: security

Aug 31st, 2006, by Alex Zorach

This totally cracks me up, for some reason.

This security system was installed in a dormitory on the University of Delaware's campus. The brand name is Cerberus Pyrotronics, referencing the mythological creature Cerberus, a multi-headed dog, who guarded the gates to the underworld in Greek mythology.

I don't know that much about how these security systems work, but my intuition is that the trouble indicator light denotes a technological problem in the system, which could be something benign, like a low battery or power failure, or something more serious, such as evidence of tampering.