Purpose



– The purpose of this paper is to critically review the core findings from recently published place‐based crime prevention research. The paper aims to critically evaluate the available evidence on the contribution of crime prevention through environmental design as a crime prevention strategy.




Design/methodology/approach



– Large‐scale evaluations of crime prevention through environmental design (CPTED) are reviewed with a view to clarifying current knowledge on the evidence of crime prevention through environmental design.




Findings



– The review concludes that there is a growing body of research that supports the assertion that crime prevention through environmental design is effective in reducing both crime and fear of crime in the community.




Research limitations/implications



– Although the paper may not review all the evaluations of CPTED, it nonetheless provides a detailed compilation and overview of the most significant research in the area, including an extensive and modern bibliography on the subject. Research implications will be the subject of a forthcoming paper.




Practical implications



– CPTED is an increasingly fashionable approach and is being implemented on a global scale. Additionally, individual components such as territoriality, surveillance, maintenance, access control, activity support and target‐hardening are being widely deployed. However, the evidence currently available is inconclusive and much criticised, which effectively prevents widespread intervention and investment by central government. The paper details the difficulties associated with demonstrating the effectiveness of CPTED.




Originality/value



– The paper concludes that although empirical proof has not been definitively demonstrated, there is a large and growing body of research, which supports the assertion that crime prevention through environmental design is a pragmatic and effective crime prevention tool. This review provides an extensive bibliography of contemporary crime prevention through environmental design and a follow‐up paper will discuss the future research priorities for it.

/pdf/crime-prevention-through-environmental-design-cpted-a-review-2hjujoj994.pdf

Crime prevention through environmental design (CPTED): a review and modern bibliography

Age and Crime.

This is excellent background reading in medical microbiology. The book is in nine parts and covers bacteria, viruses, fungi and parasites and their infections. Medically important micro-organisms are discussed in terms of their classification, morphology, and pathogenesis. In addition, for each micro-organism the diagnosis, treatment, epidemiology and control are briefly discussed. The authors also discuss common infections of the cardiovascular system, urinary tract, and central nervous system and food poisoning. The last two parts of this book concentrate on the control of infections, clinical and laboratory diagnosis, treatment, and finally the prevention of infections. This is a simple and easy to follow book on infection and its control, I recommend it for undergraduate students in medicine, nursing and science.

https://jech.bmj.com/content/jech/50/1/111.4.full.pdf

Alcohol policy and the public good

Crime, fear of crime, environment, and mental health and wellbeing: mapping review of theories and causal pathways.

Clinical Assessment of Malingering and Deception

This chapter examines an approach to crime reduction which differs from many others in that it focuses, not on the offender or their reasoning for committing an offence, but upon the environment in which an offence takes place. This approach also differs in its consideration of who should hold responsibility for the reduction of crime, with a focus, not solely upon the traditional criminal justice system agencies, but also upon planners, architects, developers and managers of public space. The approach is based on the presumption that offenders will maximise crime opportunities, and therefore, those opportunities must be avoided (in the first place) or removed (following the emergence of a crime problem). In the 2001 publication ‘Cracking Crime through Design’, Pease introduces the concept of design as a means of reducing crime, but more importantly, the premise that it is the moral responsibility of many different actors and agencies to improve the lives of those who may fall victim to crime, those who live in fear of crime, and (less obviously) those who will, through the presentation of unproblematic opportunities, be tempted into offending. In the case of crime prevention through environmental design (CPTED), it is the planners, designers, developers and architects who risk acting (as Pease paraphrases the poet John Donne) as the gateway to another man’s sin.

Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design

The extent of CCTV coverage and the government's funding of new systems has increased dramatically over the last decade. There is very little substantive research evidence, however, to suggest that CCTV works. This briefing note has been written to inform community safety practitioners about recent research into the effectiveness of CCTV, which suggests that it is not always as successful at reducing crime as it is claimed to be.

To CCTV or not to CCTV?: A review of current research into the effectiveness of CCTV systems in reducing crime

This study examines the effectiveness of a closed circuit television (CCTV) system installed in Burnley, Lancashire in northwest England. It considers both the outcomes and mechanisms through which they were brought about. Three areas are identified: "focal" beats, within which the CCTV cameras were installed; "displacement" beats, which were continuous to the focal beats; and "other" beats, comprising the remainder in the police division. With regard to both overall recorded crime and separate types of offences, the research finds significant decreases in the focal area, no spatial displacement, and some diffusion of benefit to the displacement area. There was some dilution of impact over time. There was no evidence that the proportional effect of CCTV changes by time of day, according to periods when surveillance with cameras would be more or less difficult. Crime fell more steeply as the first cameras were installed, with diminishing increases in effect as more were put in place. These patterns suggest that the impact of cameras is not simply a result of surveillance effects per se. Other preventive mechanisms were also triggered.

Burnley CCTV Evaluation

This chapter highlights the confusing and contradictory policy and guidance within the field of designing out crime within the built environment and challenges policy makers to address an issue which, as yet, has remained unresolved. Whilst it is accepted that conflicting research will always exist, the current debate surrounding the criminogenic features of permeable design has diverted practitioners’ attention from the immediate task of reducing crime. Having highlighted the current conflict within the UK planning system, the chapter concludes with a detailed analysis of the specific environmental factors which increase a property’s vulnerability to victimisation. This is presented as a simple, usable risk assessment mechanism to be used by crime reduction practitioners as a means of identifying which properties will become vulnerable to crime if built (therefore allowing them to challenge planning applications) or in the case of properties already developed, allowing resources to be directed towards properties at most risk.

Sustainability Versus Safety: Confusion, Conflict and Contradiction in Designing out Crime

This paper reports on the findings of a collaborative project (funded by the Home Office and managed by the Commission for Architecture and the Built Environment - CABE) which was conducted in late 2009 and early 2010. The project set out to strengthen and update the evidence base on the impact of design on a range of crime types – with a specific focus upon housing developments acclaimed for their innovative design and award winning architecture. This paper presents the findings of an in-depth assessment of the impact of housing design features on crime. Utilising a comprehensive data collection exercise, the specific design features of thousands of homes were collated and assessed against police recorded crime data. The design features were based upon the key elements of Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design (CPTED) including road layout, house design, surveillance, territoriality, car parking, communal space, management and maintenance and physical security. The unique and painstaking methodology not only provided an excellent dataset for analysis, but also highlighted the need both for greater conceptual clarity within CPTED and for crime-risk assessments to be based on the careful operationalisation and measurement of CPTED factors. As well as assessing the impact of specific (and combined) design features upon crime, the research also resulted in the production of a new data collection tool designed to address the weaknesses of existing checklists in assessing innovative contemporary developments, which are often unconventional in nature. The paper explores the degree of conflict and/or synergy between the traditional principles of CPTED and contemporary directions in architecture and design. Finally the paper considers the extent to which traditional CPTED principles remain relevant within contemporary residential developments and explores whether areas of revision are required.

/pdf/it-looks-good-but-what-is-it-like-to-live-there-exploring-49dvh4lmy8.pdf

Rachel Armitage

Papers

Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design

To CCTV or not to CCTV?: A review of current research into the effectiveness of CCTV systems in reducing crime

Burnley CCTV Evaluation

Sustainability Versus Safety: Confusion, Conflict and Contradiction in Designing out Crime

It Looks Good, but What is it Like to Live There? Exploring the Impact of Innovative Housing Design on Crime