CCTV systems have improved significantly in recent years. We have seen a cost decrease while the picture quality has increased at the same time. The main challenge for security guards has always been not to miss any intrusions at larger sites while monitoring numerous screens simultaneously.

However, due to the advancements in motion detection in recent years, CCTV is now marketed as a one fits all perimeter security solution. The promise is CCTV can now not only record an intrusion but also detect where an intrusion happens. This article challenges this claim and explains why a perimeter intrusion detection system (PIDS) is a inevitable part in perimeter security.

An effective security system comprises of four elements:

Protection, Detection, Verification & Reaction.

These are the essential principles for effective security on any site, whether it's a small independent business with a single site, or a large multinational corporation with hundreds of locations.

There are several reasons why a perimeter intrusion detection system (PIDS) can offer an advantage to a site. This is partly due to the sophistication of the system, which can stop an intrusion in its tracks. It is also to do with criminal psychology, with thieves and trespassers being statistically much less likely to venture onto a property that they know is well protected. Here are some of the ways that a high-quality PIDS can benefit your site.

There are several things that people need to consider before investing in a high quality security system. Here’s a quick guide to the main risk-altering scenarios that businesses face, and how to respond.

Many people are confused by the acronym 'PIDS'. This article outlines what PIDS actually means:

Perimeter
Intrusion
Detection
System

Over the weekend of the 23rd and 24th March, burglars hammered their way through the wall of the George Attenborough & Son Jewellers in Fleet Street, London. The wall itself was within a small passageway between the jewellers shop and a bookmakers. The alarm wasn't raised until 2am on Monday morning which was long after the thieves had been able to escape with a large haul of jewellery and gemstones. Newspapers are reporting the stolen goods to be worth in excess of £1million. No arrests have been made and the thieves are still at large.

The Hatton Garden heist in 2015 shocked the world. A gang of geriatric criminals managed to plunder an estimated £200 million in cash, diamonds and jewellery from what seemed like an impenetrable underground fortress in the middle of central London.

When travellers set up illegal encampments on a vacant site, this can cost the landowner thousands in legal fees to have them removed. This in itself is inconvenient enough, but there are huge cleanup bills afterwards to remove the waste that's often left behind.

In recent years Urban Exploration has become an online sensation especially on video sharing sites such as YouTube.

While some people who participate in these activities do so lawfully in with permission from building owners,
it represents a real problem for keeping your site secure, especially when amateurs attempt to copy what they've seen online. Shopping centres, office blocks and industrial sites are all popular targets for such activities.