How to Leverage CPTED Activity Generators on College Campuses
What is CPTED? The acronym, which is pronounced SEP-TED, stands for crime prevention through environmental design. Although it’s a mouthful, the concept concerns adapting physical security concepts to a facility or area’s natural environment to increase security and deter crime.
There are four core concepts of CPTED, including natural surveillance, which emphasizes maintaining lines of sight across a property; natural access control, which encourages the use of physical elements and natural barriers to guide people towards appropriate areas, such as a main entrance; territorial reinforcement, which identifies the differences between public and private spaces; and maintenance and management, which will indicate that a property is cared for and that anything amiss would quickly be noted and addressed.
CPTED increases security while augmenting the mechanical aspects of physical security—including cameras, fences, and locks—in a way that enhances the appearance and liveliness of a facility’s surrounding area.
The concept is related to the broken windows theory, as well as the criminology and law enforcement academic disciplines. Stanford University social scientists James Wilson and George Keling originally used the term broken windows in 1982, as a metaphor for crime and disorder. They posited that if no one cared enough to fix a broken window in an area, then more broken windows would likely follow, leading to neighborhood decay and an increase in disorder, crime, and fear. Immediately repairing broken windows then became a metaphor for addressing community upkeep quickly.
The broken windows theory, and how it was used in subsequent years has garnered some controversy, but the metaphor is useful when addressing CPTED.
Deterring and reducing crime is a common concern on college campuses. Unlike K-12 schools, colleges tend to have open grounds with dozens of buildings, parking lots, and dormitories. The average campus often spans several acres, with connecting walkways and bus stops that can connect it to nearby towns and cities.
As for the campus population, it includes many young students, some who have left home and families for the first time in their lives. Although current data shows that the average age of college students is in the mid-20s, most first-year students (also the most likely to be living on campus) are between the ages of 17 and 20.
These students represent various backgrounds and experiences, and not all will have the same understanding of potential dangers and concerns for safety. There were about 23,400 on-campus criminal incidents in 2021, according to Clery Act data. Some of the more egregious crimes on campuses included an estimated 10,400 forcible sex offences, 6,500 burglaries, 3,500 motor vehicle thefts, 2,100 aggravated assaults, and 500 robberies.
Activity Generators
The concept of natural surveillance in CPTED relies on the idea that criminals often want to avoid being seen, because any observation increases the risk of being caught and stopped. When properly implemented, natural surveillance allows anyone in the area to easily monitor the area. Adequate non-glaring lighting, allowing for at least 30 feet of visibility in each direction and clear sightlines, is necessary. Well-trimmed trees with branches reaching no lower than six feet from the ground and bushes trimmed down to a height of no more than three feet allow anyone to maintain a clear line of sight.
Clear sightlines also lend an air of safety and situational awareness, encouraging people to use the space appropriately. When they attract people who are legitimate facility visitors, such as students on campus, these areas are positive activity generators.
These don’t have to spring up organically—universities can foster this sort of activity. A campus art program could be designed with art placed in locations throughout the grounds, specifically inviting people to look at or participate in the art, involving both students and community members to contribute to the program, sharing stories about the school, culture, and community.
Additionally, this kind of program could be designed to change on a somewhat regular basis, inviting new and regular viewers alike. While there should rarely be benches or seats along the paths around the art projects to deter people from stopping for long periods of time, there should be signage with stories and captions about the art and its history or connection with the school or community to keep visitors interested and moving through the area slowly.
Other examples of programs that can be used to generate positive activity and connections with the community include fairs, farmers markets, and small festivals. Student groups often can use these to generate revenue for different functions while connecting to their local communities. Furthermore, parks, play areas, study spots, restaurants, coffee shops, and patios allow for increased positive activity.
However, there are also negative activity generators. These are areas that attract people who have no legitimate reason for being in the area and who may commit a crime. Sometimes these areas must exist, but some creativity and use of CPTED practices can result in a decrease of the negative activity, increasing safety of the area instead. On college campuses these areas include parking structures, outdoor restroom facilities, and public seating areas.
When it comes to parking structures on campuses, they should be well lit with high ceilings and have wide throughways to maximize natural surveillance. If more external security is a necessity, then wrought iron fencing could be considered. Access to stairwells, elevators, and waiting areas should have clear glass from floor to ceiling with no visual obstructions (e.g., posters or advertisements), allowing anyone inside and outside to maintain clear lines of sight.
