Durham County
Overview: We live with crime every day. Unfortunately, it has become a fact of life. Discussions on the subject have traditionally focused much more on arrest and punishment than on crime prevention; measures that cannot be taken until after a crime has been committed. Preventing crime offers tremendous savings to everyone. Traditionally, most people think of crime prevention in terms of target hardening or fortification: the use of devices to block unauthorized access or entry. There are other options.
Enter a new approach to crime prevention – Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design – or CPTED. Much more far-reaching than dead-bolts on doors or locks on windows, CPTED principles are applied easily and inexpensively during building or remodeling projects, and have been implemented in communities across the nation. Designers and architects have always integrated resistance to natural threats — fire, earthquakes, floods, harsh weather—into their works. In recent years designers and architects have begun to recognize crime as a man-made hazard which can be resisted through quality design.
What is the secret to CPTED? It is the use of design to eliminate or reduce criminal behavior while at the same time encouraging people to “keep an eye out” for each other. These are just a few of the ingredients that go into creating an effective CPTED environment… that is, safer, more livable communities.
