dedicated to perimeter safety and security
September 2025 Issue
A MESSAGE FROM THE PUBLISHER
Why Perimeter Protection Is Always Seen As Too Much—Until It Isn’t
Perimeters are a Perplexing Thing.
“Security is always seen as too much—until the day it’s not enough.”
Judge William Webster, who passed last month at 101, used that line often. It’s never felt more true.
A memorial service for Judge Webster was held on September 18, 2025. His career spanned the U.S. Navy during the Korean War, a federal judgeship, and appointments by two presidents. President Carter named him director of the FBI, and Reagan later appointed him director of the CIA.
I met him a few years ago, when he was 98 and still mowing his own lawn. That discipline and resilience defined him as much as his service.
Webster’s well-known quote captures the paradox every security leader faces: protection looks expensive until the day disaster strikes and it suddenly looks inadequate. That’s why CSOs invoke it to justify budgets, and salespeople cite it to push reluctant buyers past hesitation. It’s more than a line. It’s a reminder that the true cost of security is only clear in hindsight. I’ve used it myself in books, articles, and presentations because it distills the argument better than pages of data ever could.
Perimeter safety and security remain among the most difficult challenges to define, defend, and achieve. Legally, a perimeter is just a line between the edge of what you own and what you don’t. But in practice, protecting that line is far from simple. The consequences of failure are measured not just in dollars, but in lives.
Consider the evidence:
- Storefront Crashes: More than 100 a day, according to the Storefront Safety Council. Each year, they account for over 2,600 deaths and 16,000 injuries.
- Rising Costs: Overhaul reported 2,217 incidents of outdoor cargo theft in 2024, a 49% jump from the year before. For 2025, the forecast is 2,750 thefts and nearly $35 billion in losses. Those costs ripple out to businesses, insurers, and ultimately every consumer.
- Mass Shootings: Roughly 500 incidents occurred annually in 2023–2024, each beginning with a weapon carried across a perimeter that failed to stop it.
By every measure, the current investment in perimeter security is not excessive. The facts are clear: it is not enough.
What should the next phase of perimeter protection look like, and how do we as an industry lead the way?
Thank you for keeping our communities safe and secure,
Mark McCourt
SMART PERIMETER SEPTEMBER FEATURE
Can Your Fence Survive the Next Breach?
Smart fences are no longer theory. They’re spotting cuts, climbs, and blackouts before anyone reaches your assets.
Smart fences go way beyond fences enabled with Wi-Fi.
A fence that feels a climb. A barrier that knows when it’s cut. A perimeter that keeps working even when the grid goes dark. This isn’t science fiction. It’s the new reality of smart fences—physical barriers wired with sensors, analytics, and communications that detect intrusions in real time. In 2025, those systems are increasingly fiber-optic, IP-native, AI-assisted, and often solar-powered. The result: perimeters that don’t just stand there, but actively detect, deter, document, and direct a response in one motion.
Done right, a smart fence can pinpoint an intrusion to within a meter and filter out wind, rain, and traffic. But what actually works in the field—and what’s just vendor hype?
What Exactly is a Smart Fence? From Barrier to Nervous System
A smart fence still begins with steel—chain-link, welded mesh, palisade, or ornamental panels—but that’s only the skeleton. What makes it “smart” is the nervous system layered onto it: perimeter intrusion detection systems (PIDS) mounted to or integrated with the fence, plus software that can alarm, verify, and escalate. The PIDS layer includes cable-based sensors (microphonic or accelerometer), fiber-optic sensing that localizes cut/climb attempts, and microwave/IR/radar/thermal coverage for gaps and approaches.
That nervous system can take different forms:
- Cable or microphonic sensors, retrofit friendly, are tuned to the vibration signatures of a cut or climb, now refined with DSP to filter out wind and rain.
- Fiber-optic sensing that can trace a disturbance across long runs, localize an intruder to within a meter, and resist EMI around utilities and petrochemical sites.
- Thermal, radar, and video overlays that extend the fence’s reach for long-range detection to the approaches and blind spots, slewing cameras automatically to verify what’s happening in real time. Used often on large campuses or critical infrastructure applications.
Done right, the fence becomes a sensor grid, one that doesn’t just mark a boundary, but feels, filters, and pinpoints. And the farther away the threat is detected, the more time operators have to respond before it reaches the high-value assets inside.
The Modern Layered Solution
Smart fences don’t ship as a single product, instead, they arrive as layers. Each one builds on the last, turning a passive boundary into an active defense system.1) Physical Barriers: Steel still matters. Palisade and welded mesh profiles remain the backbone for high-security sites, with suppliers like Ameristar (ASSA ABLOY) building industrial-grade lines and custom gates that resist brute force.
2) Fence-Mounted Detection:
- Senstar FlexZone locates cut/climb attempts along the fabric and integrates with site VMS/PSIM.
- Southwest Microwave INTREPID MicroPoint family (including PoE variants) localizes to ~1.1 m and filters environmental noise.
- Fiber SenSys (OPTEX Group) offers multi-zone fiber products (e.g., FD7104, FD525) with built-in web tools and PoE power options.
