Creating Nonlethal Tactics to Protect At-Risk Assets

Southwest Research Institute has been working on access denial techniques for more than 20 years. Under a project sponsored by the Defense Threat Reduction Agency, SwRI engineers recently developed and demonstrated a system that can detect an intruder and activate a variety of aversive devices designed to deter people from entering or looting a defined area. Engineers worked with the Edgewood Chemical-Biological Center to conduct the Combined Effects Payload for Access Denial program. CEPAD is one of several threat deterrence and access denial programs that SwRI has conducted. Past programs include the Portal Obstruction Device and the Mobility Denial System, which deposits slippery material to prevent movement. The ongoing Long Range Ocular Interrupter program uses high-powered eye-safe laser light to warn potential adversaries and disrupt hostile actions.

Deterrent Technology

The goal of the CEPAD program is to design a system to dissuade or prevent individuals from accessing a protected area using a set of devices that produce aversive effects intended to cause avoidance of the situation. A series of active nodes detect the presence and motion of an intruder. Each node has “effect” devices that produce differing levels of deterrence, ranging from flashing lights to loud noises to pyrotechnic effects and stingball grenades that release rubber pellets when they explode. The system applies an “escalation of force” military strategy. Its nodes communicate with each other and with a central control node to intelligently determine the appropriate effect level at any given time and place. The types of effects produced vary. The system ascertains the direction of motion and increases the intensity of the effects if the intruder does not retreat. Ongoing or repeated attempts to proceed further into the protected area meet increased deterrents, but individuals can retreat unimpeded.

SwRI configured a simulated warehouse to test this system. In the initial phase, engineers developed and used robot mannequins to simulate intruders and trigger the motion sensors.

Human Trials

In the most recent phase, SwRI conducted tests to assess the relationship between the various effects to determine which combinations of modalities are most effective at dissuading different groups of individuals. To perform this analysis, SwRI worked with the San Antonio-based Air Force Research Laboratory’s Human Effects Center of Excellence (HECOE) to develop a testing protocol using volunteers. These volunteers were “cast” in the roles of various individuals attempting to access a warehouse and conduct tasks associated with looting material. Engineers gathered data about the subject’s performance to populate a behavioral model developed by HECOE. The model is designed to predict the behavioral response of individuals and groups with varying levels of motivation to aversive devices with varying levels of deterrence.

Deterrents and Motivations

An independent Institutional Review Board (IRD) approved the SwRI-developed sequence of test activities as well as the steps taken to minimize potential hazards to the test subjects. SwRI recruited volunteers for the tests from a pool of candidates that met specific profiles.

Because the level of deterrence needed will vary depending on the individual, the test protocol assigned and evaluated three levels of motivation for a potential intruder. In this scenario, the first motivational level is that of inquisitive individuals entering places merely to satisfy their curiosity. They seize the opportunity to go inside the warehouse, even though they know they are not allowed. They think, “Look at all these barrels! I wonder what’s in all these things.” They want to take the barrels outside to inspect them, to look for anything interesting. Their goal is to take as many barrels as they can to satisfy their curiosity.

The second motivational level is that of profiteers. They make their living stealing high value items, such as cars or surplus military equipment, and selling them to the highest bidder. They know valuable objects are usually protected and that an alarm system may detect their presence. They believe something lucrative must be in the warehouse. When they enter the room, they immediately assume that the barrels contain valuable items. Their goal is to take as many barrels as they can to increase profit.

The highest level of motivation belongs to ideologues who are driven by political and/or religious beliefs. These individuals are willing to sacrifice their lives if it means their cabal will thrive for future generations. An authority figure of their organization ordered them to remove these barrels because materials inside could further their cause. Their goal is to take as many barrels as they can to please their circle and to satisfy their personal commitment to the cause.

Engineers used a custom-developed obstacle course (above) to evaluate a test subject’s ability to perform tasks in a dark, distracting environment, including strobe lights, pyrotechnics and earphones playing a high-volume soundtrack, including gunfire, screeches and explosives.

SwRI evaluated how deterrents affect a test subject’s gross motor skills, in this case using large muscle groups to maneuver a heavy object. Subjects had to load a barrel onto a dolly and deliver it to a specific location, following a curved path without deviating outside the lines while being subject to varying levels of distraction.