We can all take steps around our property to help reduce crime.
For Crime Prevention Tips and more, check out our safety and emergency preparedness page under the Services tab on the City of Asheville website homepage.
A great first step is employing Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design (CPTED) practices in and around your home or business. Our Asheville Police Department Community Engagement Division can help (see below) but let’s see if we can break this down a little first .
What is Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design?
Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design (CPTED) seeks to reduce both actual crimes, and fear of crime to foster a vibrant and safe community through thoughtful design of spaces.
There are several ways that CPTED attempts to achieve this crime reduction, such as:
- Natural Surveillance
- Natural Access Control
- Territorial Reinforcement
- Maintenance
Traditional crime prevention is generally thought of in terms of a “fortress” mentality, through devices meant to block access or tall barbed-wire fences. CPTED offers another model of crime prevention. Most crime reduction efforts are focused on reactivity, whereas CPTED works to be proactive in reducing crime.
There are other benefits to CPTED outside of the reduction of crime and fear of
Crime. A few examples are:
- Improves Quality of Life
- Encourages Community Interactions
- Improves Property Values
- Enhances Safety of Public Spaces
CPTED can accomplish these benefits because it includes social management as well as physical management of spaces. It relies heavily on the study of human behavior and how they interact with their environment.
So let’s look at some of the crime reduction recommendations under each category.
Natural Surveillance
- Lighting should be designed to provide even light so that no areas of high contrast are created.
- Windows should not be blocked by advertisements, posters, merchandise, or other items that obstruct view outwards.
- Landscaping should be designed so there are not large areas of shrubbery in which a person can hide. Hedges should be trimmed to be no higher than 4′, and trees should be trimmed so the crowns do not start lower than 6′ above ground.
- Buildings placed at intersections should ensure clear sightlines around building corners to avoid blind spots.
- Entryways should be designed so that users can clearly see outside when leaving.
- If designing a residential area, privacy for residents should not be compromised through surveillance measures.
- Fencing should be low or see-through, including privacy fencing.
Natural Access Control
- Wayfinding signage should be obvious in nature, clearly legible, and be accompanied by maps.
- Entrances should be designed to be visible and clearly identifiable.
- Fencing can be used to separate public space from private space.
- Fencing should be low or see-through.
- Lighting along footpaths and around landscaping can help guide people through a space.
- Vegetation that “fights back” such as American Hollies or Eastern Prickly Pear Cactus can be placed under windows to deter criminals.
- Ensure that building or unit numbers are clearly marked.
- Landscaping can be used as a border to keep people on the designed walkway.
- Internal doors, such as those doors leading into stairwells with no surveillance opportunities, should be restricted to building employees or residents.
- Windows and doors should have secure and undamaged locking mechanisms.
Territorial Reinforcement
- Utilize grade changes, landscape features, low fences or walls, or seating to show ownership of a space.
- In multi-family settings, courtyards or common areas should be centrally located with entrances or windows having direct sight to the space.
- Landscaping as a property boundary should not create an opaque screen, but should allow for sight through it.
- Secondary entrances to buildings should be defined as related territory through low walls or unique paving such as cobblestone.
- Entrances and exits should be kept to a minimum and should be clearly marked.
- In commercial uses, hours and days of operation should be made obvious.
- Signage that demonstrates restrictions, such as a “Residents Only” sign, demonstrates the end of the public way.
Maintenance
- Graffiti should be removed within 24 hours after it appears.
- Avoid long wall sections with light-colored walls as this attracts graffiti artists. Instead, commissioned and permitted murals can be a desirable alternative to expanses of blank walls.
- In residential areas, maintaining shrubbery so that it does not grow out of control or to unreasonable heights, and upkeep of paint, roofing, and fencing will make a residence more defensible against crime.
- In parking garages or similar large areas with minimal supervision, use paint or other material that is easy to clean or repair.
- Areas should be kept clean of trash, debris, and other hazards.
- Enforcing parking standards will prevent disarray in parking lots.
Learn even more about CPTED
Use this CPTED Self-Assessment Checklist to evaluate and improve your security measures.
APD can help:
You can request a CPTED survey and report from the Asheville Police Department. It may be asked, however, that you complete a small “to-do” list on your property before the assessment is made.
APD has multiple staff members certified to complete the survey and report. Requests are fulfilled first come first served as staffing allows. Asheville Police members look forward to opportunities to make community members and businesses safer. You can request a survey by contacting the APD Community Engagement Unit at apdcommunityengagement@ashevillenc.gov or call 828-271-6145.