Crime Prevention through Environmental Planning- The Case

ISSN (Online) 2456 -1304

International Journal of Science, Engineering and Management (IJSEM)

Vol 5, Issue 4, April 2020

All Rights Reserved © 2020 IJSEM 115

Crime Prevention through Environmental Planning-

The Case of East Fort, Thiruvananthapuram

[1] Jahnavi S, [2] Nizar.S.A [1] M.Plan (Urban Planning) Student, Dept. of Architecture, TKMCE, Kollam

[2] Associate Professor, Dept. of Architecture, TKMCE, Kollam

Abstract: - As urbanization increases, Crime and fear of crime are the major concern for a society and safety is an important

feature considered in a high- quality living environment. Poor physical environment can increase the incidence of crime, especially

in urban areas. Crime prevention through environmental design (CPTED) thus plays a good role that creates safer built

environment and resist the opportunity of crime. The paper focus on the study of global, national trends of crime incidence

(specifically on property crimes) and the concept of CPTED; along with case studies that solved the issue of increase in crime

through CPTED strategies. The study includes the analysis of property crimes and where it occurs the most in the city of

Thiruvananthapuram. Finally, the CPTED strategies are applied in the identified hotspot of property crime in the city to reduce

the opportunity of committing a crime and thereby providing safer environment to live in.

Key words— Crime Prevention through Environmental Design (CPTED), Property Crimes, Target Area, Hotspots..

I. INTRODUCTION

Historically, people built walls to secure their cities against

outsiders who might rob the citizens, or worse, slaughter

them. As cities grew, maintaining the walls and gates became

impractical, and as technology advanced, walls offered little

in the way of protection. As growth occurred, the poor areas

that were once outside the walls were absorbed by the city,

and the residents of those poorer communities were displaced. The impact of racially and ethnically segregated

communities that are physically debilitated, along with

patterns of economic discrimination and political

disenfranchisement are by far the greatest factors that give

rise to urban crime and violence that has occurred over the

past fifty years. If individuals from an ethnic or racial

minority feel that they are disenfranchised, and that their only

hope for economic success is through crime, there will be

high crime rates. If, in addition, these disenfranchised

individuals have access to weapons, you will have violent

crime. This pattern is seen in many places throughout the world. There comes the importance of urban planning that

can reduce the urban crime and violence [1].

II. ROLE OF URBAN PLANNER

There are three elements needed to commit a criminal act:

opportunity, ability, and motive. Also there are two ways to

reduce crime: Prevent it from happening in the first place;

apply various social controls that will impact on potential

offenders. The Crime control methods are predominantly

directed at reducing a potential offender’s motivation to

commit crime through penal, social, cultural and economic

interventions. The Urban planners are often the boundary

spanners between city departments and community residents.

Urban planners should be responsible to interact with the

populations who are at risk for either becoming victims or

offenders of crime in their communities and neighbourhoods.

Also urban planners should take into account the crime

reduction activities as part of their routine planning duties

[1].

III. UNDERSTANDING DEFINITIONS

The word ‘Crime’ is defined from Latin word Krinios which

means ‘to accuse’. According to Halsbury, “Crime is an

unlawful act which is offence against the public and

perpetrator of that act is liable to legal punishment”[2].

The Elements of crime are an offender, a victim, an

intention and motive to commit crime, Knowledge about the

consequences of crime, criminal behaviour and a means/

instrument/ network/ method of committing an offence [2].

The cause of crime or what may be called as causation of

crime can be studied under the two heads, namely, (i)

subjective; and (ii) Objective [2].

Subjective aspect of crime causation includes the

following aspects: (a) anthropological, (b) biological, (c)

physiological and (d) psychiatric characteristics of people

[2].

Objective approach includes socioeconomic, ecological,





topographical, cultural and environmental aspects under

which crimes usually crop up [2].

Fear of crime is an emotional reaction characterized by a

sense of danger and anxiety. Factors contributing to fear of

crime are personal experience and unreliable evidence of

crime, media misinformation and or omission and perception

of light sentences [3].

