[8/20/97 Restatement]


                        DETECTION SYSTEMS, INC.
                      DEFERRED COMPENSATION PLAN

1.   Purpose

     Detection Systems, Inc. (the "Company") has adopted this Deferred
Compensation Plan (the "Plan") to assist its officers with their
individual tax and retirement income planning and to permit the
Company to remain competitive in attracting, retaining, motivating and
rewarding key executives who can directly influence the Company's
operating results.  The Plan permits officers to defer the receipt of
salary or bonuses which they may be entitled to receive from the
Company and the Company to make Company contributions for the benefit
of its officers.  The Plan was originally adopted as of August 1,
1986.  This restatement is effective as of August 20, 1997.

2.   Eligibility

     Any officer of the Company is eligible to participate in this
Plan.

3.   Contributions

     a.   Company Contributions

                    The Company may contribute to an officer's
          Participant Account any amount, at any time and for any
          reason as the Company in its sole discretion may determine.
          The Company has no obligation to make such contributions to
          any officer's account and contributions need not be the same
          for all officers.

     b.   Officer Deferrals

                    (1)  Amount of Deferral.  In addition to Company
               contributions, a participant may elect to defer receipt
               of up to 10 percent of his or her base salary and up to
               100 percent of any bonus otherwise payable to the
               participant by the Company during a calendar year.

                    (2)  Time for Electing Deferral.  An election to
               commence a deferral may be made at any time in
               accordance with the procedures set forth in subsection
               (3) below, provided that any election to defer
               compensation must be made prior to the time that such
               compensation is to be earned by the participant. Any
               election so made shall remain in effect until the
               participant elects in writing to change his or her
               election.

                    (3)  Manner of Electing Deferral.  A participant
               shall elect a deferral by giving written notice to the
               Committee in a form prescribed by the Committee.  The
               notice shall include (1) the amount to be deferred; (2)
               the period with respect to which the deferral relates;
               (3) an election of a lump sum payment or the number of
               monthly installments (not to exceed 120) for the
               payment of the deferred amounts; and (4) the date
               benefit payments are to be made or to commence.  A
               participant may designate any date for the commencement
               of benefit payments but in the event the participant
               retires or otherwise terminates employment, benefit
               payments shall commence within 60 days of retirement or
               termination notwithstanding any later date specified in
               the participant's election form.  In addition, if any
               scheduled payment from this Plan during a taxable year
               of the Company would, in combination with other
               compensatory payments to the participant during such
               year, result in the participant's compensation
               exceeding the $1 million cap under Code Section 162(m),
               the Company in its sole discretion may defer benefit
               payments to the first subsequent year when the
               participant's compensation will not exceed the $1
               million cap.

4.   Participant Accounts

     For each participant there shall be established both a
Participant Interest Account and a Participant Stock Account
(collectively referred to as the Participant Account).  Each
Participant Interest Account shall be credited with the amounts
deferred by, or contributed by the Company on behalf of, a participant
plus an assumed annual interest on such amounts at a rate designated
by the Committee from time to time as the benchmark assumed interest
rate.  This assumed interest shall be compounded annually and treated
as earned from the date of crediting to the date of withdrawal.

     The Participant Stock Account shall be credited at the end of
each month with the number of shares of Company Common Stock that
could be purchased at the Common Stock's then fair market value with
the amounts deferred by, or contributed by the Company on behalf of, a
participant each month plus any hypothetical dividends payable during
such month on the Company Common Stock previously credited to the
Participant Stock Account.  The value of each Participant Interest and
Stock Account shall be adjusted no less frequently than monthly to
reflect contributions to the Account, payments from the Account as
hereinafter provided, and assumed interest on the Interest Account or
additional stock purchases from hypothetical dividends on the Stock
Account.  The Stock Account shall also be adjusted no less frequently
than monthly to reflect any gains (or losses) in the fair market value
of Company Common Stock.

     All amounts credited to Participant Accounts shall be fully
vested at all times.  Except for the possible claims of the Company's
general creditors, they shall not be subject to forfeiture on account
of any action by a participant or by the Company, including
termination of employment.

     The maintenance of individual Participant Accounts is for
bookkeeping purposes only.  The Company is not obligated to make
actual contributions to fund this plan or to acquire or set aside any
particular assets for the discharge of its obligations, nor is any
participant to have any property rights in any particular assets held
by the Company, whether or not held for the purpose of funding the
Company's obligations hereunder.

5.   Payment of Deferred Amounts

     No withdrawal may be made from a Participant Account except as
provided in this section 5.  Payments from an Account shall normally
commence within 60 days following a participant's retirement or other
termination of employment provided that a participant may elect an
earlier date for payment of his own deferrals in the election form to
which his deferred amounts relate.  In the case of financial hardship,
the Committee, in its sole discretion, may distribute all or a portion
of an Account before termination of employment but the amount of the
distribution shall not exceed the amount needed to relieve the
financial hardship.  In the case of a potential violation of the $1
million cap on compensation under Code Section 162(m), the Company may
defer payments to a later year as authorized in section 3.  Any
payments deferred for Section 162(m) purposes shall be paid as soon as
payment would no longer constitute a violation of the Code Section
162(m) compensation cap.  Such payments shall be made in a manner as
consistent as possible with the participant's original deferral
election.  For example, if installment payments were elected, the
originally scheduled installment payments shall be made on schedule
for a year even if the participant is paid a lump sum in that same
year for the deferred payments.

     At any time prior to his becoming eligible to commence receiving
benefits, the participant shall make a single, irrevocable election
with the Committee to receive his benefits from either his Participant
Interest Account or his Participant Stock Account.  If no such
election is made, or in the event of the participant's death, payment
shall be made from whichever account has the higher value, measured at
the time of the benefit commencement date.  Payments from an Interest
Account shall be made only in cash and payments from a Stock Account
shall be made only in stock, provided that any fractional shares from
a Stock Account shall be paid in cash.

