NCJ Number
225143
Date Published
2007
Length
15 pages
Annotation
This paper recommends the application of the principles of crime prevention through environmental design (CPTED) as a strategy for protecting critical infrastructures from possible terrorist attacks.
Abstract
The concept of CPTED is to construct physical designs of buildings and their surroundings so as to produce the desired behavioral effects on the users of the space while facilitating the observation of and response to criminal behaviors. This is done through “natural access control,” which defines where people are legitimately allowed to come and go in a building’s environment; “natural surveillance,” which involves the placement of lights and windows so that people using the building can both observe and be observed by others using the building; and “territorial enforcement,” which involves the use of design to show ownership and proprietary behaviors that give visitors the impression they are guests rather than controllers of the space. Specific CPTED applications for individual buildings are the marking of the boundaries of private building space so as to separate it from public space (sidewalks and the street); making it clear from the street where to enter private building space; orienting windows toward the street and the viewing of activities within the boundaries and at entrance points; and locating outside private activities in areas whether they can be observed from inside the building. This paper also lists CPTED applications for a group of buildings and for street and building territorial reinforcement. 3 figures and 22 references