CPTED Keys Oxnard’s Downtown Revitalization
The City of Oxnard, Calif., decided to incorporate the use of crime prevention through environmental design (CPTED) strategies for its downtown redevelopment plans. The city already had successfully reduced gang-related graffiti and petty crime plaguing several low-rise apartment buildings using CPTED. Gage-Babcock was retained to provide security-consulting services for the renovation of City Hall and a new four-story parking garage in addition to providing a CPTED review of the city’s downtown redevelopment project, which includes a 36-block radius surrounding City Hall and a new multi-theatre entertainment complex.
CPTED is an urban planning design process that integrates crime prevention with neighborhood design and community development to create a feeling of safety and ownership for residents and business owners. In the case of Oxnard, focus was placed on evaluating access control, natural surveillance, existing lighting, signage, and territoriality. Recommendations from the evaluation included:
-
placing windows, lighting and landscaping elements to facilitate natural surveillance opportunities;
-
standardizing outdoor lighting levels and fixture types;
-
using natural landscape elements and manufactured access control solutions to mitigate potential forced entry and/or vehicle breach vulnerabilities; and
-
coordinating placement and monitoring of electronic security (CCTV, access control, intrusion detection and emergency call stations) inside and outside of city facilities to supplement CPTED strategies.
CPTED proactively reduces crime while improving the quality of life. The process of weaving CPTED strategies into the design fabric of a community sends a clear signal of intolerance for abnormal users and behavior. The supplemental use of electronic security countermeasures serves to amplify the signal to abnormal users and heighten their fear of detection.
Commander Tom Chronister of the Oxnard Police Department believes that CPTED is key to the future success of downtown Oxnard. “When we decided to redevelop downtown, safety and security was not part of the overall planning strategy. We realized that without making potential users feel safe, the revitalization effort would never meet expectations.”
Safety and security continues to figure prominently in Oxnard’s overall strategic planning. CPTED will be used in the future to mitigate risk for the city’s schools, public library and water department. Chronister says: “Other cities should consider this comprehensive security approach. Just because you build it does not mean they will come. Safe environs attract customers, and their continuing patronage is paramount to the success of our downtown.”
ROBERT E. SUMMERS is manager of security consulting for Gage-Babcock and Associates.
