Crime Prevention through Environmental Design

Crime Prevention through Environmental Design CPTED is a successful protection program used for community protection against crimes and thefts for 40 years. CPTED works against traditional security programs and designed by the use of advanced technologies. Beyond the use of locks, it works on the advanced philosophy to design a physical environment that shapes human behavior according to security needs. CPTED works on a direct and straightforward approach that protects the targeted audience by predicting possibilities of happening a crime and protect people from the significant loss by eliminating chances of its happening. The purpose of CPTED is to shape desired behaviors that would act according to the designed environment. This will help people to live in a protected environment where there will be no fear of crime. The use of the word ‘environment’ into the security program’s name is evidence of the protection of everything around humans. Both physical and living things will be protected by the CPTED (Lim, 2005).

Although CPTED introduces an advanced security principle and replaces traditional security systems that were limited to lock and key, it still has some disadvantages. The use of CPTED for urban communities is good as well as bad. Life in an urban neighborhood is not safe at any moment. Fast-paced life is a threat to humans and their environment. CPTED security technique is helpful for people living in urban areas. For example, the most significant advantage of CPTED for the urban population is that people will have a secure physical environment with fewer risks of crime. When residents know that their actions are monitored, they will control their behaviors, and in this way, urban communities will face fewer crime. Another advantage of CPTED for urban communities is that it could record citizens’ activities regardless of the place of business because these security programs have access to broader areas.

Apart from advantages, there are disadvantages of CPTED for urban communities that limit the acceptance of this security principle among a large population. One of the essential difficulties of CPTED is that it could be implemented in newly developed neighborhoods that mean old communities cannot gain an advantage from this innovation. The second major disadvantage is that as it works on the behaviors of people; thus, it will integrate into the personal lives of people affect privacy on a large scale. Another disadvantage highlighted by researchers for the urban community is that it eliminates social cohesion by providing individual security measures. Urban communities already scattered apart, and the implementation of CPTED will affect social arrangements (Diah, 2016).

References

Diah, B. S. (2016). Residential neighborhood security challenges: Assessing crime prevention concepts and techniques. ResearchGate, https://www.researchgate.net/figure/Analysis-of-the-Strengths-and-Weaknesses-of-CPTED-and-CPSD-and-Strength-in-their-Merger_tbl1_307857114.

Lim, J. R. (2005). MEASURING CRIME PREVENTION THROUGH ENVIRONMENTAL DESIGN. Journal of Architectural and Planning Research, 330-332.