Crime prevention project Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Crime prevention project - Essay Example 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 ai med 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 tree s 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