Crime Prevention in turn is intervention in the causes of

criminal events, to reduce the risk of their occurrence and

their potential seriousness [4].

IV. PROPERTY CRIME

Property crime includes crimes that are not directed

specifically at individual people. Rather, these crimes are

aimed at property. With property crime, property may be

destroyed or defaced in some way. Usually people aren't

injured since the intent is typically focused on obtaining or

defacing the property in question, but it's possible that

individuals may be harmed, as in the case of arson [5].

Types of Property Crimes

1. Murder for Gain

2. Dacoity- An act of violent robbery committed by an

Armed gang [6]. 3. Robbery- An Unlawful taking of property from a

person’s immediate possession through using force

of intimidation [6].

4. HB (House Breaking) Theft by day

5. HB Theft by Night

6. Ordinary Theft

7. Vehicle Theft

8. Criminal breach of trust- An Unlawful taking of

property by someone who it was entrusted to

(Embezzlement) [6].

9. Extortion- A mode of crime where the use of threats to obtain property of another person [6].

10. Arson- The Intentional fire setting or attempting to

set fire on a property [6].

11. Cheating

12. Forgery- A white- collar crime that generally refers

to the false making or material alteration of a legal

instrument with specific intent to defraud anyone

[6].

13. Counterfeit currency- Imitating currency produced

without the legal sanction of the state or

government, usually in a deliberate attempt to imitate that currency and so as to deceive its

recipient [6].

V. BACKGROUND

GLOBAL TRENDS IN CRIME

When the economic recession began in 2008, there was an

expectation that rates of crime, especially property crime,

would increase. The most recent world crime figures suggest

that the trend in falling crime rates in high income countries

such as the US, Canada and many European countries has

continued. The continuing decline in rates of homicide in

such countries shows different patterns. In Italy, for example,

homicides fell by over 43% between 2007 and 2010, which is

attributed to a change in attitude to the use of extreme

violence among mafia groups, which is seen as bad for

business. Nevertheless, crime is still distributed unevenly

across the world, with Latin America and the Caribbean

experiencing the highest rates of homicide, and violence has

increased in some low and middle income countries [7].

In the annual review of world crime trends, and drawing

on the UN Crime Trends Surveys from countries with long-

term data, UNODC reported in 2013 that between 1995 and

2011 – a period of seventeen years – there has been an

overall decline or stabilization in many conventional crimes.

This includes violent crime such as homicide, robbery and

rape, and property crimes such as burglary and theft of motor

vehicles.

Fig.1 Trends in conventional types of crime in countries for

which long-term trend data are available, 1995-2011 [7].

Globally, there is a decrease in conventional crimes such





as Robbery, Theft, Motor Vehicle Theft, etc (or may be

referred as the property crimes). But the conventional crime

stands in the second position after drug- related crimes in the

world [7].

In 2012, the majority (65 per cent) of the prisoners are

imprisoned for non-violent offences in Central America.

About 37 per cent of prisoners in the Eastern European

region had been convicted of property crimes [8].

Fig.2 Share of prisoners by crime type for which they were

convicted in Central America and Eastern Europe, 2012 (five

countries) [8].

Violent crime includes offenses such as rape, robbery and

assault. According to FBI data, the violent crime rate fell

51% between 1993 and 2018. Using the BJS data, the rate

fell 71% during that span. The long-term decline in violent

crime hasn’t been uninterrupted, though. The FBI, for

instance, reported increases in the violent crime rate between

2004 and 2006 and again between 2014 and 2016 [9].

Property crime includes offenses such as burglary, theft

and motor vehicle theft, and it is generally far more common

than violent crime. The FBI data shows that the rate fell by

54% between 1993 and 2018, while BJS reports a decline of

69% during that span [9].

Fig.3 Trends in U.S violent crimes and property crime, 1993-

2018 [9].

CRIME TRENDS IN INDIA

A total of 50,74,634 cognizable crimes comprising

31,32,954 Indian Penal Code (IPC) crimes and 19,41,680

Special & Local Laws (SLL) crimes were registered in 2018.

