Using Design to Reduce Crime
Date Posted: March 7, 2016
Posted In: Ideas,
From Parks and Recreation: Why would you wait for a crime to occur if you have the means to prevent it from happening? Law enforcement agencies often spend too much time and resources on reactionary practices regarding crime instead of implementing preventative measures. Crime prevention strategies and community policing are evolving concepts that need to be applied by law enforcement agencies and park systems nationwide. One form of proactive strategy is Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design, or CPTED (pronounced sep-ted). CPTED is a plan or project that uses specific design principles to work toward deterring criminal behavior while positively impacting the image and usage of an area or facility.
Not Just for Law Enforcement Agencies
CPTED is a technique that can be used ubiquitously. Putting together a CPTED plan involves a variety of departments (marketing, planning and design, maintenance, media relations, executives, etc.) and each specific principle of design will show individually how much the practice can benefit you and your organization. Instead of focusing efforts on catching and stopping criminals, CPTED focuses on their behaviors and analyzes — “Why are criminals picking this location and committing this crime?” CPTED provides a different style of assessment, designed to work to prevent the crime before it occurs.
This concept is based on the theory of the “Crime Triangle” — a helpful model that can be used to analyze an issue for a CPTED project or for a proactive approach for trying to work toward preventing the occurrence of a specific crime. In either case, your assessment of the situation begins in the center of the triangle.