Protecting Rural Locations, Properties & Assets
It may come as no surprise that rural theft cost an estimated £43.3 million in 2020, according to the National Farmers Union.
That’s actually a decrease of 20% from the previous year but it really does not tell the whole story.
We often hear about high profile cases such as the theft of over £70,000 of solar panels in Stickney in November 2021 but this does not cover the constant threats which farms, smallholdings and estates face.
Understanding the problems is the first part of finding a solution. Whilst many issues are common, familiar crimes, rural areas are targeted in particular because by their very nature, these remote locations are hard to effectively secure.
Wide, open areas that may remain unvisited or unmonitored for days at a time present fairly easy pickings for opportunists and organised criminal gangs.
Breaking Down The Types Of Rural Crime:
Firstly, let’s take a look at some of the threats faced by farmers and rural estate owners.
These range from things that may cause mild inconvenience or halt productivity to cases where lives are being put in danger and repeated offences are actually causing farms to struggle with insurance issues or in the extreme, go out of business:
General Nuisance & Opportunist Crime:
Organised & Targeted Crime:
Rural crime is often difficult to tackle, with specialised rural crime police teams who are dedicated to covering the wide areas of the countryside and protecting our homes, businesses and storage areas.
The problem is, these crimes often take place in the dead of night, during adverse weather conditions and usually in areas that have little to no security or monitoring in place.
Which begs the question: What can we actually do to prevent rural crime?
Steps We Can Take To Stop Rural Crime Before It Happens
You may notice that we mentioned stopping crime “before it happens” there. That’s not a typo.
The only effective security system is one that takes steps to identify the threat, pinpoint the location and take immediate action.
That sounds like common sense but when you add in external factors like false alarms, weather conditions, wildlife and the changing seasons, it’s actually quite hard to mitigate those issues and only present alerts when a genuine threat is detected.
However, these systems do exist.
In fact, we’ve been installing security measures that eliminate false alarms, detect threats and take immediate action into rural locations across the UK for a number of years. Also into businesses, renewable energy installations, power plants, high-value homes and virtually every work sector you can imagine.
Many security companies will provide a basic system without actually taking the time to understand things like points of entry, how effective the system is that they are installing or what the viable threats are to the property or landowner.
This is where we differ.
Our team works hands-on to use satellite imagery, feedback from the business or homeowner and a detailed site survey to assess the key points and existing security in place before we ever recommend a system that will effectively stop crime. You may already have some security measures, which can often be used in conjunction with our systems.
Security Systems That Work In Rural Areas:
Pre-detection is the only effective way to actually stop crime. Our zero-maintenance systems provide this.
Determining between false alerts and actual intrusions, allows false alarm rates to be almost entirely eliminated, meaning only real threats will raise an alarm, trigger action and create live notifications to the parties that matter.
Some examples of these pre-detection systems would be:
Buried Seismic Detection:
These systems were originally developed for earthquake detection and measurement before being adapted for military use. After extensive years of tweaks, changes, improvement and technology allowing them to be produced in small form factor systems, they are available to the civilian security market. Safe Security Solutions has exclusive UK rights to these products from SensoGuard.
These can be buried in shallow ground, are impervious to all weather and ground conditions and come in wired or battery-operated, stand-alone format. The latter has a battery life of up to ten months.
Providing immediate detection and assessment of any vibration, this incredible system can differentiate between vehicles, human footfall or wildlife and rain, allowing for near perfect assessment of real threats whilst being completely invisible and impervious to tampering.
Detection of any kind can be used to trigger alarms, alerts, live feeds or pinpoint motion-activated, long-range HD CCTV cameras to the target area.
Fence-Mounted Vibration Sensors:
We work closely with El-Far, one of the world’s leading producers of fence and building-mounted vibrations sensors.
These systems work in a similar way to the buried detectors but also provide a visible deterrent as they are mounted to metallic surfaces.
Again, they can detect and pinpoint any attempted cutting, scaling or damage to any surface they are mounted to and can be chained together to cover very wide, lengthy areas of either fencing, buildings or even storage containers.
This will create live alerts to take action which may include lighting, alarms, sirens, live feeds or motion-activated CCTV.
Radar Systems:
We’re currently testing civilian radar systems which create invisible barriers and protect open areas.
We’ll be updating the website with these systems when our research is complete and we can provide the very best systems on the market. In the meantime, please feel free to ask for more information. If this system is right for your application, it is something we can facilitate.
Temporary Security Systems:
There may be seasonal threats or ongoing nuisances such as fly-tippers or hare coursers. We provide a range of fully mobile, self-contained security systems such as the SensoGuard Moss outdoor kits, SG Cam Kits or Tactical Security Kits which you can install and monitor yourself.
Typically, these are most effective in problem areas that see repeated offences and you wish to protect access points or key entrance ways which threats will often use in order to commit the crime.
Creating a live alert and (in some cases) a live camera feed, you will know the instant a crime is being attempted, allowing you to take action and stop it in its tracks.
Couple these systems with any of the following using our integrated security system software and you have an effective security system that detects threats at the point of entry, without allowing them to take action, cause damage or steal property. Action may be taken in the form of:
- Motion-activated CCTV systems
- Ultra-long range HD camera systems
- Alerts to your security software or apps on PCs or mobile phones – Wherever you are in the world
- Security lighting systems
- Sirens
- Alarms
- Flashing Beacons
- Pre-recorded audio alarms which inform the threat you are aware of their presence.
As you can imagine, by eliminating false alarms and taking immediate action, most threats will be deterred.
For more serious threats, you will have live feeds with streamed footage (That will also be recorded) which will allow your security staff to take action, or buy enough time and gather enough evidence to get the police involved and potentially catch the perpetrators red-handed.
The Process Of Creating The Perfect Security System
The first step is always getting in touch with our expert security team.
Once we’ve spoken with you and understand the threats you face and the area you want to be covered, we can begin the next step of site assessment, before recommending a system.
Using a combination of years of experience in the security sector, our own experience of rural life, your information and satellite surveillance footage of the area (or first-hand visits to the site in question) we can begin to design a custom security system specific to your needs. We assess everything from entry points, gaps in existing security and external factors life livestock, in fact, anything that may trigger a false alarm or a gap in effectiveness for your security.
This information is thoroughly assessed and we’ll draw up a plan to create a security system around the perimeter of your property or land which will be as cost-effective and as reliable as possible. Your safety is our priority.
You approve any recommendations we make and then installation can take place. This can be arranged by ourselves or you can use your preferred installer. We’ll work with you in the way you’d like us to, by either providing the hardware and overseeing its installation or actively conducting the work ourselves.
At every step, we welcome your input. We will always try to integrate existing security that you may already have in place and provide training for you to use the security software or apps, even after the install is approved and compete. We want the best system for you but we also want you to feel confident in its operation.
We understand that systems may require some tweaking (wildlife and livestock have been known to trigger false alarms) and you may wish to set certain times of day that you’re active or digital tripwires that eliminate areas that you do not wish to monitor. We’ll support you every step of the way until the system is as effective as it possibly can be.
Should you wish to stagger the installation or expand on the system we have assisted you to put in place, we will work with you. Ensuring all property, sites and land are thoroughly protected and you are alerted the moment an invisible line is crossed or a threat is about to occur.
Any security system is only effective if it actually stops threats. We can guarantee our systems will do this.