How Cpted Can Improve Public Safety

Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design CPTED) is a system that is designed to increase public safety and reduce the perception of crime through the "design and management of the physical environment of buildings, residential neighborhoods, and business areas." (Fleissner and Heinzelmann, 1996, p.1) In other words CPTED manages the physical aspects of a neighborhood in a way that reduces crime and the fear of it. A

Fundamental aspect of CPTED is the idea that there must be cooperation between both the police and the members of the community toward the goal of increasing public safety.

As part of their obligation the police can observe the overall security situation in the neighborhood and make recommendation for improvements along with providing building owners and managers information packets that can inform them of how to deal with problem tenants and improve the overall security of the building. The police can also conduct patrols of parks and other areas where criminal activity takes place as well as inform residents of particularly high-risk areas within the neighborhood. Working with urban planners and architects, the police can influence their ideas with a view toward enhancing the security of the neighborhood. But the most effective manner in which the police can influence CPTED is by altering traffic patterns and closing thoroughfares which increase outside traffic, and possible criminal activity, through the neighborhood.

For their part the community must also take measures to employ CPTED. These include cleaning up their own neighborhoods through community programs; which can also be used to implement other improvements to the appearance, safety, and use of public spaces. (Fleissner and Heinzelmann, 1996, p.3) Other things the community can do is to organize community watch programs and conduct patrols to recognize problems within the community.

CPTED, in conjunction with community policing programs, focuses on problem-solving through cooperation between the police and the members of the community. As part of the CPTED approach, a systematic analysis must be performed on a neighborhood in the hope of better understanding the nature of crime within a particular area. The end result of a CPTED analysis of criminal activity within a particular neighborhood is to provide the residents and police with specific and tailored strategies to "solve specific problems" that were identified within the community. (Fleissner and Heinzelmann, 1996, p.1)