Though it shows an increase of 1.3% in registration of cases over 2017 (50,07,044 cases), however, crime rate per lakh

population has come down from 388.6 in 2017 to 383.5 in

2018. During 2018, registration of cases under IPC have

increased by 2.3% whereas SLL crimes have declined by

0.1% over 2017. Percentage share of IPC was 61.7% while

percentage share of SLL cases was 38.3% of total cognizable

crimes during 2018 [10].

Fig.4 Crime Incidence in India; Crime Rate in India (from

2016-18) [10].

In 2014, a total of 15666 violent crimes affecting property

were committed in the metropolitan cities of the country.

About 35 percent of the total violent crimes affecting

property in the country were committed in the metropolitan

cities because of the high density of population, close

proximity of buildings and escape avenues available. Under

IPC, for robbery, Delhi stands alone first contributing a huge 41 percent of the total registered cases in the metropolitan

cities. 15 percent of the entire countries’ cases of robbery are

committed in Delhi alone which is then followed by Mumbai,

Bengaluru, Pune and Nagpur [10].

CRIME TRENDS IN KERALA

The property crimes were the highest in the year 2016 with

a total of 12, 988. Out of which 742 property crimes were

registered in Thiruvananthapuram, the capital city of Kerala

[11].

Fig.5 Percentage of property crimes registered in Kerala

[11].

The total property crime cases registered in the year 2019

is 12,720. The most commonly committed property crimes

are Cheating, Theft, Burglary and Robbery 11].

PROPERTY CRIME IN THIRUVANANTHAPURAM CITY

The statistics of NCRB reveals that Kerala is one among

the Crime prone states in India. Thiruvananthapuram city holds the second position in top crime recorded cities in the

state. Crimes like Snatching, Theft and Robbery are very

high and clustered in the central portion of the city[12].





Table.1 Total registered cases of robbery, Snatching and theft

in Thiruvananthapuram city from 2010- 15 [12].

CRIME PREVENTION THROUGH

ENVIRONMENTAL DESIGN- CPTED

Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design

(CPTED) is defined as multi- disciplinary approach for

reducing crime through urban and environmental design and

the management and use of built environments [13].

HISTORY OF CPTED

The CPTED was originally coined and formulated by

Criminologist C. Ray Jeffrey. The Timeline below shows the

further developments of CPTED [6].

CPTED STRATEGIES

1. Natural Surveillance- Natural Surveillance is a

design concept directed primarily at keeping

intruders under observation. The proper placement

and design of windows, lighting, and landscaping

provides opportunity to challenge inappropriate

behaviour and report it to the authority [14].

2. Natural Access Control- The primary thrust of an

access control strategy is to deny access to a crime

target and to create a perception of risk to offenders. Natural access control employs elements like doors,

shrubs, fences and gates to deny admission to a

crime target and to create a perception among

offenders that there is a risk in selecting the target.

Physical and mechanical means of access control-

locks, bars, and alarms can supplement natural

access control measures [14].

3. Territorial Reinforcement- The concept of

territorial reinforcement suggests that physical design can create or extend a sphere of territorial

influence and potential offenders perceive that

territorial influence. It also fosters a sense of

ownership [14]. 4. Maintenance- Lastly, care and maintenance allows

for the continued use of a space for its intended purpose. Deterioration and blight indicate less

concern and control by the intended users of a site

and indicate a greater tolerance of disorder.

Maintenance is the responsibility of the owners,

operators and occupants [14].

CASE STUDY

Case studies showing the successful implementation of

CPTED that lead to reduction in the occurrence of crime in

the specified area are discussed in this section.

New castle city centre, UK

Newcastle City Centre is a compact area of mostly

Georgian and Victorian Streets providing a high quality

urban environment of exceptional architectural interest.

Eldon Square Shopping Centre is the largest city centre

shopping centre in the country [15].





Fig. 6 The New Castle City Centre [15].

