Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design, Third Edition

Butterworth-Heinemann; 376 pages. Available from ASIS, item #2163; $72 (ASIS member), $80 (nonmember).

After 30 years of using various forms of crime prevention through environmental design (CPTED) in planning and executing facilities security, I found this book to be one of the most beneficial tools to assist me in using these principles. While it has gone by many titles—defensible space, environmental security, situational crime prevention, and others—the concept is basically the same across the board. This book touches on most of the areas security professionals handle every day. Schools, parking lots, airports, housing areas, banks, and service locations are likely candidates for criminal activity. The late Timothy Crowe called for education and training, standards and regulations, design reviews, and documentation to make CPTED widely available and effective. This revision by Fennelly updates Crowe’s initial work in a manner that is organized and detailed enough to make the reader think about the whole picture.

I particularly noted the integration of three concepts to form a space management program called the crime prevention model. Natural surveillance, natural access control, and territorial enforcement involve visibility, traffic control, and reducing the number of people in a given common area. While this concept was discussed in the book for housing areas, it could easily be applied to commercial and retail facilities as well.

One of the big questions in CPTED is always function versus form. The author opines, “The CPTED planner must seek to achieve a balance between the necessity to meet the requirements of human functions and the need to fulfill the aesthetic demands. Otherwise the human function may not meet its objectives.” There are numerous drawings and designs in this publication that would assist the reader in visualizing the comments made by the author. As a result, the reader can go through a systematic process to adapt some of these principles in their planning.

As an additional benefit, Appendix A: Broward County School CPTED Matrix, provides an excellent template that might be used by practitioners to review their efforts and plan future activities. This book is a valuable resource for anyone seeking a professional certification.

Reviewer: Dennis G. Byerly, CPP, CSEM (Certified Specialist in Emergency Management), is a California Certified Association Manager (CCAM) for the Management Trust in Palm Desert, California. He is a member of the ASIS Commercial Real Estate Council.