- RBtec provides microphonic cable and low-cost fence alarm kits for commercial/industrial runs.
3) Approaches and Dead Zones: The blind spots between fences and cameras are often where intruders slip through. That’s why sites overlay thermal and visible analytics, line up active infrared beams, and drop in compact ground radar to classify movement and keep nuisance alarms in check.
4) Orchestration: None of it matters if alerts stay siloed. Integrators now tie PIDS into access control, video management, and SOC workflows so an event at the fence triggers a coordinated response, not just a blinking light.
Done right, these layers add up to more than the sum of their parts.
Can Your Fence Survive a Blackout?
A smart fence is only as strong as its power source. When the grid falters, or intruders deliberately cut it, the perimeter has to stay alive. Operators are solving that challenge in a few different ways:
- PoE Along the Fence Line: Modern fence sensors and processors increasingly support Power over Ethernet from Altronix and other suppliers, simplifying power/data to the edge and enabling browser-based zoning.
- Solar + Battery: For electrified deterrent fences and remote sites, solar power isn’t an afterthought, it’s the design. Companies like AMAROK run 24/7 through outages, while portable solar-battery kits are keeping temporary and remote perimeters lit and live.
- Conventional AC with Local UPS: For segments where PoE isn’t practical, small DC/PoE UPS units bridge the short gaps and keep IP devices online until the grid returns.
Today, PoE has become the default for IP-based fence sensors, while solar plus battery dominates deterrent fences that need continuous uptime. But the bigger question lingers: when the lights go out, will your perimeter keep working—or go blind along with everything else?
Where Smart Fences Are Taking Hold
The fastest adopters of smart fences are the places where a breach can ripple far beyond the property line.
- Emergency Management and Higher Ed: In Eaton County, MI, fence-line sensors feed into a Motorola Rave system that pairs geo-targeted alerts with 911 data—turning a perimeter event into instant communication across agencies and campuses.
- Airports, Utilities, Oil & Gas, Defense: These critical sites lean on fiber-optic sensing for its long runs and immunity to electromagnetic interference, which is essential around pipelines, substations, and flight operations.
- K-12 and Higher Education: Schools and universities are layering perimeter detection with thermal imaging and AI analytics, creating campus-wide security that sees threats earlier and filters out false alarms.
From public safety to critical infrastructure, the pattern is clear: smart fences are appearing first where disruption costs the most. The open question is which commercial and industrial sectors will follow and how quickly.
What’s Next & What to Request in RFPs
- IP-Native + PoE Devices: Processors, illuminators, and sensors that run on PoE with browser-based zoning aren’t premium anymore—they’re table stakes.
- AI at the Edge: Fence sensors should be able to fuse data with thermal and radar to cut nuisance alarms. Don’t take it on faith. Ask integrators to show their confusion-matrix results from live deployments.
- Solar-First Designs: For deterrent fences and remote segments, solar plus battery is the only proven way to guarantee uptime. Demand battery sizing specs and enforceable SLAs.
- Open Integration: Your fence line can’t be a dead end. Require APIs and tested tie-ins to access control, VMS, and mass notification. Integrators like Convergint and Securitas are already deploying these tie-ins at scale.
Spec It Like It Matters
If your perimeter plan is still “8-foot chain-link and a couple of PTZs,” you’re not stopping threats, you’re paying to watch them succeed. Smart fences can pinpoint a cut, stay alive through a blackout, and push video to your SOC in seconds.
The real question is: when your fence is tested, will it still be dumb steel—or part of a smart active defense?
Fence image courtesy of Senstar
Technology Trends: Kiosks Are the Future of Security: Burgers & Dispensaries Get It… Doctors’ Offices Don’t
Since the pandemic, I’ve been saying this everywhere I can: the future of security isn’t uniforms or even intelligent AI cameras scanning our every move. It’s kiosks.
Yes, boxes. But not just metal boxes. Think fully customizable machines with a menu of options. Two-way intercoms, flashing strobes, ADA-compliant displays, biometric or ID readers, printers, cameras, sensors, and touch screens, all wrapped in a casing that blends into its environment.
Sound far-fetched? It’s already here. You just need to look around.
Everyday Proof: Burgers, Gummies, and Clipboards
At my favorite burger joint, the kiosk doesn’t flinch when I order a midnight mega-meal with two apple pies. It prints the receipt, remembers my preferences, and keeps the line moving.
At my dispensary (my wife has the prescription, I promise), the kiosk tracks past orders, doubles them for a buy-one-get-one promo, and gets me out in under five minutes. Fast, discreet, efficient.
And then there’s my doctor’s office. No kiosk. Just the same clipboard, same paperwork, same annoyed receptionist. Every visit, it’s like my identity resets along with my insurance forms. Meanwhile, I can walk through TSA with an iris scan in seconds. Why can’t my doctor’s office keep up?
The Kiosk Takeover
The real revolution is happening in security and visitor management. Imagine you’re a contractor arriving to service cameras at a corporate office. Instead of waiting for a receptionist who doesn’t know you, you approach a kiosk. It verifies your ID, checks certifications, issues a badge, and directs you where to go. Security knows who you are, why you’re there, and that you’re approved.
