BY TOM CHRONISTER
Condominium complexes, gated communities, industrial compounds, apartment buildings, and private roadways are all locations where mechanized gates are used to control pedestrian and vehicle access. Depending on the application and level of security required, access control systems may be completely automated or be staffed by security personnel around-the-clock. System components typically include perimeter fencing, bollards, lighting, sign-age, tollbooths, and motorized operators that raise traffic control arms or retract gates on demand.
Although walls, gates, and fences do a great job of keeping out criminals, trespassers, and others, these physical barriers also keep out first responders answering calls to these residential and commercial mini-fortresses. For firefighters, getting past an electric gate that stands between them and a call for service can sometimes be a daunting task. Has your response time ever been lengthened because of a remote- controlled gate? Worse yet, have you ever been completely locked out on a call?
How many times have you pulled up to a gate thinking you had the right code, punched it in on the keypad, and sat there watching the gate do absolutely nothing? Have you resorted to tailgating a resident or visitor through the gate? Maybe you resort to asking your dispatch center for help. How long does it take the dispatcher to contact the original reporting party to “buzz” you in? Have you had to ask over the air, “Advise the pass code to …”? How quickly does that information get back to you as the dispatcher roots through some binder, drawer, or computer file to find the proper code? Maybe you have to rely on a key; how long does that delay your re-sponse?
MANDATING ACCESS
How does your jurisdiction address gated properties? If your department is like most, you probably employ a lock box-type device. Maybe you have never considered a solution because gaining access has never been a problem before. Are you expected to maintain a set of keys, access cards, transmitters, and a current list of codes for all the gated access points in your district?
With security foremost on the minds of Americans in this post-September 11 era, the installation of controlled access systems will certainly be on the rise and the issue of emergency access may be a growing problem across the country. Without proper planning and legislative action, it is easy to see how such systems could adversely affect a public safety response unless the use of emergency bypass systems on all electronic gates is mandated.
Of the local emergency access ordinances in effect today, many were written years ago by the fire authority having jurisdiction and do not take advantage of recent advancements in the access control industry. Although some of the more popular methods of emergency entry meet with the approval of firefighters, it is doubtful that other public safety agencies were consulted in the selection process.
Relatively few law enforcement agencies are on record as recommending or mandating types of emergency access controls. In the contract city of Santa Clarita, California, the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department recommends the use of lock boxes. In Oregon, the Eugene Police Department offers two options: garage door-like transmitters or the use of lock boxes, but only the fire department has access to the latter.
With 12 newly developed gated subdivisions, the city of Lexington, Kentucky, found itself in the midst of an emergency access crisis in 1999. While it undertook a 90-day study of the problem, the city required around-the-clock staffing of each gated neighborhood to ensure that emergency personnel would not be thwarted in their attempts to answer calls for help. Eventually, the gates were equipped with siren recognition systems.
The San Leandro (CA) Fire Department requires an “electric key switch control station”; the city of Pasadena, Texas, and the Sacramento (CA) Metropolitan Fire District mandate the installation of a receiver system that employs the use of public safety radio frequencies on electromechanically control gates.
The Fairfield (CA) Fire Department has two separate mandates. Although lock box systems are required on all commercial properties, the installation of radio receivers that allow emergency vehicles to open gates by using existing public safety radio frequencies is mandatory on all gated community developments and residential properties.
EMERGENCY ACCESS SYSTEM TYPES
Emergency personnel can employ eight basic methodologies to gain entry into gated areas. Listed below, they all have advantages and disadvantages.
Keypads. Some gates come with combination locks or keypads that accept a numerical pass code assigned to emergency crews. You enter the code by hand to make entry.
Many keypad systems lack any real audit control, as all emergency crews typically use only one code collectively. It is not uncommon for emergency workers to find themselves completely locked out of a call for service when the code changes and no one bothers to inform the appropriate agencies. There is usually some delay in getting to the keypad and inputting the proper combination.
If your emergency communications center has an up-to-date pass code that is not known to the responding personnel, dispatchers will typically broadcast it over an unsecured radio frequency. A common radio scanner can pick up all such transmissions. If a pass code were to fall into the wrong hands because of such a broadcast, who would be liable and what would be the potential ramifications?
Third party. By requesting access from a third party through a dispatch callback procedure, a telephone, or an intercom system, residents, guards, or employees can remotely grant access into the gated area. Responders may be successful in getting in by hailing a passerby or by following a vehicle with access through the gate. During off-hours, no one may be present to provide said access or, in some situations, public safety personnel—especially the police—may prefer not to alert people inside the complex of their arrival.
Locks. Personnel can gain access by using a key that opens a lock or activates an electric switch. If the facility has only manually operated gates, the key/lock is probably the only option in providing site protection while allowing emergency access.
Some agencies use lock boxes, but this solution is used almost exclusively by fire departments. Inside the lock box is either a switch to activate the gate mechanism, another key, or an access card that can be used to open the barrier.
The downsides to keys are accountability and the sheer number required to equip each piece of emergency rolling stock that may be dispatched to a particular location. A lost key might require the rekeying of all matching locks, switches, and lock boxes and the replacement of all existing keys—a costly proposition.
Cards. Access cards offer an audit trail of activity, as each can be assigned to individual users or vehicles by the access control system. Common card technologies include touch-plate, embedded chip, and magnetic strip. These card types require the insertion into, or the touching of, a card reader. In the case of proximity cards, the pass-through speed of emergency vehicles is increased because actual contact with the card reader is not required.