The Key Crime challenges were Theft (Steal from Motor

Vehicle, break and enter dwellings nearby), Malicious

damage, domestic violence and Non- domestic violence

related assault. [16].

Process Involved.

The project focussed on the Grainger town partnership

area for improvements as most property crimes were

concentrated in that area. They are:

• Restoration of building facades.

• Introduction of residential use above shops

• Pedestrian priority applied to some streets

• New granite footpath paving and other street

repaving work

• Building-mounted street lighting

• Removal of clutter (excess street notices, lamp

posts, signposts)

• Upgraded CCTV system, controlled by the police

and staffed 24 hours

• Continuing cleaning and maintenance

• Investment in public spaces and realm, increasing

pedestrian priority [15].

A City Centre Crime Prevention Panel of public and private

interests meets monthly to discuss crime figures, hotspots and

problems. The planning measures are backed up by a range

of other strategies, including: an Exclusion Scheme where

known criminals are banned from particular shops; a radio

link between 170 city centre companies and the police; and ‘Pub Watch’ CCTV scheme [15].

Fig.7 Grainger Town has been reanimated by specific

measures, such as outdoor cafes, to create eyes on the street; Mixed use development, homes, studios, offices and leisure,

provides the ownership and surveillance that round-the-clock

usage brings; A very high quality environment that attracts

visitors creates the ideal conditions for natural surveillance

[15].

Outcomes

These measures have contributed to Newcastle’s position

at the forefront of the urban renaissance. It is an attractive

shopping destination by day and is active in the evening

because of numerous bars and restaurants, and growing

residential use. New developments have fostered a feeling of

pride amongst those living and working in the area. Visitor

numbers are growing, with hotels approaching capacity.

Given the number of visitors compared to a relatively small

residential population, the local police view the city centre to

be a safe environment. Also Overall crime has fallen by 25%,

with robbery down by 48%, shop theft by 23%, commercial

burglary by 19% and drug offences by 10% [15][16].

‘Salt way’ CPTED project in seoul, south korea

Mapo-gu Yeomri-dong in Seoul, the South Korean urban

area that first applied CPTED to reduce fear of crime as well

as the crime rate in Korea. In June 2012, Mapo-gu Yeomri-

dong was selected as a CPTED target area as part of

UNESCO's "Creative Cities Project"; subsequently, "Salt

Way" was created, in which CPTED principles were applied

through the integration of visual crime-preventive elements

(e.g., colours and graphics) and physical crime-preventive

elements (e.g., lights, IP cameras, and safety fences) [17].

Target Area

Yeomri-dong is a typical old downtown residential area,

built on hillsides with steep slopes, traversed by narrow

alleys. The regular houses are constructed to face each other

across each avenue. The socioeconomic status of the

residents is generally low, and people suffer from frequent

crime in the area In 2011, there were 35 thefts and 46

violent crimes. In 2013 there were 49 thefts and 53 violent

crimes Then, excluding crimes that occurred in areas outside





the scope of study area(to be divided into treatment, buffer,

and control areas) or that occurred within the complex in the

target area, there were 28 thefts and 41 violent crimes in

2011 and 42 thefts and 41 violent crimes in 2013 [17].

CPTED Measures Adopted

Salt Way is 1.7 km long its physical crime-preventive

elements include 6 SOS Houses, 5 CCTV cameras, and 6 IP

cameras, along with visual crime-preventive elements such as

LED streetlamps for pedestrians, floor patterns and various

sculptures. The principles of CPTED—surveillance,

reinforcement of activity, maintenance, and reinforcement of

territoriality—were applied to all sections of the Salt Way

trail [17].

Fig.8 Elements of CPTED in Salt Way [17].

Considering the four major strategies of CPTED, they

brought the citizens together for providing a good natural

surveillance to the area, access control methods were used to

deter the criminal, strengthened the territoriality by

recognising location by clear sign on Telephone poles and

security LED numbering and also to do the proper

maintenance of the area as well the provided technology[18].

Fig.9 Access control methods to deter criminals;

Territoriality strengthened by providing clear signs on

telephone poles and security LED numbering (before and

after picture) [18].