This isn’t hypothetical. Kiosks are already replacing sign-in sheets and guards with precision and zero-trust certainty: you’re either in (yes) or out (no). They’ll soon be in every lobby, warehouse gate, stadium, amusement park, school, and government building.
And when kiosks are tied into smart platforms, they’re not just check-in stations. They become nodes in a connected perimeter ecosystem, integrated with sensors, cameras, gates, and alarms to form the first line of defense.
The Pros: Efficiency, Compliance, and Heightened Security
Kiosks don’t get tired, they don’t mishear your name, and they don’t skip over visitors in the logbook. They’re ruthlessly consistent: scan, verify, approve. For businesses, they’re also a compliance dream. Every entry is time-stamped, credential-checked, and stored in perfect digital order, ready for regulators or auditors at a moment’s notice.
And because kiosks remove the gray area—there’s no “I forgot my badge, but you know me”—they deter bad behavior. People know they can’t bluff or sweet-talk their way inside, so many won’t even bother trying.
The Cons: Surveillance, Glitches, and Goodbye Humanity
Let’s be honest. Kiosks are also surveillance hubs. Every biometric, every credential scan becomes data stored somewhere, which hackers and marketers would love to exploit.
They can also sometimes crash, freeze, or reboot at the worst times. A line of contractors waiting outside a warehouse because the kiosk is “installing updates” isn’t a security win.
And kiosks are cold. They don’t offer sympathy, read anxiety, or handle complex situations. Sometimes you really do need a human.
The Kiosk Society
This may sound like science fiction, but it isn’t. Kiosks are becoming the gateways to daily life. They’ll decide who gets into buildings, who sees a doctor, who boards a plane, and who attends a concert. They’ll be the gatekeepers of everything “at work and at play.”
And kiosks are going to win. Not because they’re perfect, but because they’re faster, more convenient, and utterly indifferent. In the same way ATMs replaced bank tellers, kiosks will replace receptionists, intake nurses, and even some security staff.
We’ll gripe, rant, and roll our eyes. And then we’ll tap the screen, get our badge, and move on, because kiosks don’t care about our excuses. They’ve already won the war.
My Futurist Wish
So here’s my wish for what I refer to as my Flintstones-to-Jetsons vision. Kiosks will be everywhere because they make sense. Airports? Already there. Office lobbies? Let’s do it. Dispensaries? The most regulated business on the planet. Doctors’ offices? PLEASE. For the love of all that is holy, give me a kiosk instead of another clipboard.
Because if burger joints can remember my last order, and my weed store can track my favorite gummies, then my doctor can step up.
This is going to happen because I know that the next generation (my kids) are already “techies” and they understand that it’s a new world, and biometric access and interaction are the future.
The future is kiosks. We can resist, we can rant, but in the end, we’ll all be standing in line waiting for the screen to say, “next.”
By Doug O’Gorden
All opinions expressed are those of the guest author.
5 Questions With…
Brad Donaldson – VP, Computer Vision & GM, SAFR
Insights into AI, Facial Recognition, and What’s Ahead
FEATURED CONTENT
Securing the Edge: Layered Perimeter Protection for Data Centers
Today’s intruders don’t always look like hackers. They blend in as contractors, visitors, or employees—slipping through entrances that aren’t fully secured. That’s why the most effective data centers build defense in layers, starting at the outer perimeter and tightening access as people move toward critical systems in the interior of the building.
Building a Defensible Perimeter with Secure Entry Solutions
Protecting a data center starts long before the server room. Unattended secure entry points deployed from the fence line to the core create the layered barriers that attackers can’t easily bypass. A comprehensive security approach might include:
- Full-Height Turnstiles: First line of defense at the perimeter, deterring unauthorized entry and blocking tailgating or piggybacking attempts.
- Security Revolving Doors: Control access to building interiors, ensuring only credentialed personnel enter without heavy guard supervision.
- Interlocking Mantrap Portals: Critical for high-security areas like server rooms, enforcing a strict one-person rule to keep intruders out of sensitive spaces.
Data centers may also need to secure external infrastructure zones, like fenced generator yards or power equipment enclosures, where a breach could disable operations just as effectively as tampering with servers. Additionally, for high-security sites, solutions can be pushed to the property line, leveraging full-height outdoor turnstiles to limit who can step onto the grounds.
When combined with automated identity verification, these solutions form a continuous security chain that minimizes human error and strengthens every layer of defense.
“Unattended secure entry points deployed from the fence line to the core create the layered barriers that attackers can’t easily bypass.”
Four Layers of Physical Security in Data Centers
Establishing layered security zones is essential for safeguarding data centers, with each layer acting as a checkpoint that heightens security as individuals approach sensitive core areas.
Layer 1: The Perimeter
The first line of defense is the facility perimeter, designed to deter unauthorized entry entirely. Full-height turnstiles at entry gates allow only credentialed personnel through, serving as an effective deterrent. Advanced sensor technology prevents tailgating and piggybacking by detecting multiple individuals attempting entry and locking down the turnstile when unauthorized access is detected. Turnstiles with walk-away detection further enhance security by blocking unapproved individuals from entering restricted areas.
