No matter your industry or location, effective perimeter security is essential for preventing unlawful access and theft. However, finding an effective security solution can be a challenge since you must factor in elements like blind spots and weather. Luckily, there are numerous perimeter security options for an effective solution.
What Is Physical Perimeter Security?
Physical perimeter security refers to any system that’s used to protect structures, people, and business assets from crime. Your strategy can include a variety of measures designed to deter, detect, and delay potential thieves — with a focus on your property’s boundaries.
Perimeter security systems are instrumental in safeguarding organizations in various industries, from equipment rental to transportation infrastructure to trucking yards. Modern approaches often combine traditional security options like guards with sophisticated technology and can include any of the following:
- Physical barriers
- Access control
- Video cameras
- Face and license plate-recognition technology
- Biometric and credential readers
- Security guards
The ideal physical perimeter security configuration will vary based on the threat potential of your specific business and location.
The Importance of Perimeter Security as Theft Grows
External theft has become a growing concern for facilities in many industries over the past five years. Consider these statistics:
- The number of vehicle thefts per 100,000 people jumped from 199.4 incidents in 2019 to 283.5 in 2023.
- Vehicle parts like common powertrain controllers are also attractive targets, and their theft has risen over the past two years.
- Cargo theft topped $39 million in the third quarter of 2024, with a 14% annual increase in incidents.
- In 2024, about 4,000 reported incidents of copper theft occurred in three months, many targeting critical infrastructure.
- Within the past five years, 66% of businesses have experienced physical security breaches.
- The average cost of a physical security incident is around $100,000.
Investing in robust perimeter security solutions is the best way to preserve your assets, customer trust, and bottom line. These systems effectively fulfill the deter-detect-delay foundation of perimeter security. The benefits of implementing a well-designed strategy include:
- Complying with regulations: Reducing your risk helps avoid penalties and fines from regulatory authorities for failure to have compliant security measures.
- Improving employee safety and morale: Increased property safety can help prevent unnecessary employee turnover through greater peace of mind.
- Retaining more customers: Perimeter security shows customers you value them and their trust, reducing the potential for attrition and future revenue loss.
- Protecting uptime and profitability: Stopping external crime prevents the operational disruptions it often causes, protecting profitability.
- Saving money: Effective perimeter security helps you avoid higher insurance premiums and safeguard against legal actions brought by customers.
How to Use Perimeter Security to Protect Your Organization
The best strategy combines multiple security measures for comprehensive protection that stop unauthorized entry before it can happen.
1. Enhance Property Visibility and Maintenance
Dark, poorly maintained commercial and industrial properties attract thieves. Enhanced visibility and upkeep help address this issue. Lay a strong foundation for perimeter security by installing bright lighting and following a regular property maintenance routine.
Well-lit properties make criminal activity easier to observe, which helps deter it. Strategically placed, energy-efficient LED floodlights and wall lights ensure thieves have nowhere to hide. Options include solar-powered fixtures and automatic dusk-to-dawn lights for extra convenience in addition to cost savings.
Routine property maintenance is also instrumental in stopping potential threats. Trim any overgrown vegetation that could provide cover or permit thieves to climb over or onto structures. Similarly, remove any debris on the property that criminals might use for those purposes, like pallets they could stack. Taking these steps can also promote visibility for security guards, cameras, or passersby to help thwart criminal activity.
2. Add Fencing
Fences offer an imposing structure that deters would-be intruders and a physical barrier to unlawful entry. Fencing materials can range from wood to wire mesh to palisade, block, stucco, and chain-link.
Electric fences are also a viable perimeter fencing solution, and many can be integrated with additional security measures for a multi-layer approach. Electric fencing uses pulsed electricity to deliver a safe but memorable shock to potential intruders. Warning signs along these fences also help keep opportunistic thieves off your property before they attempt to breach the perimeter.
Additionally, you can customize your fence to enhance protection based on property-specific risks. For example, angled fencing helps prevent criminals from throwing items over the fence. Lay-down fencing safeguards against digging.
3. Supplement With Extra Layers
Strengthen your defenses by adding more layers that work in tandem with lights and fencing, such as:
- Gate Access Control: Solutions like access-control gates make attempted breaches easier to detect and stop. Automated gates typically rely on credential readers or technology like license-plate recognition to permit access.
- Video surveillance: While cameras can’t stop crime, they can provide visual verification and evidence. Combine video surveillance and remote monitoring for peace of mind that eyes are on your property 24/7/365.
- Alarm-based lighting: Thieves hate extra attention, especially while attempting to breach a property’s perimeter at night. Alarm-based lighting systems bathe the area with extra illumination when a possible threat triggers the alarm.
4. Consult With a Perimeter Security Expert
Knowing your potential risks and threats is essential for developing a successful perimeter security strategy. These risks can vary widely between locations and facilities, from on-site asset values to challenging topography.
A perimeter security expert will collaborate with you to help design the most effective strategy for your requirements. Ask about a threat assessment to identify where gaps exist, then the experts can recommend the right solutions.
Trust the Leader in Perimeter Security Solutions for the Ultimate Protection
AMAROK is the smarter approach to perimeter security, with 99% of customers experiencing zero external theft. Take a layered approach to your organization’s security with solutions like The Electric Guard Dog™ Fence and more. Hear what our over 8,000 happy customers have to say about working with AMAROK to prevent costly theft.
Our team will analyze your specific property and offer a solution to best fit your needs — all with no upfront fees, just one manageable monthly service subscription. Your monthly fee includes unlimited maintenance service and repair, including lifetime upgrades of equipment for zero cost of ownership. Whether for upgrades, repairs, or maintenance, our nationwide network of field support technicians will get to your property faster than the competition.
Get started by connecting with your local perimeter security expert or contact us today for more information.
