Three stand out among the various crime prevention tactics as encompassing the variety of techniques and security goals. You should be able to start attaining your security goals once you’ve grasped these crime prevention tactics.
The following are some of the most effective crime-prevention strategies:
- CPTED
- Situational Crime Prevention
- Security By Design
Environmental Design (CPTED)
Oscar Newman, the architect, is the originator of the famed CPTED system, which stands for “Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design.” He developed the concept of urban landscapes that deterred crime in a 1972 report commissioned by the National Institute of Justice.
Dr. C. Ray Jeffery, on the other hand, essentially authored the book on CPTED in 1991, breaking it down into five key goals:
- Access control
- Surveillance
- Activity Support
- Motivational Reinforcement
- Territoriality
1. Access Control
Physical access control is the most fundamental crime prevention approach. It limits the amount of persons who can enter an area based on their need to be there. Strong doors, high-security locks, and window protection are the most basic methods of access control.
These physical barriers are ineffective in preventing crime in public settings, but there are other ways to limit access outside physical security. You can, however, expand barriers to build gated communities or even restrict entry based on geography.
Access management in public places is intended to deter people who do not intend to interact with the community. The more remote and difficult-to-reach a destination is, the more particular purpose is required to go there. Those who are wandering aimlessly stand out.
2. Surveillance
Most people think of organised surveillance measures like security guards, law enforcement, and security cameras when they think of surveillance. The efficiency of this type of surveillance approach will vary depending on the speed with which it is implemented.
Security cameras may fail to safeguard your property in a variety of situations, and paid responders may be unable to arrive in time to prevent a crime. This is why the relevance of natural/spontaneous surveillance is emphasised in crime prevention through environmental design.
By building structures and outdoor spaces in such a way that foot movement provides bystanders who can report crimes, crime can be prevented through natural surveillance. You want to send a huge number of people to high-risk locations so that they outnumber the criminals.
3. Activity Support
The goal of activity support is to make a community stronger in a specific location. You establish reliable communication and outreach channels by organising activities and events that bring a group together. Social management is more effective with those channels in place.
Locations for public gatherings are created with certain activities in mind in terms of crime prevention through environmental design. A jungle gym for kids, for example, would include chairs with good lines of sight so parents could keep an eye on their kids.
Other tasks, such as keeping an eye on the elderly, incapacitated, and possible criminals, must be encouraged. This sort of crime prevention is based on the idea of informing criminals that vulnerable people in this neighbourhood are still easy targets.
4. Motivation Reinforcement
The motivational reinforcement is aimed at criminals or potential criminals, with the goal of discouraging criminal behaviour while also encouraging societal responsibility. Through socialisation and community standards, this strategy emphasises the boundaries of illegal action.
There can be no doubt that criminals will be apprehended and prosecuted if this is to operate. “Research reveals clearly that the risk of getting caught is a considerably more effective deterrent than even harsh punishment,” according to the National Institute of Justice (NIJ).
Rather than selling the harshness of punishment, you must convince everyone that criminals do not get away with their crimes. Then market the benefits of community involvement, which are bolstered and sustained by activity support. This is in addition to passive and active security.
5. Territoriality
The purpose of territoriality is to get the community to actively shape their shared identity in order to take ownership of the protection of their space. Because it deals with intangibles, this is likely the least founded goal of crime prevention through environmental design.
The concept combines rational self-interest with the premise that the more you put in something, the more invested you are in it. Individuals in a group will protect their environment if they believe it is a reflection of themselves. And the more time and effort they invest into establishing and sustaining it, the more time and attention they will devote to protecting it.
This mindset is also thought to reduce social isolation and estrangement from a community, which can contribute to criminal activity. When a result, as people engage in determining the community in which they live, they keep an eye on it and do not hurt it.
Situational Crime Prevention
Situational crime prevention, in contrast to community planning and lofty ideals of crime prevention through environmental design, is more specific in its approach. However, because of its uniqueness, it becomes one of the most comprehensive crime prevention measures.
The concept of target hardening is used in situational crime prevention. This is an attempt to evaluate high-risk regions for crime and reduce their vulnerability to the most likely threats. You’re depending on the data from your security assessment for this form of crime prevention.
In an area where criminals are kicking down doors, solid core or hollow core doors should be replaced with solid wood doors that are adequately secured. Whereas an office concerned about espionage or the loss of confidential information may be more concerned with preventing illicit lock picking.
You’re considering industry patterns, local criminal methods, and previous crimes you’ve witnessed. If you can determine if your lock has been picked, for example, you must take steps to prevent the crime from occurring again.
Finding a problem and coupling it with a preventative strategy is what situational crime prevention is all about. Reduce the chances of a criminal succeeding with their chosen approach by addressing the most current threat.
Security By Design
Regardless of which crime prevention strategy you employ, security by design is always present. The majority of people use this degree of crime prevention. It consists primarily of the obstacles, locks, and security measures mentioned in the section on access control.
Other crime prevention tactics aim to persuade criminals that an attack is not worth it. Security by design focuses on preventing crime from succeeding once it is no longer deterred. This is accomplished by employing the appropriate locks and enhancing existing obstacles.
One of the most typical crime-prevention blunders is failing to replace a necessary lock. To avoid being targeted by crooks, you may need to replace locks in a variety of situations. By preventing attempted crimes, the level of your protection functions as a crime deterrent.
In Closing
Crime prevention through environmental design is the most widely discussed and practised technique (CPTED). You should be familiar with the concepts of situational crime prevention in addition to CPTED’s complete and complex approach.
However, security through design is the foundation of all crime prevention. The first step, whether you’re trying to avoid staff theft or a house invasion, is to build your core security. So, if you need new or improved locks, investigate if Matrix Locksmith Toronto is available in your area.