Layer 2: The Building Entrance
Once authorized personnel pass the perimeter, they encounter the second layer: the building entrance. Security revolving doors, equipped with sophisticated presence detection, ensure that only one person enters per access attempt. These doors can withstand physical attacks, are energy efficient, and provide additional barriers against environmental threats like dust and humidity, which is essential in maintaining a clean data environment.
Layer 3: Internal Entrances
An additional security layer protects the lobby and other internal areas within the building. Security revolving doors and similar manned or unmanned access points further separate both public and restricted areas. This layer prevents walk-in security breaches and reinforces security for contractors or visitors who require supervised access within the facility.
Layer 4: Critical Infrastructure
The core of the data center’s security strategy lies in protecting its most sensitive areas, such as server rooms. Interlocking mantrap portals enforce strict access control with identity verification measures like biometrics. These portals admit only authorized individuals and apply the one-person rule with advanced algorithms, ensuring secure access even in cases of attempted collusion or substitution. This design, combined with redundant checks, provides comprehensive protection for critical infrastructure against unauthorized access.
Added Benefits of Unattended Secured Entry Solutions
Beyond stopping intruders, unattended secured entry solutions bring added value that strengthens both operations and compliance in data centers:
- Energy Efficiency: Revolving doors and mantrap portals stay closed, stabilizing temperature and humidity while reducing dust infiltration.
- Regulatory Compliance: Automated reporting and immutable access records help facilities demonstrate adherence to PCI DSS, ISO 27001, and other standards.
- Labor Efficiency: Automated entrances reduce reliance on guards, filling gaps during staffing shortages and lowering long-term costs.
By delivering both protection and performance, secure entry solutions strengthen the business case for building a resilient perimeter.
Layered Entrance Security: The Foundation of Perimeter Defense
As cyber threats increasingly take physical form, data centers can’t rely on guards or traditional access control alone. A determined intruder only needs one weak point to compromise an entire facility.
That’s why layered security entrances matter. Full-height turnstiles at the property line, revolving doors at the building entrance, mantrap portals inside the core, and secure access to exterior power enclosures all create zones of defense that deny, delay, and detect intruders before they impact critical systems.
When tied into digital identity verification, these unattended entrances form a continuous chain of protection, securing every layer from the perimeter to the server room. The result is a defensible perimeter that strengthens safety and security by shutting down threats long before they touch the network.
By Greg Schreiber – Boon Edam
Images courtesy of Boon Edam.
Varied Approaches to Emergency Notification Bring New Challenges for Specifiers
Perimeter safety no longer stops at the fence line. Today, “the edge” of risk might be a refinery gate, a schoolyard, or a remote worksite. Emergency notification (EN) systems are the connective tissue between threat intelligence and human response. Vendors are competing fiercely on how they define that edge, how fast they can reach it, and how well they integrate with the broader security ecosystem.
Keep Reading to Find Out What is Non-Negotiable for EN…
And What Leading Vendors are Doing…
How Leading Vendors Address the Perimeter
- Everbridge frames perimeter security as an expanding risk zone. Its High Velocity Critical Event Management (CEM) platform is marketed to help organizations “understand the expanding risk zone,” applying purpose-built AI (Machine Learning, gen-AI, computer vision) to detect risks, guide decisions, and orchestrate responses.
- Genasys emphasizes keeping people outside the danger zone. In a critical infrastructure press release, the company highlights its ability to deliver highly intelligible warnings beyond the security perimeter, keeping people at a safe distance. CEO Richard Danforth describes Genasys Protect as an “intuitive, integrated platform” for high-stakes environments, combining preparedness, response and analytics software.
- Rave Mobile Safety (Motorola Solutions) focuses on campuses and municipalities. Rave Collaborate highlights that the platform integrates critical communication, crisis management and personal safety, giving campus police and administrators a single pane of glass for incident response. Rave Alert provides a single launch point for multi-channel notifications—text, email, voice calls, social media, digital signage, sirens, and desktop alerts.
- AlertMedia defines perimeter risk as the need to see threats early. A 2025 release introduced AI-driven early risk signals and narrative monitoring tools that help security teams detect and track emerging threats before they affect executives, facilities or brands. CEO Christopher Kenessey says the platform pairs AI with human-verified intelligence to “rapidly detect risks, eliminate information silos and safeguard organizations.”
- Alertus tailors its risk lens by sector. In its critical-infrastructure overview, Alertus notes that utilities and ports face “unplanned system downtime, intruder threats and highly explosive or hazardous material handling,” and that organizations must notify everyone across broad areas with adequate warning. The company’s four alerting layers—facility-based devices, network-based desktop alerts, outdoor sirens and personal mobile messages—reflect its belief that perimeters are multi-modal.
- Omnilert positions the perimeter as the place where gun violence starts. Its outdoor-security page states that “about half of gun violence starts outdoors” and calls the perimeter “where trouble begins,” particularly for large or remote facilities. Omnilert’s AI gun-detection system scans existing cameras to spot firearms and trigger an automated response before shots are fired.