Additionally, the parking structure should have permit access parking limited to students and current faculty members, with rules to prohibit vehicles that are in obvious disrepair, unsafe, or currently unregistered to park in that location. Time limits on parking and restrictions on types of vehicles—such as prohibiting oversized or commercial vehicles—may also be considered to help maintain regular movement.
Proper signage should be placed in obvious locations in the garage identifying these rules. The rules should also be clearly spelled out in faculty and student handbooks. Avoid having any public restroom areas, vending machines, or information booths inside the parking structure—these spaces give people unnecessary reasons to hang out in the space. Not only will this limit those allowed access to the structure but it also maintains a well-kept area, adhering to the broken windows theory.
Outdoor restroom areas and dumpsters can also act as negative activity generators—the restrooms require more privacy, and dumpster areas can create hiding places. Both areas should be placed where there is a high amount of foot traffic or potentially vehicle traffic, as well as clear lines of sight in all directions. They should be well-lit all the way around and provide no places to hide from public view. Limiting access times, utilizing visible signs, and removing all vending and seating areas near these locations will discourage people from lingering.
Seating requires careful consideration throughout a campus, and it can support natural surveillance. Strategically drawing people into areas to generate positive activity while prompting them to move along slowly can be a challenge. Sometimes it isn’t desirable to have them sit or be idle for long periods of time; however, in certain instances benches are advantageous and can have a calculated purpose.
People using benches can provide increased surveillance. Giving people a place to relax, enjoy nature, read a book, or talk on the phone can also increase positive associations with an area. To keep seating as a tool for positive activity, benches should not be placed in areas where loitering is unwanted, and different designs can present an aesthetic appeal while discouraging anyone from resting there too long, sleeping on them, or using them for something other than the intended use. For example, long-term sitting or sleeping can be discouraged with wavy or irregular-shaped designs and backrests, offset benches where one seat is lower than the other, or armrests in between each seat.
One thing to remember about positive activity generators is that they can easily become negative activity generators if implemented improperly. If they are in areas without obvious escape routes in the event of an emergency or an incident, or lack sufficient surveillance, then an activity, program, or installation can become dangerous. If large art pieces end up doubling as walls or hiding places, then this will have defeated the purpose of the project.
Support and Maintain
The importance of maintenance cannot be overstated. For example, allowing areas to become unchecked or unkempt can easily turn the positive activity generator into a negative one. But it also goes beyond seeing and doing nothing about the metaphorical broken window. Campuses must adapt to their changing student and faculty populations. Parks, play areas, or art pieces may have initially been positive, but changing populations or evolving cultures may necessitate a change for the installation continue to contribute to the area’s safety and security.
A maintenance plan helps keep areas looking nice and conveys to all in the area that the site is cared for and inspected regularly. Maintenance also requires collaboration with security and law enforcement, which is already necessary for routine patrolling, removing potential wrongdoers, and deterring delinquent activity.
The maintenance function of the security plan should be included in duty assignments for physical security personnel. For example, security personnel should when they see areas that require maintenance—perhaps a pile of trash was left behind or a light is not working. They would know who on the groundskeeping or janitorial staff to notify when such issues arise. Moreover, they can enforce rules set forth in school codes and signage, such as parking enforcement. They may even be part of the plan to lock gates or doors at the end of the day.
As in all security approaches, CPTED is not a silver bullet. There is likely room for improvement in every situation in, it’s just a matter of how creative a person can be and what resources they have. When successful, CPTED is welcoming to those who should be utilizing a space and off-putting to those should not be there. With the collaboration of administration, law enforcement, and policy implementation, CPTED’s core principles can be deployed to increase safety and security while enhancing the aesthetics of an area.
Kevin Jones, CPP, is a site security manager for a nationwide technology company. He previously worked as a school security manager, conducting armed protection and threat assessments. He spent more than 19 years working in law enforcement before starting work in a school district and more than a decade as a crisis and hostage negotiator. Jones regularly conducts behavioral threat assessments and security audits, and is passionate about crisis intervention, de-escalation, and early intervention. He has experienced firsthand the results of active shooter and workplace violence incidents and strives to help prevent them, including developing training curriculum from personal experiences.
