CPTED Portal

CPTED PORTAL

Launch Application

Hello, Welcome to the Berkeley Police Department interactive CPTED portal. My name is Officer Brian Hartley, I currently work in our Community Services Bureau and I am CPTED certified. This is an interactive portal intended to provide you with basic information about CPTED and to get you thinking about other ways to make our community safer. We want to help the public in either the designing phase of a location or to enhance an existing location with proven crime prevention measures. On this portal, you will see interactive buttons that you can click, which will help you navigate through the site. We hope you find this site useful and informative as you learn about CPTED.

Welcome !

Click me for audio

What is CPTED

Crime prevention through environmental design (CPTED) has been around since the early 1900’s. CPTED has a multi-disciplinary approach with the goal of reducing opportunities for crime that may be inherent in the design of structures or in the design of neighborhoods. Through proper arrangement and design of buildings and open spaces we can discourage undesirable behavior or criminal activity. CPTED strategies aim to reduce victimization, deter offender decisions that precede criminal acts, minimize fear of crime and build a sense of community. (Source: National Institute of Crime Prevention (NICP)) Keep in mind these concepts are not an end all be all to stop crime from occurring. Over time, through collective awareness and working together, we can deter individuals from committing crime in our neighborhoods. We want to encourage eveyone to share these CPTED concepts with one another, in order for us to create the safe neighborhood we all desire.

What type of property do you own or manage?

Residential

Apartment/ Multi-Unit

Small Business

Commercial

click on me for audio

Other property Types

Other property types

If you own or manage one of the following location types, fill out the site survey request and one of our CPTED certified officers will be able to help you: Churches, bars, public parks, recreational areas, parking lots and entertainment venues. These locations may require a more in-depth CPTED analysis. The CPTED concepts in this portal will still provide you with valuable information you can explore and incorporate. However, for us to provide the best analysis we recommend a site survey with one of our CPTED certified officers. Complete a site survey request, which can be found at the end of the CPTED portal.

What type of property do you own or mangage?

Residential

Apartment/ Multi-Unit

Commercial

Small Business

Other property Types

Learn more

Learn more about CPTED

Learn about crimes in your area

Click on the below tabs to dive deeper into CPTED

Target Hardening

01

Locks, fortified door, etc

Territorial Reinforcement

04

Natural fencing, structural fencing, etc

Maintenance

05

Continued maintenance

Natural Access Control

03

Clear paths, building entrances, etc

Natural Surveillance

02

2ft/6ft rule, good and proper lighting, etc

CLick on me for audio

Target Hardening

Target hardening is the use of locks, fortified doors, reinforced walls, laminated glass, unbreakable glass or other techniques to fortify your building. The goal of this concept is to increase the efforts of the offender and to increase the risk of apprehension or drawing attention to their presence.

Natural Surveillance

The goal of this concepts is to design a space maximizing visual attention and awareness (an eyes on approach) thereby increasing the perceived risk to a potential offender. This concept can be implemented either indoors or outdoors utilizing the natural surroundings, structural designs, and placement of those structures allowing for additional eyes or the perception of additional eyes on the space itself. Faux windows or openings are effective examples of this concept when real windows are not practical. Avoid creating ambush spots or areas where potential threats can hide or congregate.

Natural Surveillance

The goal of this concepts is to design a space maximizing visual attention and awareness (an eyes on approach) thereby increasing the perceived risk to a potential offender. This concept can be implemented either indoors or outdoors utilizing the natural surroundings, structural designs, and placement of those structures allowing for additional eyes or the perception of additional eyes on the space itself. Faux windows or openings are effective examples of this concept when real windows are not practical. Avoid creating ambush spots or areas where potential threats can hide or congregate.

Natural Access Control

The goal of this concept is to navigate people through a controlled acccess point at a location, which can help increase security. This can be achieved by the design of the lanscaping, the streets, sidewalks and the building entrances. The goal is to ensure that entrances are visible, well lit, overlooked by windows and entryways are clearly defined. Creating a "celebrated entrance" can reduce unnecessary confusion by making it obvious where visitors need to go to access the intended space.

Territorial Reinforcement

Territorial reinforcement is the use of physical attributes that express ownership such as fencing, pavement treatments, signage and landscaping. The goal of this concept is to establish a clear boundary between public and private space and to make it clear incursions onto private space are not welcome. This is acheived by combining natural surveillance and access control principles thereby creating or designing a space where the owner feels a strong sense of ownership.

Maintenance

Maintenance at a location will allow the space to be used for what it was intended for. This also serves as an additional expression of ownership and prevents overgrown landscaping to hinder visibility or to obstruct lighting. CPTED and the Broken Window Theory suggests that one "broken window" or blight, if allowed to exist, will lead to others and ultimately to the decline of an entire neighborhood. Neglect and poorly maintined properties are breeding grounds for criminal activity. It is important to develop a CPTED based maintenance plan to help preserve property value and community safety.

Let's wrap things up!

Thank you for visiting this CPTED portal. We hope this portal has been informative and educational. CPTED requires collaboration between the community and the police. This collaboration can help create safe and welcoming neighborhoods. If you have further questions or want additional information about CPTED, please fill out the site survey request provided below.

Site survey request

Click me for audio

Return

Return

Return

Return