- Alert FM sees risk as the inability to reach everyone when power or cellular networks fail. Its FM-subcarrier and satellite network delivers emergency alerts in under five seconds, broadcasting targeted messages to receivers throughout communities.
Why Layering Has Become Non-Negotiable in EN
Across the EN market, the message is consistent: detection, communication, and automation must be layered.
- Everbridge integrates AI analytics, threat-intelligence feeds and multi-channel messaging into its CEM platform. Its layered approach starts with risk intelligence (monitoring news, weather and social media) and extends to automated orchestration of response teams.
- Genasys layers high-power acoustic devices, software and analytics. Its portfolio includes Long Range Acoustic Devices (LRAD) for outdoor warning, Genasys Alert for multi-channel messaging, and Genasys Evac for zone-based evacuations. The platform can push voice or text alerts beyond the perimeter to keep people away.
- Rave/Motorola combines mobile apps, SMS, email, voice calls, social media, digital signage, sirens and desktop pop-ups into a single launch point. It also offers panic buttons and geo-targeted notifications within Rave Alert and integrates with campus safety apps like Rave Guardian.
- AlertMedia fuses threat intelligence with two-way mass notification. Its new AI capabilities provide early signals of emerging threats, monitor social narratives and allow organizations to track assignments and progress for each incident.
- Alertus structures its system around four alerting layers—facility-based devices (IP speakers, beacons, strobes), network-based desktops and VoIP phones, outdoor siren and speaker arrays, and personal/mobile notification. Features like one-touch activation, geo-targeted alerting and preset messages support rapid, location-specific communication.
- Omnilert combines AI gun detection with human verification and automated notification. AI scans existing cameras for firearms, while verified detections trigger immediate lockdowns, signage updates and multi-channel alerts. The platform’s open integration enable alerts to flow into an organization’s preferred VMS or command-center software.
- Alert FM layers satellite delivery with FM radio subcarriers. Emergency managers compose a message in the AlertStudio web portal and send it via satellite to FM broadcast stations, which then transmit alerts to dedicated receivers within seconds. Because the system uses overlapping FM signals, it remains functional when power and cellular networks fail.
From AI gun detection to FM radio backup, leaders agree: only a layered web of detection, communication, and automation can truly secure the perimeter.
Takeaways for Security Leaders
As threats evolve—from active shooters at remote facilities to cyber-physical attacks on critical infrastructure—emergency-notification companies will continue to blur the lines between perimeter security, risk intelligence and crisis management. The question for specifiers is no longer which vendor to choose, but whose vision of the perimeter matches your risk reality.
How are you as a buyer evaluating vendors? How are you as a vendor addressing customer risk?
The Quiet Heist Threatening Logistics
How a $1.4M Truckload Vanished Before Dawn
Before dawn in early September 2025, thieves slipped into a truck yard in San Bernardino County. Minutes later, an entire tractor-trailer loaded with computers—worth nearly $1.4 million—was gone. The thieves didn’t need sophisticated cyber tactics. They didn’t need to bribe insiders. All they had to do was breach the yard and roll out.
For law enforcement, the recovery was a stroke of luck: real-time tracking flagged the anomaly, and the truck was eventually traced across Los Angeles County. But for the logistics industry, the message was chilling. If one crew could move that much cargo that easily, how many other thefts are going undetected—or never recovered at all?
The weakest link in global logistics isn’t the driver. It’s the gate.
The Rising Cost of Cargo Crime
The San Bernardino heist is just one headline in a larger pattern. Across North America, thieves are no longer treating cargo theft as a side hustle. It’s creating a billion-dollar impact on logistics and the supply chain.
The data proves it.
CargoNet
logged 3,625 thefts in 2024, with an average loss of $202,364 per incident. And 2025 is off to an even worse start: 787 thefts in the first quarter alone, costing logistics firms more than $63 million.
What’s driving the shift? Opportunists have discovered that cutting a fence or exploiting a weak gate can yield faster, cleaner paydays than complex fraud. Site and yard thefts are escalating, while identity scams plateau. Meanwhile, commodities tell their own story: food, beverages, and high-demand metals like copper are topping the hit lists.
The National Insurance Crime Bureau is candid: if trends continue, theft losses could spike another 22% in 2025, setting yet another unfortunate record.
Enforcement and Industry Response
In August 2025, law enforcement agencies in Southern California uncovered a startling cargo theft ring. Hardware stores in Montebello and Huntington Park were revealed as fronts, moving about $4.5 million worth of stolen goods—power tools, appliances, e-bikes—from trucks, trains, and docks.
Multiple agencies, including the LAPD’s Commercial Crimes Division, Union Pacific Police, and the Los Angeles Port Police, worked together to serve search warrants, make arrests, and expose how deeply thefts are woven into the logistics supply chain.
Insurers and industry groups are turning up the pressure. NICB and major underwriters warn that accounts without strong physical security, driver verification, and layered defenses face heightened exposure—and potentially higher premiums. Meanwhile, TAPA and CargoNet are issuing seasonal theft advisories, urging operators to harden yards and verify drivers in advance of peak holiday surges.
