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The application of CPTED principles provide cost effective remedies for reducing crime as well as making a property more user friendly. The roots of CPTED originally came from public housing . It was found, when investigating the root cause of crime, that design flaws actually benefited the criminal by increasing the opportunity for crime. Today CPTED principles are applied to the full range of public access facilitates.
CPTED criteria are applied to both exterior as well as interior space of public facilities. The proper application of CPTED design will ensure the successful homogenization of security technology, security personnel, and architectural design.
Security professionals are now working hand in hand with architectural firms in order to ensure a safer environment for all.
CPTED design is now being used in hotels, office buildings, retail centers, and hospitals.
A good example may be found in major convenience store chains. In the past, many of these stores were cluttered and afforded poor visibility from the outside. Armed robberies were common and the police had difficulty detecting these robberies in progress, even when they were involved in active surveillance. Many of these stores had poor exterior lighting. When CPTED principles were applied, crime decreased along with the litigation that followed close behind.
CPTED principles even apply to the choice of landscaping. The choice of landscaping can be of crucial importance to the overall success of the facility's security design. The goal is to achieve a balance between an inviting aesthetic design, while at the same time maintaining those features that ensure adequate security.
Obviously, the optimal time to apply CPTED design principles is during the design phase of new construction. It is vitally important that those considering new construction insist that their architectural firm work in concert with a Board Certified Security Professional. Public facilities designed as recently as 10 years ago were often designed with objectives in mind that are antithetical to the needs of today's public facilities.
It is not necessary to build facilities that look like medieval castles or prisons. The goal is to achieve a compromise between openness and ease of access with the ability, at the same time, to mitigate many of the security threats we now face.
In the wake of 9/11 there are two potential reactions that are likely to produce adverse consequences. The first is to do nothing. Anecdotally, we find more complacency as we move westward across the United States. The second pitfall is to over react. This over reaction may take the form of buying inappropriate security equipment or the ill-advised hiring of security personnel.
The only way to proceed is to first conduct a security vulnerability assessment and then move forward with a CPTED inspired design. |