     An aggregate of 182,250 shares of Company Common Stock (subject
to substitution or adjustment as provided below) shall be available
for stock payments under this Plan.  Such shares may be authorized and
unissued shares or may be treasury shares.  In the event of any change
in the Common Stock of the Company by reason of any stock dividend,
recapitalization, reorganization, merger, consolidation, split-up,
combination, or exchange of shares, or rights offering to purchase
Common Stock at a price substantially below fair market value, or of
any similar change affecting the Common Stock, the number and kind of
shares which thereafter are available for stock payments under the
Plan shall be appropriately adjusted consistent with such change in
such manner as the Committee may deem equitable to prevent substantial
dilution or enlargement of the rights granted to, or available for,
participants in the Plan.

     All payments from a Participant Account shall be made in the form
of either a lump sum payment or monthly installments over a period of
years not to exceed ten as elected by the participant.  This election
shall be made on the participant's deferral notice, provided that the
participant may change this election, by written notice to the
Committee at any time up to 36 months prior to the actual benefit
commencement date.  Any requested change of an earlier election that
is made within the 36 month period preceding the actual benefit
commencement date shall not be effective and shall be disregarded by
the Committee.  Where payments are made in monthly installments, the
balance credited to a Participant Account shall be adjusted
periodically for assumed interest or stock purchases as provided in
section 4.

     If installment payments are elected, the first installment shall
equal the value of the Participant Account at such time multiplied by
a fraction, the numerator of which is one and the denominator of which
is the total number of monthly installments to be made.  All
subsequent installments shall equal the value of the Participant
Account as of the last valuation date preceding the installment which
is to be paid multiplied by a fraction, the numerator of which is one
and the denominator of which is the total number of installments
elected minus the number of installments already paid.

     In the event of a participant's death before the participant has
received all of the deferred payments to which the participant is
entitled hereunder, the remaining number of installments which would
have been paid to the participant shall be paid to the participant's
estate in the same manner that the participant would have received
them.

     Notwithstanding a participant's election of installment payments,
the Committee, in its sole discretion, shall have a right to
accelerate any such payments or to make payment of the balance in a
Participant Account in a lump sum.

6.   Participant's Rights Unsecured

     The right of any participant or, if applicable, the participant's
estate, to receive benefits under the provisions of this Plan shall be
an unsecured claim against the general assets of the Company.  Any
amounts held in a Participant Account are a part of the Company's
general assets and shall be reachable by the general creditors of the
Company.

7.   Statement of Account

     Statements will be sent to participants no less frequently than
annually setting forth the value of their Participant Accounts.

8.   Transferability

     The rights of a participant under this Plan shall not be
transferable other than by will or the laws of descent and
distribution and are exercisable during the participant's lifetime
only by him or by his guardian or legal representative.

9.   Plan Administrator

     The administrator of this Plan shall be a committee of the Board
of Directors of the Company as from time to time designated by the
Board.  The Committee's members shall be non-employees of the Company.
The Committee shall have the authority to adopt rules and regulations
for carrying out the Plan and to interpret, construe and implement the
provisions of the Plan.

10.  Amendment

     This Plan may at any time or from time to time be amended,
modified or terminated by the Company's Board of Directors.  No
amendment, modification or termination shall, without the consent of a
participant, adversely affect such participant's accruals in his or
her Participant Account.

11.  Governing Law

     This Plan and any participant elections hereunder shall be
interpreted and enforced in accordance with the laws of the State of
New York.

12.  Effective Date

     The effective date of this restated Plan is August 20, 1997.


     IN WITNESS WHEREOF, the Company has caused its duly authorized
officer to execute this Plan document on its behalf this 20th day of
August 1997.


                    DETECTION SYSTEMS, INC.

                    By _________________________
                       Frank J. Ryan, Vice President




                         Federal Tax Aspects

     The Plan is a non-qualified deferred compensation plan under the
provisions of the Internal Revenue Code.  At the time a Company
contribution or a participant's deferral of compensation is made, it
is intended that the participants will not recognize income, for
Federal income tax purposes.  In addition, assumed interest and
hypothetical dividends will not be treated as income at the time they
are credited to the participant accounts.

     Participants will recognize ordinary income at the time the
Company contributions and participant deferrals, together with the
earnings credited to these amounts, are actually paid out or made
available to the participants.  The amount of such ordinary income
will equal the amount of cash received plus the fair market value, on
the date of payment, of any shares paid or made available.

     The ultimate sale or exchange of any shares of common stock
received under the Plan will result in either long-term or short term
capital gain, or loss depending on the holding period.  Under current
law, long term capital gains or losses will result upon the
disposition of shares that are held for more than six months.  A
participant's basis in the shares will be the amount of income he
recognizes at the time the shares were actually paid or made available
to the participant.

     The Company is not entitled to deduct the amount of contributions
or deferrals into the Plan or the assumed interest or hypothetical
dividends credited to an account.  Instead, the Company is entitled to
take a deduction at the time a participant recognizes income.  The
amount of the deduction is the amount of income that a participant
must recognize.

     For Social Security tax (F.I.C.A.) purposes the Company
contributions and participant deferrals under the Plan are taxable as
"wages" at the time the services are performed.  This will result in
Social Security taxes to a participant and to the Company only where a
participant is otherwise below the Social Security Wage Base at the
time the contributions or deferrals are made.

     The Plan is not a tax-qualified plan under Section 401(a) of the
Internal Revenue Code and is not subject to ERISA.  The Company has
not received any ruling from the Internal Revenue Service concerning
the tax consequences of the Plan.