Is law enforcement pulling ahead of criminal adaptation, or always a step behind?
The National Insurance Crime Bureau is candid: if trends continue, theft losses could spike another 22% in 2025, setting yet another unfortunate record.
Securing the Yard: From Policy to Perimeter
Logistics operators know the fence line is now a front line. Compliance programs like Customs-Trade Partnership Against Terrorism (CTPAT) and TAPA Facility Security Requirements (FSR) make it clear: security starts at the perimeter. But in practice, the playbook is still evolving.
Some yards are moving beyond chain-link to electric fences integrated with vibration sensors. Others rely on AI cameras and radar grids to fill blind spots. Gates are being re-engineered, marrying License Plate Recognition (LPR) with Yard Management Systems (YMS) to verify drivers before a truck ever moves.
And the perimeter doesn’t end at the yard. Once cargo is on the road, in-transit safeguards like covert trackers, geofenced smart locks, and strict driver ID verification extend that protective ring for miles.
The “onion principle”—layer upon layer of defenses—is catching on. But just how many layers are enough still remains an open question.
When STG Swapped Guards for a Live Fence
In Newark, STG Logistics made a bold move: replacing 24/7 guard staffing with a monitored electric fence and a redesigned gate flow provided by AMAROK. The change paid off. Throughput at the yard gate improved, operating costs dropped, and after-hours intrusions slowed.
For some operators, it’s a proof point that new technology can outpace traditional manned security. For others, it’s a reminder that a vigilant approach to perimeter security must include layers and some level of smart or automated deterrence and detection.
What’s Left Unanswered: What the Industry Must Address
Every multimillion-dollar heist starts the same way: with a breach at the perimeter. Some operators are doubling down on defenses, others are betting it won’t be their yard that’s tested next.
How many more headlines will it take before the industry admits the fence line is still wide open? How can logistics leaders—not just insurers and law enforcement—set the pace on perimeter security before thieves do?
And finally, how can the perimeter safety and security sector step up to support them?
Your input is valuable. Send your comments here.
NEWS ON THE EDGE
Join Us at ISC East: New smartPerimeter.ai Perimeter Education Track
November 18–20, Javits Center, NYC
MEDIA SPONSORS
smartPerimeter.ai, in partnership with ISC (Reed Expo) and the Security Industry Association (SIA), is introducing a brand new Perimeter Safety and Security Education Track at ISC East. As part of the broader SIA Education @ ISC East program, five dedicated sessions have been crafted to address the latest strategies, technologies, and real-world applications in perimeter safety and security.
Learn more about SIA Education @ ISC East: Education.
Near-Zero False Alarms: How PureTech Sets the Standard in Perimeter Security
PureTech Systems® is transforming the way organizations protect critical assets with advanced geospatial video analytics and intelligent command-and-control solutions. Its flagship software, PureActiv®, is trusted worldwide to deliver real-time, automated protection across the most demanding environments—from borders and coastlines to energy facilities, transportation hubs, and military installations.
What sets PureTech apart is its ability to achieve near-zero nuisance alarms. By combining its patented geospatial AI video analytics and other artificial intelligence algorithms, PureActiv filters out false alarms and ensures operators respond only to real threats. This unmatched accuracy not only reduces operational costs but also strengthens security effectiveness.
Designed for flexibility, PureActiv seamlessly integrates with existing security investments—cameras, radars, fence sensors, access control systems, and more—eliminating the need for rip-and-replace upgrades. The solution scales as your security needs evolve, protecting every aspect of a perimeter, including fence lines, drainage pipes, waterside approaches, turnstiles, and vehicle or pedestrian gates, with tailored designs that ensure 100% detection coverage.
PureTech also enhances situational awareness by delivering precise geo-location, classification, and tracking of intrusions in real time. Whether it’s a person, vehicle, drone, or watercraft, operators gain the actionable intelligence they need to respond decisively.
With over two decades of proven deployments, PureTech continues to drive innovation in perimeter protection, helping customers worldwide safeguard lives, secure facilities, and minimize risk.
Visit us at GSX in booth #901 to see how PureTech is redefining perimeter security with smarter, more reliable detection.
Meet IronSite at GSX 2025: Expanding the Future of Perimeter Security
IronSite is on a rapid growth trajectory nationwide—and that momentum will be on full display at GSX 2025. Attendees will have the opportunity to meet the IronSite team and learn more about their innovative perimeter security solutions. The event will focus on the latest strategies for mitigating the most urgent physical security threats, while also providing valuable networking opportunities for industry professionals.
RAD Systems adds Executive Leader Stacy Dean Stephens to its Team
RAD’s CEO Steve Reinharz Welcomes Stacy Stephens, New Senior VP of Sales at RAD-M – Sept. 9, 2025
Join the IIFX Fan Journey Today!
Join us for the inaugural Best Fan Journey Practices Virtual Conference—a dynamic, one-of-a-kind gathering of thought leaders, venue operators, solution providers, and trailblazers who are reimagining the future of the fan experience.
From cutting-edge technology to workforce evolution, from safety and security strategies to unforgettable entertainment moments, this conference is your front-row seat to the trends, tools, and talent shaping tomorrow’s fan journey.
