The Foothills Rural Crime Watch Association will be hosting their 2018 Annual General Meeting in High River, Alberta at 1900hrs in the I.O.O.F. Hall. This meeting is open to all residents in the local area.
In anticipation of this meeting, I have prepared a small brochure on basic security layers that can be adapted to meet the needs of ranchers, farmers and rural acreage owners. In fact, these security layers work for all situations. The more layers of security you apply around what you cherish the most, the longer and tougher it will be for the bad guys to get what you have. It may even discourage lazy criminals from even trying.
A free copy can be downloaded for personal use from the SATAS Co website on the resources page. Here is the link: satas4.me/resources
Layered Security
Approach
Defined
Perimeter
Signage
Clear
Lines of Sight
Proper
Lighting
Gates
/ Access Control Points
Early
Warning Devices
Locks
& Keys (& Their Control)
CCTV
/ Video Surveillance
Inner
Perimeter Fence
Designated
Purpose Areas / Buildings (Compartmentalize & Isolate)
Doors
& Locks
Windows
Policy,
Procedure & Plans
Security
Force
Communications
& Network
Defined
Perimeter:
The entire outer
perimeter of the property needs to be defined to show ownership.
Traditionally, this is achieved with a perimeter fence. In the
context of a rural acreage, farm or ranch this can be achieved with a
simple fence line – post & rail, barbed-wire or page wire.
Under most situations this outer line of defence is too cost
prohibitive to make secure. Having said that, it is still very
important to define the perimeter to show ownership. Any barrier that
must be crossed, climbed over or crawled under, shows the intent of
the intruder. The intruder did not accidentally get onto your property.
Signage:
Signage must be posted,
preferably on the perimeter fence, to state ownership and notify
consequence(s) of failing to obey. Wording can be very simple &
direct to be effective. “Private Property – Violators Will Be
Prosecuted” Signage should be placed on along the entire
perimeter at no more than 100 meter spacing between signs. The signs
want to be weather-proof and visible. Replace faded signs. With
proper signage intruders cannot claim to not know the property was
owned. Perimeter signage should meet legal requirements of providing
warning when intruders are charged for trespassing.
Clear
Lines of Sight:
From a security
point-of-view, all obstructions along the perimeter fence want to be
removed or minimized for at least 10 meters inside and outside the
fence line. These cleared areas reduce the possibility of an intruder
crossing the fence line unnoticed. Sheds, bushes, trees and machinery
want to be removed from these zones if possible. If not possible,
then these areas need to be noted and proper alternative plans for
dealing with these “dead” zones must be made. These areas will
invite intruders to access your property as they cannot be observed
or monitored.
Proper
Lighting:
In a rural setting it
is unlikely for the entire perimeter to have proper lighting.
However, strategically placed solar powered LED garden lights could be
helpful, especially, to mark corners and gates. As you get to the
inner security layers, lighting becomes very important. Two useful
types of lighting are direct lighting & back-lighting. Direct
lighting can be motion sensor, controlled flood lighting that turns
on when activated. These lights face out from the inner property and
confront intruders or unannounced guests/visitors. You can see out
but they cannot see in. Back-lighting can use any light source to
create a wall of light that must be crossed. Thus, the intruder will
be noticed in contrast to the bright background. The inner perimeter
wants to be fully illuminated with no dark paths that lead to inner
areas. Unless, you are using dark zones to channel intruders to areas
that are protected by other means – IR lights and IR cameras,
motion detectors, dogs, or deadend alleys.
Gates
/ Access Control Points:
To move from the
perimeter to the inner layers of the property you will need to
control movement of people, machinery, vehicles, livestock and
intruders. Gates are the most common method of getting from one zone
to the next. Usually, in security, the level of security increases as
you get closer to the centre. Your most valuable items/people stay
inside the most secure zone. Where a single cable or chain may be
adequate to be a gate to a field, a reinforced steel gate may be more
appropriate for accessing the residence zone of your
ranch/farm/acreage.