If a card is lost, the permissions associated with it can be quickly removed from the system. Cards are relatively inexpensive, and replacements can be put into use quickly. But, just like keys, the management of a card for each piece of potential response equipment or officer can be an expensive proposition and an audit control nightmare.
Light. Some cities use a traffic priority control system. Each emergency vehicle in the jurisdiction is equipped with a strobe light that contains a proprietary and coded infrared component that preempts traffic signals during emergency responses so that the fire apparatus gets a green light at controlled intersections. Similar to that found on traffic lights, a compatible receiver can be attached to gate operators that will provide emergency access to vehicles flashing the special strobe.
This solution requires that each emergency vehicle be equipped with an appropriate strobe emitter. Unless your community already uses such a system to control traffic lighting, this system may prove to be cost prohibitive and impractical for this limited use.
Sound. A popular solution to the emergency access conundrum is sound-activated entry systems. When an emergency vehicle gets within range of the proprietary audio sensor, the gate opens after detecting the sound of a siren for 2.5 to 4.5 seconds. Such systems are fairly inexpensive, are compatible with most gate operators, and are popular with fire departments. Such systems preclude the entry of nonsworn fire personnel and other service providers, like security and utility companies, that otherwise would have been provided a card, code, or key to gain access to the property.
Radio signal. Once a gate operator is equipped with a compatible radio receiver, any authorized vehicle can open a security gate in one of several ways:
- Activate a manual transmitter.
- Equip a vehicle with an “always on” transmitter.
- Use a radio frequency identifier.
Manually activated transmitters require that users push a button to open a gate. This proven technology is used to activate garage door openers in most American homes.
Active transmitters require no user action. Similar to those mounted on the windshields of vehicles using automated toll roads, it continuously emits a radio signal. On approach to a gate, the receiver detects the signal and activates the gate operator. Another type of transmitter is mounted on the underside of a vehicle; its signal is detected by a roadway loop similar to those used to detect cars at traffic signals.
There are a number of manufacturers for each of these technologies. Although each offers rapid emergency access, every emergency vehicle must be equipped with a compatible device, and the device must be maintained in an operable condition. The likelihood that each gated facility in a jurisdiction would use the same access frequency or technology is unlikely, creating the need for each piece of apparatus to carry any number of gadgets to gain emergency access. Of course, the loss or theft of a transmitter or transponder poses particular concerns for facilities with matching frequencies. In the case of the always-on transmitter, simply driving past a gated complex may inadvertently activate the gate operator.
Radio frequency identification is the latest technology being marketed in the access control field. A patented receiver monitors 50 frequencies programmed into memory by the user or installer. Coordinating radio clicks with a visible light, the possibility that spurious radio traffic may inadvertently activate the gate operator is nearly eliminated.
Radio signal identification is quick (less than four seconds) and secure. Receiver range can be set from within inches to about one-quarter of a mile away, and handheld or vehicle-mounted radios can be used to open the gate. An internal log in the receiver maintains details on what agency gained access and when, retaining 50 of the most recent transactions. This technology costs the public safety agency nothing to implement, as its own unmodified radios are the activation control medium. Typically, the property owner bears the costs to install the receiver device on the automatic gates.
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Forced entry. More of a method than a system—and certainly last on the list of emergency access options—is forced entry. Crashing fences, cutting locks, and breaching gates are proven means for responders to get where they need to go, but such tactics usually result in collateral damage to facility equipment and emergency vehicles. Jumping fences puts emergency responders at significant risk of injury and leaves them without vehicle-mounted equipment. As such, brute force and scaling barriers are considered options of last resort.
SYSTEM OVERRIDE
Although outside the scope of this article, security gates should also include the ability to override the gate operator in case of a power or mechanical failure. Such systems include manually operated mechanisms and backup power supplies. In the case of a power failure, the battery backup system automatically opens the gate and then shuts down the gate operator until the primary power supply is restored. If the battery backup and primary power both fail, the gate operator should go into a fail-safe mode.
“Fail-safe” is an industry recognized standard that allows a malfunctioning gate to be manually pushed open so that vehicles or people are neither locked in nor locked out. Fail-safe overrides are mandatory in many jurisdictions across the country.
QUICK, RELIABLE ACCESS A NECESSITY
If you have not thought about emergency access to gated properties in your jurisdiction, now is the time to start. The number of gated systems will surely increase, as people now feel more vulnerable and are reconsidering the priorities of safety and security at their homes and workplaces. Without proper emergency access controls in place, public safety response times are unnecessarily lengthened because of the blockade posed by improperly equipped electromechanical gates.
Working on independent emergency access control solutions for individual electric gates in your community will only complicate the issue. In doing so, every emergency vehicle or public safety professional will be responsible for even more pass codes, keys, access cards, or transmitters. Some fire apparatus visors are already covered with a myriad of transmitters, and their key rings can’t get much bigger. And who will have to replace these access devices if they are lost or stolen? There are simpler technologies that guarantee reliable access through electromechanical gates. Examine the options, and develop a comprehensive, holistic approach that will please fire, rescue, and EMS personnel.
If you do not already have a mandatory emergency access control plan in effect, work with your local police agency and planning department to develop one. If you do have an emergency access control policy, reevaluate it to include options that work best for all members of your local public safety community.
Some people may not see the benefits of quick, simple, and reliable access to gated facilities, but the safety of your residents and fellow emergency workers depends on it.
TOM CHRONISTER is a commander with a Southern California police department and a certified protection professional (CPP) with the American Society for Industrial Security.
