Category: Perimeter and external

Perimeter security determines how a maximum-security facility operates. If potential threats can be stopped at a perimeter, or delayed long enough to be challenged, the rest of the security system is functioning optimally. If perimeter security fails, then the staff and technology operate at maximum strain.

Perimeter security is where design decisions dominate the first impression of any security system. Properly implemented anti-climb fencing, strategically placed perimeter lighting, and correctly operating gates communicates that security has been thoroughly considered and implemented. Dark and sagging fence panels say the opposite.

It takes skill to get security design right. Lighting that’s too bright in the wrong places creates shadows that work against you. If the wrong materials are used at the top, fencing that looks formidable can still be defeated quickly. Automatic gates that close too slowly become a tailgating risk. Vehicle barriers that are not rated for the threat level they’re meant to address give a false sense of security. This section covers fencing across the range from domestic up to high-security industrial, automatic gates including the safety standards that have tightened considerably in recent years, vehicle barriers and the difference between traffic management and genuine hostile vehicle mitigation, security lighting done properly, and the anti-climb measures — toppings, paint, spikes, sensors — that turn a climbable fence into one that isn’t worth attempting.