D1 - Deterrence
by Robert Gruber, PSP
Master Halco Security Solutions Group


de•ter (d -tûr )
v. de•terred, de•ter•ring, de•ters
v. tr.
To prevent or discourage from acting, as by means of fear or doubt: “Does negotiated disarmament deter war?” (Edward Teller). See Synonyms at dissuade.

v. intr.
To prevent or discourage the occurrence of an action, as by means of fear or doubt: “It's this edge that gives nuclear weapons their power to deter” (Thomas Powers).


[Latin d terr re : d -, de- + terr re, to frighten.]


Last month, I described the “Four D’s” of a good perimeter security solution: deter, detect, delay, and deny. Now, I want to take a closer look at each of these four areas. Let’s start with “deter.” To prevent or discourage from acting…….. This is right in line with what we are trying to accomplish by erecting a fence.

Our deterrence can be soft or hard. We can put up an easily climbed decorative fence which is designed to enhance the attractiveness of our property and says to the public, “Please don’t enter here – follow the fence around to the gate.” On the other side of the spectrum, we can erect a welded razor fence with intrusion detection that screams to the public “KEEP OUT!” (or in the case of a prison, perhaps to KEEP IN!)

The fence is always a deterrent. Whether the design is aesthetically pleasing or built for high security, an erected fence creates a boundary line that marks a point where we don’t want people to cross. In the case of a marathon or similar sporting event, we may put up a temporary double fence path that leads people down a prescribed lane to the ticket booth or turnstile. In this instance, fencing is used to deter the public from forming an unregulated mass – we are keeping people in a nice orderly line deterring them from chaos.

Our border may be a virtual border, one with no visible fence, but with video keeping an eye on the people within our boundaries. Of course, we would have signs posted that tell the public that they are being watched; in this case, we are deterring people from doing anything that may be memorialized for future use against them.

So far, we’ve been talking about physical or virtual fences as deterrents, something I don’t have to go into great detail with a fencing crowd. However, there are other things that we can put at our boundary, usually at the access point that can act as strong deterrents to entry. There could be a human guard for instance, who would act as a deterrent especially when armed. A guard regulates who and what can enter the grounds. In conjunction with the guard there may be certain deterring devices such as lift gates, wedge barriers, bollards, or crash resistant gates.

Lighting can also be a deterrent to a determined intruder if it is designed to effectively cover the entire boundary. The lighting may be constant or triggered by an alarm device of some type such as intelligent video, or an intrusion detection device, depending on the security level of the facility. Intrusion detection devices are available in many forms and can be customized for the area to be covered for geographical concerns, environmental conditions, or type of boundary. I’ll talk more about detection in the next blog.


The use of crime prevention through environmental design (CPTED) is also a deterrent at the perimeter. Landscaping and placement of outdoor furnishings such as signage and decorative sculpturing should take into consideration the surveillance capability of the area including illumination, overall esthetics, and the preclusion of providing cover for the intruder.

Overall, the perimeter security designer should attempt to optimize deterrence while sending the right psychological message, whether it be, “Welcome, but please pay attention to the proper access points”, or simply, “You’re in the wrong place; KEEP OUT!”

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