Join us October 28-30. Register here.
Jerry Burhans Launches Channel Championz
Jerry Burhans is the founder of Channel Championz and a 30-year veteran of the security industry. His experience spans the trades, distribution, and manufacturing—from his early days as an apprentice journeyman in IBEW #1 to executive roles at ISONAS, SimonsVoss, Eastern Company and ASSA ABLOY.
With more than 30 years of security industry experience, Jerry Burhans brings a rare perspective to channel strategy. From his early days as an apprentice journeyman in IBEW #1 to executive leadership at ISONAS, SimonsVoss, Eastern Company, and ASSA ABLOY, Jerry has worked across every corner of the industry, from trades, distribution, and manufacturing. Today, he helps companies unlock the power of their channel partners to drive growth and innovation.
Channel Championz strives to elevate your brand through innovative channel strategies. Our mission is to empower businesses by delivering tailored solutions that drive results.
Connect with Jerry at Channel Championz to champion your channel.
Clovis Police Department and RGB Spectrum Partner to Advance Public Safety
Innovative Real Time Information Center transforms situational awareness with next-generation visualization and control.
“We’re not just solving for today’s challenges. We’re setting the foundation for tomorrow’s public safety technology.”
— Chief Fleming, Clovis Police Department
The new Real-Time Information Center (RTIC) integrates real-time data from citywide cameras, license plate readers, drone feeds, dispatch systems, and body-worn cameras to provide a single, unified view of public safety operations. This seamless view gives officers and dispatchers instant insight to make faster, smarter decisions.
With a lean force of approximately 130 sworn officers and a total staff of about 230 employees, Clovis PD is proving that even smaller departments can leverage cutting-edge technology to amplify situational awareness, accelerate emergency response, and strengthen both officer and community safety.
Introducing IntelliLight™: Lighting That Intercepts, Not Just Illuminates
Luminous Pillars has launched IntelliLight™, a compact, cost-effective system that transforms lighting into active perimeter defense. Roughly the size of a shoebox, IntelliLight™ combines advanced optical lensing with multiple light-delivery modes to detect, disorient, and stop threats before they escalate. Beyond illumination, it extends protection past the fence line, forcing intruders to retreat and giving organizations critical time to safeguard staff, children, visitors, and high-value assets.
- Active Threat Interception: Escalates instantly from wide detection beams to high-intensity, precision-targeted deterrence.
- Dynamic Response: Moves seamlessly from detection to denial, neutralizing threats before a breach.
- Deter & Delay: Adds critical time when denial isn’t possible, forcing intruders to slow down or abandon attempts.
- Seamless Integration: Compatible with ACAP, SUNAPI, ONVIF and other standards for centralized control.
- Built for Safety: Multiple redundant safeguards prevent permanent eye damage while maintaining effective defense.
It’s more than lighting—it’s a proactive shift in security. Read the full release.
The Rise of Mantraps and Sallyports for Mainstream Security
Organizations across every business sector, ranging from bodegas and luxury goods retailers to corporate offices and logistics centers, all share the same growing concern for security and the ability to better control who has access to their facilities. As a result, mantraps and sallyports that were once considered specialized solutions for high-security environments like casino cash areas and armored car facilities continue to gain traction for mainstream applications. This shift in mindset reflects a growing recognition of how highly effective and cost-efficient mantraps and sallyports can be in enhancing security and safety.
Expanding Applications in Conventional Settings
The traditional purpose of mantraps and sallyports is to restrict access to a secure area by allowing only one person or vehicle at a time. This prevents tailgating, where an unauthorized person slips into a secured area behind an authorized individual. These highly effective security solutions are finding their way into an increasing number of everyday settings, highlighting their versatility and cost-efficiency. Take schools, for example. With rising safety concerns, more schools are adopting “controlled-access vestibules” in new smart school designs, which are essentially traditional mantraps. These systems allow SROs and school administrators to closely manage and monitor who comes and goes, adding an additional layer of security.
Retail stores, particularly those handling high-value items such as jewelry, greatly benefit from the use of mantraps. These systems safeguard valuable merchandise and bolster store security by regulating customer flow and ensuring that only one door is open at a time. This enables high-end jewelry stores to offer a secure environment where customers can browse luxury items with peace of mind, thanks to the sophisticated entry system. And the same holds true even for liquor stores, cannabis dispensaries and even local bodegas that operate late into the night in high crime areas.
The demand for mantraps and sallyports is growing in sensitive areas like data centers, logistics centers and healthcare facilities. Data centers, which house sensitive information, require stringent access controls to protect against unauthorized entry and potential data breaches. Mantraps provide a secure solution by ensuring that only authenticated personnel can gain access, thereby safeguarding critical infrastructure.
In logistics centers and warehouses, sally traps prevent unauthorized vehicles from entering warehouse areas, greatly reducing the potential for criminal activities from both external forces and internal collaboratives. The potential to be “trapped” in a sallyport also provides a strong deterrent for would be criminals.