Outcomes

Theft decreased to a maximum due to the implementation of

CPTED. Thus CPTED reduces the rate of property crime but

only slightly less effect on reducing violent crimes [17].

STUDY AREA

About the study area.

East Fort is the CBD of the city of Thiruvananthapuram,

the capital of Kerala. East Fort covers an area of about 0.27

sq km with a population of 3334. East Fort received its name

because it is the eastern entrance to the fort, which was built

by the Travancore Kings in the present area and called as the

heart of Trivandrum city.

Fig.10 Regional connectivity Map of East Fort.

Padmanabha Swami temple is the major city landmark

standing in this area. The growth of Trivandrum city begins

with the shifting of capital from Padmanabhapuram to the

Fort Area near temple. The Padmanabha Swami temple has

been the nucleus of the city growth from 1758 to present. The

area lies along M.G road stretch which caters for recent

developments of the city especially in the commercial sector.

Also M. G road stretch is considered as the major diversion

point to different parts of the city like kovalam,





Attakulangara etc. The presence of the major KSRTC

terminal just outside the fort gate links it to rest of the areas

of Trivandrum. The central railway station also lies around

700m radius from East Fort. Another Location of major

importance are the Gandhi Park and Chalai market.

Gandhi Park is situated in front of the fort, which is famous

for hosting socio-politico gatherings. The Gandhi

Park provides a magnificent view of the entrance to the East

Fort which is lit up. Chalai market is old shopping area

located opposite to East fort central bus stand where all the

city buses terminate. The main entrance is located at the

junction between Gandhi park and KSRTC bus garage. This

entrance takes you to the Chala market and terminates on the

Kanyakumari highway (earlier known NH-47 and now

renamed as NH-66) at a distance of about 1.5 km. (100m

from East Fort)

Crime rate in study area.

The Study area occurs under the Fort jurisdiction of

Thiruvananthapuram city. According to DCRB (District

Crime Records Bureau), Crimes like Snatching, Theft and

Robberry are the most common type of occurrence of crime

in the city of thiruvananthapuram. That is, property crimes is

the highest and clustered in the central core area with a total

of 742 cases in 2016, 657 cases in 2017 and 591 cases in

2018. In 2019, Fort PS have the highest reported and

registered cases of property crimes of about 398 cases.

Table.2 Property offences in Fort PS in 2017 and 2018

Ordinary Theft and Vehicle Theft is high in numbers in

2017 and 2018 compared to the other types of property

offences in the study area.

Fig.11 FIR Registered in Fort PS; Property offences in Fort

PS- Jan 2020

Major Hotspots Identified and issues in Hotspots.

According to the data collected from Fort Police Station,

the property crime occurrence is more in the following

four areas and is identified as the major Hotspots of

property crime in east Fort.

East Fort

The area is safe now as it is under the Security Zone

included for the protection of Sree padmanabha swami

temple. Improper maintenance of public toilet provided

behind the City Bus stop and is occupied by men mostly

smokers. The area is under strict mechanical CCTV

surveillance and also the street lights are in proper working

condition. Snatching cases occur during festive seasons.

Old Sree Ramachandran Textiles

This area is safe now but cannot predict the occurance of a

crime. Due to the two way movement of vehicle, strangers who have the intention to attempt crime gets unnoticeable.

Theft and snatching cases occur more during pongala season

or any festive season.

Thakaraparambu Road

The major issues in this area is Improper cleaning,

blinking street light (not properly maintained), CCTV is

provided only at one point and Vehicle Theft is frequent in

the area.

Power House Road

Presence of two govt Liquor shops due to which women

resist to enter this area. Other issues are improper cleaning of roads, blinking street light and the odd street lights are not

replaced; and CCTV surveillance are present but only at one

point.





Fig.12 Land Use map showing the major hotspots of

property crimes in East Fort.

Fig.13East Fort; Thakaraparambu Road; Old Ramachandran

textiles; Power House Road.

Survey Results and Analysis.

