Securing the Perimeter

Automated detection solutions prevent crime before loss occurs

• By Rolland Trayte
• Jun 01, 2011

Security technologies are valuable for their ability to deter criminal and illegal behavior. The visible addition of security cameras to highcrime areas reduces criminal activity significantly. But video surveillance isn’t the only valuable service or system that effectively reduces crime. The presence of security guards also limits illicit activity that leads to loss or damage, and regular visible patrols restrict the opportunity for violence.

Both solutions effectively prevent crime, but these methods have limits. Video surveillance is often not monitored in real time and, therefore, no one takes action to stop an incident before it occurs. At the same time, the role of a security guard has expanded, as officers are tasked with more duties on job sites than ever before.

Proprietary security teams engage security guards for a variety of tasks, including conducting regular patrols, greeting visitors, managing access identities and badges, and investigating suspicious incidents.

The increased purview makes it difficult for even the best-trained security guard to manage all tasks well.

Automated Perimeter Detection Solutions
The combination of security guard patrols and surveillance cameras is an ideal solution for perimeter security applications that can encompass miles of terrain. However, monitoring video and conducting patrols 24/7 is cost-prohibitive. Therefore, perimeter detection technologies that mimic the actions of a security guard are a cost-effective solution that can be used to prevent crime before it occurs. A system that engages in the same motions and movements of a security guard enables security teams to focus on more critical tasks and also acts as a force multiplier.

Automated perimeter detection solutions are developed on the idea that intelligent technologies can prevent and deter potential criminal activity before loss or damage occurs while decreasing response time.

These solutions can be used to enhance perimeter security and safety in the government, commercial, transportation, education and critical infrastructure markets, and in real-world applications they are proven to reduce criminal activity by as much as 90 percent in high-crime environments.

By leveraging advanced algorithms, automated perimeter detection systems automatically identify potentially dangerous targets within 700 feet and track objects to deter criminal behavior. Once it detects motion in a user-defined area, the system illuminates activity with a high-intensity LED light. It will then rotate to and from the activity zone. Once motion is no longer detected, it will conduct an area-wide search.

If it does not find additional movement, the system will conduct regular patrols of an area, scanning for unusual behavior. In this way, the system mimics the actions of a security guard to deter criminal behavior before loss or damage occurs. When integrated with IP or analog surveillance cameras, the solution captures valuable video evidence for forensic analysis.

Automated perimeter detection systems are designed to accurately detect targets in a wide range of outdoor environments.

Challenging the Perimeter
Vulnerability begins at a facility’s perimeter. The best chance of preventing a security breach is to deter and detect activity before loss or damage occurs. Yet many attempts at automated perimeter detection, such as with video analytics, are limited due to excessive false alarms and the challenges of outdoor conditions, including weather and other environmental factors. Automated perimeter detection solutions are reliable in all weather situations. They use robust exterior PIR sensors to detect activity and wirelessly report changes in that activity.

This solution is effective at preventing crime because of the inherent nature of its functionality. When a potential intruder realizes a guard has seen him, his reaction is to leave the scene before he is captured. Automated detection technologies have the same effect.

Once they detect movement in the area of protection and shine the high-intensity light, subjects retreat because they are aware they have been detected and that most of their actions have been, most likely, captured on video. The system’s capability to distinguish movement in a wide geographic area makes coverage effective and reliable. Because each environment offers unique challenges depending on its business processes and threat profiles, automated perimeter detection solutions have a customizable field of protection to enable users to define the size of the area the system searches. Furthermore, users also can customize the system’s automated tracking patterns, which are easy to adapt as a user’s risk profile changes.

The Combination of Security Staff and Technology
When guards are well trained and dedicated, they are an integral piece of a facility’s security program. Today, guards increasingly rely on the help of integrated security technologies to boost the benefits of regular security patrols. Technologies such as automated perimeter detection solutions enable guards to focus on critical tasks rather than patrolling areas with no visible threat. When a violent incident occurs, the combination of automated perimeter detection solutions and video surveillance provides better situational awareness, which enhances the safety of guards and emergency responders. The guard is then able to view video footage that corresponds with an event before deploying the correct level of response.

Automated perimeter detection systems are not meant to replace security guards; rather they are designed to augment their critical functions. Technologies such as this can be used to patrol a perimeter while guards are empowered to provide other valueadded security services. The combination of highly trained security officers with automated detection systems makes a facility safer, more secure and less vulnerable.

A Comprehensive Solution
An automated perimeter detection solution is an effective way to prevent crime and becomes a forensic tool when combined with video surveillance cameras.

The combined solution is then truly proactive and reactive, enabling security teams to stop activity and investigate the underlying cause. Remote video monitoring is another valuable option that enables users to monitor the solution from an offsite location.

Whatever additional capabilities are needed, a robust automated perimeter detection solution can be integrated with a variety of edge devices to provide a comprehensive, best-of-breed security solution that delivers immediate return-on-investment, reduces loss and enhances safety.

This article originally appeared in the June 2011 issue of Security Today.