In healthcare settings, mantraps play a crucial role in safeguarding sensitive areas like pharmacies and labs. These secured entryways ensure that only authorized individuals can access critical zones, protecting valuable medical supplies and confidential patient information. By securing these areas, mantraps help maintain the integrity and security of healthcare operations, creating medical environments more conducive to healing and well-being.
Key Features and Considerations for Selecting and Installing Mantraps
The effectiveness of mantraps and sallyports lies in their flexibility to accommodate users’ specific flow management requirements to best sustain daily operations. Multiple door interlock systems, advanced locking mechanisms, and customizable configurations ensure that these interlock solutions can be field configured to meet the specific needs of different environments.
For example, high-security areas like government treasury and military installations can also further benefit from mantraps that utilize biometric identity authentication such as iris, fingerprint or facial recognition. Additionally, mantraps and sallyports with emergency release features allow for rapid evacuation while maintaining security protocols, which is crucial in the event of a fire emergency or other life-threatening situations and typically a compliance mandate. On the other hand, high-traffic areas, like office buildings or airports, might need faster systems to prevent bottlenecks and ensure smooth operations. Moreover, it’s important to consider the ease of integration with existing security infrastructure to achieve a seamless and comprehensive security solution. Regular maintenance and updates are also essential to ensure the long-term effectiveness and reliability of these systems.
Customization and Integration for Enhanced Security
One of the key advantages of modern mantrap and sallyport systems is their ability to be customized and integrated with existing security frameworks. For instance, Dortronics offers Intelligent Door Interlock Controllers that can be tailored to the specific needs of various facilities. Whether it’s a simple two-door mantrap for a retail store or a complex multi-door system for a high-security government facility, these solutions are designed to provide maximum security and flexibility.
Customization also extends to the integration of advanced technologies such as various types of access readers with biometrics, keypads, and/or access cards or fobs. This added versatility further enhances the cost-efficiency of mantraps and sallyports, making them easily adaptable to existing access systems.
Mantraps and sallyports also need to be in compliance with industry standards and building fire and safety codes, and can be programmed with emergency override features that allow for easy evacuation in case of a fire or other emergency situation. Features like duress alarms and lockdown capabilities can alert security personnel and kickstart emergency protocols, ensuring a swift and effective response to any threat.
Mainstream Mantrap and Sallyport Solutions
For commercial property owners, facility managers, and security professionals, mantrap and sallyport systems deliver a field-proven means of increasing security. Embracing mantrap and sallyport systems for mainstream applications is an investment in the future. By working with a trusted mantrap and sallyport solutions provider, businesses and organizations can apply the advantages of these highly effective solutions with the confidence knowing their facilities are safer and more secure.
By Skip Burnham – Dortronics Systems, Inc.
PRODUCT / COMPANY SHOWCASE
The Altronix NetWaySP4TCW53 is a 4-port hardened PoE switch in a NEMA 4/4X, IP66-11 rated enclosure, delivering up to 60W per port (240W total). Equipped with the EBC48 rapid battery charger, it ensures 24/7 uptime by leveraging lighting circuits with seamless battery backup. Embedded LINQ™ Technology enables remote monitoring, control, and diagnostics. Visit Altronix at GSX Booth 2115 to see it in action.
AMAROK is a full-perimeter security company that provides commercial security services. Specializing in solar-powered electric fencing and perimeter security systems for commercial properties, AMAROK also provides supplemental surveillance solutions, including cameras, and alarms. Together, these business security services form the ultimate crime prevention solution for any business.
Asylon Robotics: Humans + Robots + AI = Security Redefined
Asylon is transforming perimeter security by combining ground-based and aerial robotics into a managed service that enhances coverage, reduces cost, and solves the security labor gap.
Security teams today face a growing challenge: rising guard costs, labor shortages, and expanding perimeter demands. Asylon addresses these realities with a turnkey solution that integrates robotic patrol systems, real-time AI-powered monitoring, and 24/7 remote operations support. Our fully managed Robotic Security Operations Center (RSOC) enables clients to deploy force-multiplying robotic assets without the complexity of managing the technology themselves.
Using autonomous ground robots (DroneDog™) and FAA-compliant aerial systems (Guardian™), we provide continuous patrol, event detection, and actionable intelligence across critical infrastructure, commercial campuses, and high-value assets.
Security is no longer just a matter of manpower—it’s about integrating the right mix of humans, robotics, and AI to deliver smarter, scalable protection. With over 260,000 robotic security missions completed, Asylon is trusted by industry leaders to modernize perimeter defense.
Learn how you can augment your security operations with robotic perimeter coverage. Visit www.AsylonRobotics.com today!
The Dortronics CleanWave Touchless Switch provides reliable, hands-free operation with a simple wave. Using advanced microwave sensor technology, it ensures high detection accuracy with an adjustable range of 4–24 inches. Designed for sanitary environments, it features a gasketed faceplate, IP54 rating, and selectable output hold times (0.5–30 seconds). Ideal for cleanrooms, healthcare, biolabs, and food processing, CleanWave withstands harsh conditions indoors and outdoors. It seamlessly integrates with electronic locks, automatic door openers, and access systems, offering a durable, hygienic solution for modern access control in demanding settings.
