Security automation speeds detection, not decisions

The operational calculation matters because automated deterrence measures carry immediate costs when triggered incorrectly, while hesitation creates security gaps. According to the U.S. Department of Justice's Office of Community Oriented Policing Services, 94 to 98 percent of alarm calls turn out to be false, a reality that drives security teams to seek smarter filtering systems without sacrificing response speed.

Terry Swanson, President and CEO at Singlewire Software, said in written responses to Security Guys News that the tradeoff is managed by designing solutions that keep a human in the loop while setting up automation on either side to increase speed while still validating information to minimize false positives. "Everything upstream -- the tools detecting a threat -- needs to get the right information into a decision-maker's hands as fast as possible. That means consolidating signals from sensors, cameras, access control, and other systems into a single view, so nobody has to assemble the picture themselves under pressure. Everything downstream -- the tools delivering the information to everyone else -- is about acting on the decision immediately once it's made: notifying everyone, locking down a building, and coordinating a response. All of that runs on executing pre-configured emergency action plans, workflows, device mapping, and notification paths. The judgment call ends up being the only step that isn't automated, and because of all that preparation, it's a short one."

Reversibility Defines the Boundary

Swanson explained that the line between fully automated incident response and required human oversight comes down to two factors: reversibility and operational cost. "Incident response is rarely low consequence or easily reversible. Incident response must be fast, and it must be accurate. Once you notify a building, you can't un-notify it, so you want to be certain that you're acting on a real issue. Once you initiate a lockdown, dispatch law enforcement, or trigger a mass evacuation, staff have already reacted and emergency personnel are en route. The human and financial cost occurs immediately, regardless of whether the initial signal was real. What that means in practice is that the boundary sits very close to the decision itself. The steps that genuinely are low-consequence and reversible are the ones that build the picture for the person in the middle: providing fast and accurate location information for an activated panic button, surfacing a camera feed, notifying on-site security to go take a look."

Swanson added that automating low-consequence steps is not only safe, it is where the speed comes from. "Everything past the decision point commits you to something you can't take back, which is why it needs a person in the middle with the authority, and the accountability, to make that call."

The Security Industry Association's 2026 Megatrends report found that AI-driven perimeter solutions can reduce false alarms by up to 60 percent, translating directly into fewer wasted guard responses and lower operational costs. The challenge intensifies as detection zones expand beyond traditional fence lines, with operators now monitoring threat activity hundreds of meters from physical perimeters.

Alarm Fatigue Creates Safety Failure

Swanson noted that removing the human element creates unacceptable risk. "False positives still happen frequently enough that a fully automated response would carry real costs, including unnecessary lockdowns, evacuations, and operational disruption. Worse, it would erode trust. Alarm fatigue is its own safety failure. A system people have learned to second-guess doesn't protect anyone, no matter how fast it runs."

The same tension plays out at perimeter installations facing drone intrusions and vehicle probing. Jamie Mortensen of Spotter Global, as previously reported by Security Guys News, explained that perimeter security systems deploying automated threat response face an operational trade-off: respond too aggressively and false alarms overwhelm security teams, respond too conservatively and real intrusions slip through detection zones. The calculation matters because automated deterrence measures, floodlights, sirens, counter-drone protocols, carry operational costs when triggered unnecessarily, while hesitation creates security gaps that adversaries exploit.

Swanson said AI is a promising technology that the company sees accelerating decision-making during an emergency. "AI and advanced automation should accelerate decision-making, not replace it. Our strategy at Singlewire Software is to automate every step around the decision to deliver actionable intelligence instantly, while keeping the final call with the person held accountable for the outcome."