Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design (CPTED) theories contend that law enforcement officers, architects, city planners, landscape and interior designers, and resident volunteers can create a climate of safety in a community, right from the start.  CPTED’s goal is to prevent crime through designing a physical environment that positively influences human behavior.  People who use the area regularly perceive it as safe, and would-be-criminals see the area as a high risk place to commit crime.

Strategies of CPTED

Natural Surveillance – A design concept directed primarily at keeping intruders easily observable. Promoted by features that maximize visibility of people, parking areas, and building entrances: doors and windows that look out on to streets & parking areas; pedestrian-friendly sidewalks and streets; front porches; adequate nighttime lighting.

Territorial Reinforcement – Physical design can create or extend a sphere of influence.  Users then develop a sense of territorial control while potential offenders, perceiving this control, are discouraged.  Promoted by features that define property lines and distinguish private spaces from public spaces using landscape plantings, pavement designs, gateway treatments, and “CPTED” approved fences.

Natural Access Control – A design concept directed primarily at decreasing crime opportunity by denying access to crime targets and creating in offenders a perception of risk.  Gained by designing streets, sidewalks, building entrances and neighborhood gateways to clearly indicate public routes and discouraging access to private areas with structural elements.

Physical Maintenance – The repair, replacement, and general upkeep. Allows for the continued use of a space for its intended purpose.

For CPTED information or assessment, call Officers Jacobsson or Parsons at the Saint Paul Police Department Crime Prevention Unit, 651-266-5625.