A Chain-Link Fence Alone Will Not Protect Your Business from Theft
Chain-link fences are a go-to for commercial properties across the United States. Business owners use them to define property lines and provide a barrier. When combined with a padlocked gate, many believe this is enough protection from theft and vandalism. It’s not.
A chain-link fence alone does not deter criminals from breaking into your property and stealing your equipment, goods, or valued assets. Why? Because a chain-link fence is not security.
In 2019 in the U.S., criminals committed 340,847 burglaries at commercial businesses, for an average of 933 burglaries per day. Falling victim to chain-link fence complacency is easy.
In this blog, we review the six pitfalls of relying solely on a chain-link fence to prevent theft and vandalism on your commercial property. By the time you’re finished reading, 6.4 commercial properties will have been burglarized.
1. A chain-link fence doesn’t alert you if it’s breached or damaged.
Visual inspection is the only way to know if a chain-link fence has been compromised. They have no real-time alert system to tell you that something has been cut or damaged. Whether a large tree limb falls on your fence overnight, or someone cuts into it with bolt cutters, you won’t know until the next morning when you find a thief-sized hole in your fence. Your chain-link fence has now become a silent accomplice in commercial theft.
2. Chain-link fences are easily breached.
Few chain-link fences stand taller than six feet. A decent running start and well-timed leap and criminals are into your yard without detection or consequence. The construction of a chain-link fence invites climbing, with its numerous footholds found in the weave of the chain. Almost any thief can toss goods over a six-foot fence to an accomplice. And an amateur thief can easily cut the fence in seconds with a decent set of bolt cutters.
Business owners try to increase security efforts by hiring security guards, which can be ineffective and cost prohibitive.
3. Breaching a chain-link fence offers no consequence.
Criminals suffer no physical consequences from climbing or touching a chain-link fence. They can climb it to get a better view of your property during a prior scout, in preparation of a planned break-in. In some instances, a chain-link fence can be an actual aid to criminals and not a deterrence.
A commercial perimeter fence that is electrified serves as a layer of security. Attempts to cut or climb the fence result in the delivery of 7,000 volts of pulsing electricity to shock would-be criminals. This is an effective deterrent to stop and flee. It is highly effective in discouraging a second touch, not to mention break-in attempts.
A chain-link fence can’t do any of that.
4. Chain-link fences are not visual deterrents.
There is nothing unique or intimidating about a chain-link fence – after all, we use them in our backyards. For a business, it affords no cover for the property and assets that criminals target. Not to mention, it can be perceived as out-of-date and even obsolete. Criminals have been known to repeatedly break into businesses that “protect” their property with a chain-link fence.
Because The Electric Guard Dog™ fence looms inside the existing chain-link fence, they now together become highly visible and an integral part of your perimeter security solution.
Our fence generously offers would-be thieves clear and visible bright yellow warning signs. A chain-link fence alone communicates that you have something you want to keep locked away, but that you’re not willing to put in the effort. Our signs by themselves serve as an additional layer of deterrence.
5. Chain-link fences are not sufficiently maintained.
Over time, chain-link fences deteriorate. They rust, fray, get damaged, and break down. A damaged fence indicates a neglected property, which attracts criminals. This is enhanced if vegetation overgrowth obscures the fence and offers additional cover for would-be thieves.
6. A chain-link fence is not security. That’s where we come in.
A chain-link fence simply defines a property line. It is not an effective security solution. This is why we often see chain-link fences dressed up with barbed wire. They’re easily cut and don’t alert management, security, or law enforcement if compromised. When no one is aware that theft is taking place, criminals get away clean.
AMAROK can turn your chain-link fence investment into the Ultimate Perimeter Security Solution. Increase the security measures on your site with the addition of The Electric Guard Dog fence—our integrated, solar-powered electric fencing solution with lights, alarms, and cameras. With surveillance, professional monitoring, 24/7 customer support, and service team at the ready, we take being a Security-as-a-Service partner seriously. We’re in the business to stop crime before it happens.
There are undeniable advantages of surrounding your business’s perimeter with The Electric Guard Dog™ fence from AMAROK.
- The Electric Guard Dog Fence™ from AMAROK knows when something’s wrong. Our technology provides alarm monitoring and alerts for any attempts to breach or cut the fence. Paired with sentinels, when your perimeter goes into alarm the Sentinel sounds its sirens, floods the area with light, and flashes powerful LED lights.
- AMAROK also offers FORTIFEYE®, a solution that integrates The Electric Guard Dog™ fence. This state-of-the-art video surveillance and video monitoring immediately will alert law enforcement and escalate the call to a crime in action—increasing the chances of catching thieves before they can escape. A white paper available here concludes that a multi-layered approach like FORTIFEYE the best crime deterrent.
- The Electric Guard Dog fence by AMAROK includes unlimited service and maintenance. If something breaks, a skilled technician will come out and repair it as part of our standard service.
- AMAROK also offers Vegetation Control to clear existing overgrowth on and around The Electric Guard Dog fence, including your existing chain link. This regular maintenance extends the lifetime value on both The Electric Guard Dog fence and your chain link fence.
- The Electric Guard Dog fence is 10 feet tall (or 2 feet taller than your existing fence) and stands just inside the perimeter of your existing chain-link fence. It’s impossible to climb over, cut, vault, or leap without consequences or alerts.
- With AMAROK, now, your chain-link fence does help offer security, because it’s an additional layer of deterrence for a criminal who faces a potential 7,000-volt shock from The Electric Guard Dog fence. “An electric security fence means your employees, customers, and businesses are safe1.”
1 White Paper: Why Alarms & Cameras Aren’t Enough to Protect Your Business
The Ultimate Perimeter Solution
AMAROK is the ultimate perimeter security solution because it deters thieves, so there is no need to deal with the aftermath of a crime. AMAROK deters criminals in three ways; a shock deterrent, physical deterrent, and alarm deterrent. Installing The Electric Guard Dog system is an effective way to prevent cargo theft at your business.
About AMAROK:
AMAROK™ is a full-perimeter security company based in Columbia, South Carolina, that provides commercial security services throughout the United States and Canada. Specializing in electric fencing and perimeter security systems for commercial properties, AMAROK also provides supplemental surveillance solutions, including cameras, lights, and alarms. Together, these business security services form the ultimate crime prevention solution for any business.
