Measure type: Access control
Access control is the measure of reduction of risk by regulating and controlling the flows of traffic into and out of an area or object.
Description
Access control can concern all modes of traffic. The aim of access control is to be able to determine who can or can't enter a particular area. This discrimination can be done on various characteristics such as whether one is in possession of a ticket, has registered in advance, the time of day, the place of entry, the mode of transport, etcetera.
This approach involves architectural features, mechanical and electronic devices, and related means for maintaining prerogatives over the ability to gain entry. Both dynamic measures (moving, acting such as boom barriers or guards) and static measures (passive, such as bus traps or heightened curbs) can function as access control mechanisms.
Another application of access control are environmental zones or low-emission zones (LEZ) with the aim of improving the air quality. Only low-emitting or zero emission vehicles are allowed to a LEZ [[1]].
Examples
Various means of access control are feasible, such as:
- Electromagnetic doors, openable only by qualified personnel
- Door guards
- Barriers, both static and dynamic
- Partitioning off of selected areas during "downtime" hours
- Reduced number of building entrances
Effectiveness
This measure can be effective to a range of security issues. These are:
| Financial gain | Boredom or compulsive behaviour | Impulse | Conflict in beliefs |
|---|---|---|---|
| Burglary{{#info:Burglary is the crime of illicitly entering a building with the intent to commit an offence, particularly (but not limited to) theft.}} | Physical assault{{#info:Assault, is a crime which involves causing a victim to fear or to experience any type of violence, except for sexual violence}} | Destruction by riots{{#info:Destruction by riots is the act of vandalism of property by organised groups for a shared rational or rationalised reason.}} | Mass killing{{#info:Mass killing is the crime of purposely causing harm or death to a group of (unknown) people in order to make a statement or to influence the public opinion. This threat is exerted out of wilful action by fanatics: terrorists or criminal activists.}} |
| Ram-raiding{{#info:Ram raid is a particular technique for burglars to gain access to primarily commercial premises, by means of driving -usually stolen- vehicles into locked or closed entrances, exits or windows.}} | Sexual assault{{#info:Sexual assault is assault of a sexual nature on another person, or any sexual act committed without consent}} | Destruction of property by fanatics{{#info:Destruction by fanatics is the crime of purposely causing damage in order to make a statement or to influence the public opinion.}} | |
| Pickpocketing{{#info:Pickpocketing is a form of theft that involves the stealing of valuables from a victim without their noticing the theft at the time. }} | Vandalism{{#info:Vandalism is the act of wilful or malicious destruction, injury, disfigurement, or defacement of property without the consent of the owner or person having custody or control.}} | ||
| Robbery{{#info:Robbery is the crime of taking or attempting to take something of value by force or threat of force or by putting the victim in fear. It is used her exclusively for acts committed to individual persons.}} | Graffiti{{#info:Grafitti is the defacement of property by means of writing or drawings scribbled, scratched, or sprayed on a surface in a public place without the consent of the owner or person having custody or control. }} | ||
| Raid{{#info:Raid is the crime of taking or attempting to take something of value from a commercial venue by force or threat of force or by putting the victim in fear.}} | Antisocial Behaviour{{#info:Antisocial behaviour is an accumulation category of relatively small crimes that highly influence the security perception of citizens. }} | ||
| Vehicle theft{{#info:Vehicle theft is the crime of theft, or attempt of theft of or from a motor vehicle (automobile, truck, bus, motorcycle, etc.).}} |
Considerations
General considerations
For access control to work, one has to make sure that alternative entry routes are made impossible. For example, erecting a control post at a stadium is useless if the entrance next to it is unguarded. This means that for this measure to work, the access control has to be active at all designated entry points and all other access to the area has to be sufficiently blocked.
In practice this means that this measure usually needs to be accompanied by other measure types, such as target hardening and/or directing traffic flows to prevent uncontrolled entry points.
For access control to be effective in an urban context, the object or area should support a careful consideration of access and exit points, conforming to the use of the object or area. This holds both for the number of accesses and exits and the measures used to enforce it. A football stadium, for instance, can enforce rather imposing access control measures, in some cases extending to screening and the use of violence to enforce it and still requires quick access and exit of multitudes of people. At a service-oriented facility, this type of access control would be out of place and inappropriate and less imposing and more user-friendly measures of access control are required.
Urban planning considerations
Methods to control access to public space should ensure a balance between design for crime prevention and design for effective use of environment s where possible. Rather than focusing only on organised and mechanical strategies of access control (such as physical barriers), more natural strategies such as territorial reinforcement should be promoted where possible. This serves to ensure limited inconvenience (and little or no increase in travel times) for legitimate urban space users. Approaches should avoid the ‘militarisation’ of urban space.
Safety/Security considerations
Access control measures tend to be highly visible. This can raise the prominence of an object, which can raise the attractiveness of the object for fanatics.
Social considerations
Economic considerations
Access control does not only reduce the risk of security threats, but also requires time and money by private agents, companies/developers and the public authorities, exacting economic costs. Together, the benefits and costs are referred to as economic impact of security measures. The costs of access control measures contain the relatively straightforward direct expenditures on capital equipment and operational costs (both temporary and permanent), and in addition generate various types of secondary effects. Access measures like closed roller shutters or big chain locks in shopping streets are classical examples of measures that do not create a welcome environment, creating secondary/indirect economic effects as a result of a reduction of the perceived security and quality of the environment. On top of that, access control measures can cause negative indirect effects for commercial venues like convenience stores. These negative effects are caused by a decrease in accessibility, reducing the amount of customers and increasing the costs of distribution.
Whether the costs are making sense from an economic point of view, depends on many factors, and can be answered by two distinct sets of questions:
- Are the envisioned access control measures cost effective from a socio-economic point of view, or are there better alternatives?
- Which specific agents (individuals, companies, sectors, authorities) are affected by the access control measures, and to which extend? How do the envisioned measures adjust the behaviour of these agents, and of course the behaviour of criminals/terrorists?
Economic tools can help the decision makers to answer these questions and to prevent wasteful expenditures on security (of course in collaboration with insights from criminology, sociology, etc.).
Mobility considerations
At closed entrances (if only to a particular mode of transport) information should be made available when and where a person/vehicle might gain access.
Access control in the field of mobility is also applied for congestion charging, for example with the aim to improve the air quality. In London this is applied with camera control with license plate recognition at the entrances/exits of the city.
In public transport, access control is sometimes applied with chipcards and automatic gates. The chipcards can be personnal. Access is only given to people with a valid chipcard with sufficient saldo.
At private (company) parkings, acces is often regulated with an automatic barrier and a pole with communication connection to e.g. the reception desk or chipcard (electromagnetic?) control; only people with a company chipcard or people with an appointment to a known employee of the company will get access.
Ethics considerations
To prevent ethical issues, one should make sure to be transparent about the discrimination criteria and make sure these conform to anti-discrimination legislation and customs.
Legal considerations
Legal considerations include protection of privacy (e.g., since access control may involve surveilance) and addressing of issues such as liability or professional negligence. VITRUV offers a summary checklist and a list of methods to assess legal aspects in resilience-enhancing urban planning.
Footnotes and references
