Where gates are installed for security purposes, just having a gate is often not enough. Especially in South Africa and other high crime areas, there are several factors that have to be thoroughly considered before installing a security gate in order to acquire the security needed.
The type of gate is important – gates are made of all kinds of materials and come in a wide range of a shapes and sizes. In high crime or industrial areas where there is a lot of product to be protected or where traffic or supervision is low during the night, extra measures must be taken. Here security gates should be particularly impenetrable and should ideally be reinforced with sharp edges or stakes, such as in palisade fencing, or combined with electric fencing to prevent anybody from climbing over the fence.
Materials that are good for gates and fencing for security reasons are steel, metal or concrete. Wood is generally considered to be too soft to actively keep anybody out, as it can be broken and weakened by weather conditions, but is suitable if treated and reinforced by a metal frame. Palisade type gates are good as they can be seen through, which means that nobody can hide from security cameras or security guards. Palisade fence gates are also good as they contain sharp spikes which make the security gate impossible to scale.
The locks should be particularly sturdy – normal padlocks can sometimes be clipped open with a good wire cutter, and where possible, locks should be placed inside the gate to avoid access to the lock from the outside. Locks that lock shut on contact are advised where the gates are likely to be locked quickly.
The types of crimes prevalent in that area is also important – for instance, where hijacking is a common problem, it is dangerous to get out of a vehicle to open a gate. Ideally, gates should be automated here and should open and close without having to get out of vehicle. In these cases it is also recommended that vegetation both outside and inside near the gate be kept to a minimum to avoid providing hiding places for criminals.
