Crime prevention project - Essay Example

Crime Prevention Project The crime rate in the world has increased considerably over the years at a remarkable rate. To overcome this matter and to cope up with this increasing crime rate and to ensure a better standard and quality of life many crime prevention strategies have been initiated. These crime prevention programs have been formulated so as to finish all sorts of crime from grass root level whatever they may be. The need for such crime prevention programs has been since long but work on these programs just began about two decades ago. These programs only started when people started to realize that arrest and punishment was not the only way out of crimes because punishment can only be awarded when a person has already committed a crime. To cut off the roots of crime it is essential to stop the crime from being committed and this is what exactly the motive of these programs is. One such crime prevention program is crime prevention through environmental design also known as the CPTED. This program is aimed not only to decrease crime but also to fill up all the loopholes which may lead to any crime that is making the chances for a crime to be committed almost negative. Its objective is to keep a check on all the different aspects which can lead to a crime and to check on for any suspicious behavior. The CPTED involves people from all those fields who play a role in the designing of an environment. The reason behind this is that these people can change the outlook of an environment and create an atmosphere where no wrong can be committed. This group of people includes engineers, architects, law enforcement personnel, people of the environment who may voluntarily wish to give support for the prevention of crime as well as interior designers (Angel 1968). The different approaches which have been taken up by the CPTED are natural surveillance, territorial reinforcement, natural access control and target hardening. The natural surveillance technique provides for methods that help keep a proper eye on everything that goes around. It suggests upon developing proper lighting everywhere and especially on those points which are sensitive for instance around ATMs and sidewalks. The windows should be designed in a manner so that they face the sidewalks so that everyone who is leaving and coming can be kept an eye upon. Closed circuit television that is CCTV's should be installed for better security (Atlas 2008). The natural access control again provides for measures of protection. It stresses upon keeping everything under security. Heavy bolts for residential doors, single entrances so that proper eye can be kept and residential designs with no access to roofs from outside as well as placing thorny bushes with low windows are recommendations of the natural access control. The natural territorial reinforcement lays stress upon properly indicating private semi-private and public areas. This tends to provide for better looking after opportunities. It also suggests that trees should be planted in residential areas and eats and benches should be created at most of the locations so that people can have proper access and thus creating public spots. This would lead to increased surveillance. Target hardening focuses upon all the entry and exit points of the areas and urges for tight security at these points (Perth, 2006). CPTED is influenced by the different kinds of behaviors shown by different individuals. CPTED has been implemented specifically to change these behavior exhibited by different individuals through its scheme of designing the environment. The way in which the environment is designed through CPTED discourages the prime wrong doers from committing any unlawful action. However researchers have criticized the functioning of this program. They have termed it as a program which emphasizes on the physical aspects rather than the prevention of criminal activities. Further research shows that CPTED has not directly affected the wrong doers. It has not directly prevented them from committing such acts. However on the other hand, similar researches show that CPTED has helped to change the behavioral effects of different individuals living in a community (Jeffery 1971). CPTED emphasizes on the environmental factors which can encourage a particular crime to take place. It attempts to change the whole design of a particular place so as to the wrong doers are discouraged from committing any criminal activity. The program emphasizes on the working of the community as a whole. But again the program has other implications which do not let it operate in a safe environment. The program does not fully emphasize on the other aspects of the environment. It does not encourage the people to have safety measures in case any mishap would happen. It rather influences the people to build a community as a whole and work towards the design of the environment (Jux 2006). The CPTED has many benefits but along with it, it also has a few negative points. For environments which are newly created the CPTED is very successful and it is not very expensive and it is cost effective. But for environments which have already been formed and CPTED is implemented and created in such areas, the cost becomes very high. Though it is a very effective method and upon establishment in these areas it does become cost effective but the initial investment is very high and apart from the cost factor there are many other factors which create difficulties in the working of the CPTED. These factors may be political and also the resistance provided by many people who believe that it would be very difficult for them to adapt to a new environment. Despite of this it should be understood that the motive of the CPTED is to improve the quality of life and hence these difficulties should be ignored. The CPTED requires the work of all the people collectively hence it helps to keep a good and healthy environment. The people who include the engineers and the architects all work together but any division in the working force also alters the effectiveness of the CPTED. Another problem which arises over here is that the work force needs proper training and knowledge of what basically are the requirements of this program it should also be realized that working together is the main requirement which keeps the CPTED going along and working successfully. The CPTED prevents crime at a large scale just by different designs and work but it also alters the freedom as some people might call it. This is because many people have objections to the Closed circuit television systems because they consider such high surveillance systems as intruders of their privacy. To achieve something a person has to lose onto another thing. This is what the CPTED tries to explain that if one wants to live in a healthy environment with a very low crime rate and value for a person's life and property a person has to compromise his privacy for that (Atlas 2008). The natural territorial enforcement includes a point which asks for the removal of cyclone fencing and razor wire fencing. The removal of these then poses different threats especially in those areas which are more prone to receiving cyclones. The CPTED aims at decreasing the crime rate. An objection raised is that all the methodologies adopted by the CPTED aim only at making it difficult for the crime to be committed but still there are chances of crime to be done. It just changes the approach and the behavior of the crime doers rather than totally eradicating them (Parnaby 2006). If looked upon in a general view keeping all the factors of the CPTED in mind it is seen that the program has been very successful despite of its many drawbacks. In environments created on the basis of CPTED the crime rate has fallen by as much as 40%. Despite of the fact that this program has many setbacks but to make this world a better place to live a provide the people with a better standard to live these setbacks can be compromised upon and ignored so that we can expect a day to come when crime from the world has been eradicated. Bibliography Angel, S. (1968). Discouraging crime through city planning. Berkeley: Institute of Urban & Regional Development. Atlas, R. I. (2008). 21st century security and CPTED: designing for critical infrastructure protection and crime prevention. Boca Raton: CRC Press. Jux, C. (2006). Crime prevention through environmental design (CPTED) and its role in master planned communities. Jeffery, C. R. (1971). Crime prevention through environmental design. Beverly Hills [Calif.]: Sage Publications. Parnaby, P. F. (2006). Designs of risk Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design, social control, and the prospects of professionalism. Ottawa: Library and Archives Canada Bibliotheque et Archives Canada. Promoting safer communities through physical design, social inclusion and crime prevention through environmental design: a developmental study. (2006). Perth: Murdoch University. Rosenbaum, D. P., Lurigio, A. J., & Davis, R. C. (1998). The prevention of crime: social and situational strategies. Contemporary issues in crime and justice series. Belmont, CA: West/Wadsworth Pub. Read More