Note: These are my personal notes from the CPTED meeting. Please excuse spelling errors etc. If something is unclear, please let me know. -Dan
CPTED Meeting- November 10, 2004 at 11:00 am
Officer Ben Hittle- Yakima Police Department
Attending parties:
CPTED- Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design
Before-
In the old days, crime prevention centered around a philosophy known as target hardening. That is to say, we made things harder to break into. We'd buy deadbolt systems, alarm systems, put up fences, etc. While these are still good ideas, we can make changes to our environments, our homes, and our landscape in order to further prevent crime. In basic, we're making our home or business a less attractive place for crime. Deadbolts are nice, but according to Hittle, nowadays they'll just get a bigger hammer to take the door out. Or go through a window.
Redesigning the environment-
Through three avenues are we able to make our homes and businesses safer:
Buildings in Yakima must meet certain codes, new building must follow codes to provide safety. They must be able to withstand hurricane force winds and earthquakes. The Fire Department makes certain that they are at the table for new building permits and codes. Why? Because they want buildings resistant to fire and other damage. It makes their job easier and safer. Why shouldn't the police department be so involved and offer rules for making areas and buildings safer from crime? This is starting to happen.
There are four things to consider in making a building resistant to crime, all of which are easiest to implement during the building design phase or during heavy remodels:
Lighting:
Street lights were meant to light streets, as their name implies. They are poor choices for lighting an area for crime prevention purposes because they are placed too high. All they do is throw light down on top of people. Any stage tech will tell you, this style of lighting causes heavy shadow and provides inadequite view of faces. Pedestrian lighting is far preferable. These lights are placed around six feet high, with dome tops and this throws light on people and faces. A typical crime prevention area using lighting will utilize several forms of lighting for best effect.
Landscape:
What good are your windows if you let trees and shrubs grow up over them? Windows are expensive, walls are cheap. If you're planning to let a tree or shrub grow up over a window, then put in a wall instead. The point: Utilize and keep your windows clear! You should be able to see under trees. Officer Hittle's vehicle suffered a break in at his home. It was parked on the street, but a large Blue Spruce blocked the view from neighbouring homes. Keep all large trees trimmed so there is a six foot clearance from the ground level. Maintain landscapes that provide a view for what is called a natural caretaker. A natural caretaker is one who can casually see parts of your property and notice anything suspicious. We, as Americans, value our privacy. However privacy is a doubled edged weapon. Sure, your neighbours can't see you. But they can't see someone breaking in either. Thieves love privacy. Consider lowering high fences and trimming natural fences down to provide views. All the bright lights in the world do you no good if you can't see a house underneath all the trees and fences. Afterall, Wrigley Field has a lot of lights, and you still can't watch baseball from the sidewalk.
Architectural Design:
In some cities it is against the law to have a building front without windows. Many apartment buildings with car prowl problems have windowless sides. Thieves want to work in an area where there is little chance of witnesses. Modern design somehow enshrined the garage, placing it forward of the main domicile. Indeed, many houses are designed with a garage in front and the house in behind. These places make great targets for crime. It's hard to see who's coming up your walkway because a garage blocks the view. The overall design of a building helps when it comes to crime prevention. Windows that look out onto large expanses of the site are helpful, but only when the blinds aren't pulled. Keep window blinds open.
Site Location:
Strangely enough, it was brought up at a seminar Officer Hittle attended that a city would be crazy and irresponsible to build a transit centre in a high crime area. (INSERT LONG THOUGHTFUL CYNICAL PAUSE HERE.) You probably don't want to build a lovely flower shop in the bad area of town. If you build in a crime ridden area, expect crime.
A professional thief is not deterred by the things you might expect:
Instead thieves are deterred by loud dogs. A very loud, pissy, yappy schnauzer is better than a quiet rottweiler. Also, if they hear things inside, they tend to move on. A pro knows that assaulting a homeowner in their home moves a possible third degree breaking and entering charge right up to first degree robbery and further if the thief is armed. It's safer to break into some home where it doesn't look like anyone's home. Leave TVs and stereos on. Put lights on timers. Make it look like someone's home even if you're not.
The way you conduct and design your business will draw certain people. You must consider:
Go after conduct violations. Make it known far and wide that certain behavior will not be tolerated. No matter the reasoning, there is no excuse for bad behavior. Even if the person is a patient of Yakima Comprehensive Mental Health and is off their meds, that is no excuse for acting out. Call the Police and/or Comp Mental.
Final Thoughts and Misc
A person needs to be in the presence of a police officer to be legally trespassed. The only exception to this rule is where one hires a lawyer to formally serve a person with a trespass order. Keep a personal record of trespassing.
Designers finally realized that everyone goes to the bathroom and it's no big secret. Therefore they've decided to start placing bathrooms where it can be seen who's coming or going. When the designers drew up plans for this library back in the 1950s, this wasn't the prevailing attitude. That's why our bathrooms are damn near hidden. For more modern designs, think of Costco, where the bathrooms are right behind the checkstands. The bathroom has no doors, privacy is achieved through wall placement. There is no way to lock one's self in.
Meeting adjourned around 12:45 pm