Early
Warning Devices:
Early warning devices
include any device that is triggered/activated remotely by an
intruder. This can be a solar powered LED light with a motion sensor.
The motion sensor and the light do not have to be located in the same
location. Any remote located motion sensor can be attached to a
number of different devices to aid in early detection of intruders –
auto-dialers, security alarms, sirens or devices to record evidence –
game cameras, CCTV, video cameras.
Locks
& Keys (& Their Control):
The old saying, “Locks
only keep the honest out.” While, it may be true when contenting
with career criminals or very desperate people. The fact still
remains that locked gates, doors and windows buy you time. Time to
acknowledge a threat is in your vicinity. Time to enact your security
plan. Time to request assistance. Time to respond, not just to react.
To this end, on a ranch, farm or rural acreage, purchasing high
quality locks that are keyed-alike can help buy time. Quality locks
can take more abuse before failing and are more difficult to by-pass
with lock picks. Keyed-alike is the compromise between high security
and convenience. With one or maybe two keys you can access all
required areas on your property. The compromise is if one key is lost
or stolen, the bad guys can access all areas, too. Keep keys secured
when not in use. One set per authorized employee or family member. Do
random key audits to ensure no keys have been lost or stolen. IF KEYS
GO MISSING....you need the locksmith to change the tumblers in all
the locks and new keys have to be issued. This can get expensive, but
not as expensive as having criminals taking all your property or
injuring any of your family, friends or employees. Key control can
include a daily sign out/sign in logsheet.
CCTV
/ Video Surveillance
The sad fact is video surveillance is becoming more necessary for all citizens to deter
criminal activity from happening on your property. Those with
ranches, farms or large rural acreages it is just too difficult to be
watching all places, all the time. Cameras may deter some criminals
but not all. The use of quality cameras and recording devices
hopefully will gather enough information to positively identify the
bad guys and assist in their rapid capture. I would recommend a mix
of high profile, easily observed cameras as a deterrent and a second
layer of cameras that are not so easy to spot. A mix of video and
still (game ) cameras would be a good idea. Cameras with capturing
images in the dark would be worth the upgrade. Recent brazen daylight
raids on rural properties do occur, but many low level criminals are
generally cowards who slink in during the dark hours to remove high
value items to fence for cash to purchase drugs.
Video drones. A new
piece of technology to become available is the remote controlled
aerial drone with live streaming video camera(s). Drones are
available for you to keep an eye on your property from the ranch
house – monitor the herd, patrol the fence line, inspect
irrigation effectiveness. However, the bad guys have drones, too. The
criminals are using drones to sneek in and look in the windows of
homes and determine if anyone is home or not. If not, they take
advantage of your absence to plunder. This is not being said to raise
your fear level. This is to educate you on threats presented against
you. Once a threat is identified, then defences can be devised.
Obstacles like nets, clothes lines and trellis/lattice can help keep
drones away or slow down their flight to aid in spotting them. Also,
drones need to be controlled from somewhere. Keep an eye out for
vehicles that are parked on the side of roads near ranches, farms or
acreages. If they are there, too long. Take a picture of the vehicle
&/or notify the Rural Crime Watch patrol to do a drive-by.
Inner
Perimeter Fence
The Inner Perimeter
Fence is the first tough layer of defence. In security applications
this fence is usually a minimum of 8' tall with 3 strands of barb
wire on top. High security facilities put a coil of razor wire on top
of the barb wire. None of this is aesthetically pleasing. This fence
wants to be tall, clear of foliage, well illuminated, with lockable
gates. Signage on this fence will not hurt.....but, if they ignored
the signs on the outer perimeter, they are probably up to no good.
The purpose of the inner perimeter fence is to establish where people
belong. Owners, family, friends and employees belong inside at the
correct times. This is one more layer for criminals to defeat or
by-pass. This helps establish intent for incidents that end up in
court.
