Assessing a Facility’s CPTED Score

• In Event: Poster Session II

Abstract

Crime Prevention through Environmental Design (CPTED) is a concept that aims, “to prevent or reduce crime by influencing the design, build and management of the built environment” (Armitage, 2017, pp. 260). By enhancing particular design features and promoting community ownership, neighborhoods can minimize crime. This study presents an assessment rubric that could be used to assist property managers measure prevention capabilities in public facilities. An assessment rubric was developed through an environmental survey of three apartment complex locations in a Midwestern state. Data were collected through personal observations conducted at multiple periods of time. The rubric is based on the four principles of CPTED; surveillance, access control, territoriality and maintenance. A quantitative coding scheme in which physical principles (i.e., CPTED characteristics) are rated from zero to five, with half points (+.5) awarded to locations where CPTED components are present but deficient, was developed. Data were analyzed to calculate a prevention percentage score for each location. This project demonstrates how environmental surveys of physical locations can be assessed to allow owners and place managers to assess the types of changes that need to be implemented to enhance CPTED and make areas safer.

Author

• Johnathan Preston, University of Central Oklahoma