Designated
Purpose Areas / Buildings (Compartmentalize & Isolate)
Similar to an inner
perimeter fence, by having buildings or areas with designated
purposes – branding, loading trucks, fixing equipment, parking
equipment, refueling, grain/hay storage, irrigation, fertilizer
storage, etc; it helps determine if the right people are in the right
area at the right time. If need be, different locks & keys are
used to secure these areas. If there is only fields and a general
non-field area, it will be more difficult to suggest intent.
Doors,
Locks & Windows
Like gates, doors want
to be designed to keep the bad guys out. Steel doors with dead bolts
are viewed as the minimum standard for exterior doors to buildings,
garages and homes. Dead bolts want to be long enough to go into the
door frame. Door frames want to be steel as well and securely
fastened to the structure with long screws. Windows on doors want to
be small. Large windows allow easier access to those who do not mind
breaking glass to gain entry. Multiple dead bolts are not too much
effort. Same with locking bars that reinforce doors at night or when
not expecting any visitors.
In a high security
structure, there are very few windows on the outer walls on the first
or second story. Homes built in high crime parts of the world use a
courtyard design. Walls that look into the courtyard have a lot of
windows and balconies, but the outer side has very few until the
third floor. Even then, these third floor outer windows are usually
tall and narrow.
To retro-fit a
traditional rancher style bungalow to increase the security level
would be a major undertaking – in time, materials and money. The
best advice is to ensure all windows are closed and latched/locked
when not home. Placing dowels in the slide track of windows will
prevent the latch/lock from being easily by-passed. But, anything
made of glass is vulnerable to being broken.
An alternate strategy
would be to lock all entries except one that looks forgotten. This
one entry point would be well covered with video surveillance devices. To at least capture evidence of who committed the crime for
later prosecution.
Policy,
Procedure & Plans
Ranch policy,
procedures & plans need to be established for a safe & secure
operation. Like fire drills aid in the rapid evacuation of a building
that has caught fire, security functions need planning, policy and
procedures, too. The better planned and practiced the smoother the
operation will run. Develop standard operating procedures.
Security
Force
In the security world,
all of the previous steps have been pro-active and make unlawful
entry as difficult as possible. What happens if someone is willing to
go through all the layers?? You need someone to respond. Contract
security staff are not likely to be affordable to most ranching or
farming operations. If your operation can afford the investment, a
professional security team is likely the fastest response to threats
that money can buy. If not, at least a few of your family &/or
your employee base will need to take on security functions and
response. Untrained personnel should avoid direct contact with
criminal elements. Untrained persons should be aware of who does not
belong, notify those on the ranch security team of the situation and
contact law enforcement.
A well trained security
force can be cross-trained to perform ranch/farm functions. They just
need to be performing these function in or near their primary area of
responsibility. Security first. Other duties second.
Communications
& Network
Rural crime presents a
unique environment to defend good folks from the criminal scum. Time
& distance. Each ranch, farm or rural acreage is not that
different from the castles of days-gone-by. A remote, isolated
kingdom that has to be able to hold its own until the calvary can
ride to the rescue. Unlike, those days, today we have access to
communications tools that can get the message out quickly and to a
wide audience, if needed.
As great as these tools
are, they can fail. So, a collection of alternate communication tools
needs to be considered. We have landline phones, cellphones, texting,
email, social media and a variety of radio communication tools. To
ensure a safe and secure rural area, any and all of these may be
needed.
However, as important
as communication tools are, having a network of fellow land-owners is
probably even more important. The remoteness of each homestead means
neighbours have to know who their neighbours are. And during times of
distress, neighbours need to know they can count on their fellow
neighbour for aid in dealing with the criminal element. More eye
watching for suspicious vehicles and activity. If your neighbour is
in town getting supplies or groceries and you notice a strange
vehicle entering their yard, take note of the vehicle, license plate
# and notify the Rural Crime Watch patrol. Take a picture of the
vehicle. If it was nothing, oh well.
Working together is
probably the most powerful weapon to combat crime in rural Alberta.
Working together is the best defence against hostile forces, no matter if they are a gang of criminals or a terrorist group. Again here is the link: https://www.satas4.me/resources
Be safe out there!
V.A.M.