The Four identified major hotspots of property crime

was surveyed by using Random Survey. Ten persons were

surveyed per hotspots. The results are discussed below in

each of the hotspots.

In East Fort, Snatching is the commonly occurring

property crime as per the surveyors and occurs mostly in

the evening.(witnessed/ aware of). If witnessed, as soon as

reported to the Fort Police Station. According to the surveyors, the area is Safe since it is in the security zone

and the police patrols are regular in the area but cannot

predict the occurrence of snatching as there are a lot of

easily escaping points in the area.

Fig. 14 Type of crime witnessed/ aware about; Time of

occurrence of crime in East Fort area.

In Old Ramachandran Textiles, Snatching is the

most reported property crime with 80 percent and 60 percent

of property crimes occur in the evening. The area is highly

occupied with activity generators like street vending. The area is under strict CCTV surveillance and street lights are

properly maintained.


occurrence of crime in Old Ramachandran Area.

In Thakaraparambu Road, Theft is the most common

property crime, especially Vehicle theft and occurs mostly in

the evening. About 40 percent of street lights are not in a

working condition, the area is not properly cleaned, natural

surveillance is less from both sides due to the presence of the

bridge in between. Thus strict implementation of CCTV

cameras in many points should be executed.






occurrence of crime; Condition of street light; Safety status

in Old Ramachandran Area.

In Power House Road, Snatching is the commonly

occurring property crime and 80 percent of the property

crimes occur in the evening. About 80 percent of street lights

are in good working condition but the area is only 60 percent

safer. Police patrols are strict only at night.


occurrence of crime; Condition of street light; Safety status

in Power house road.

STRATEGIES

From the analysis, it is clear that Thakaraparambu road and

Power House road are the Non safe zones among the four identified Hotspots. Thus these two regions should be

incorporated with the CPTED strategies to reduce the

occurrence of crime.

1. Natural Surveillance: The promotion of activity

generators in these two areas can lead to greater

natural surveillance, thereby reducing the crime rate

and the unnecessary roaming of the drug in-takers in

the entrapped points of the area. The provision of

mechanical surveillance system such as the CCTV

cameras should be placed at intermediate points of

the two roads mentioned. Fully illuminate the

exterior of the building and grounds at night.

2. Natural Access Control: The car parking space

under the bridge in between the road creates an

entrapped area that reduces the natural surveillance

from both sides and also promotes unwanted

activities. Physical and mechanical means of access

control-locks and alarms can be provided in the area

to reduce the crime, especially Vehicle theft in these

two areas.

3. Territorial Reinforcement: Positioning of the

reception areas in all entrances and employing more

security guards in the area.

4. Maintenance: Maintain high visual quality in the

area with paintings on walls. The street light

working should always be monitored and the odd

ones should be replaced immediately. Keep the

carriage way clean and repairs. Maintain parking

area to a high standard to deter the drug addicts in

the entrapped points and resist the occurrence of

crime.

CONCLUSION

The study formulated planning strategies through

CPTED for reducing the crimes in the major hotspots of

property crimes in East fort. The strategies were put forward

through analyzing the concepts of CPTED and the case

studies showing the successful implementation of CPTED

due to which the crime occurrence were reduced. Thus the

concept of CPTED should be incorporated in the

development plans of a city to provide safety to the citizens.

REFERENCES

Help Reduce Urban Crime and Violence; EuroPROFEM - The European Men Profeminist Network

[1] Criminology and criminal justice system; Dr. N. Maheshwara Swamy, Asian law House, Hyderabad 2017

[2] Fear of Crime in Urban Settings: Influence of Environmental Features, Presence of People and Social Variables

[3] Safer Places: The Planning System and Crime Prevention; Llewelyn Davies

[4] Study.com; Definition of Property crimes. [5] Wikipedia [6] 4th International Report on Crime Prevention and Community

Safety [7] United Nations Survey of Crime Trends and Operations of

Criminal Justice Systems. [8] PEW Research Center; Facts about US Crime, 2019. [9] National Crime Records Bureau, 2014, 2016-18. [10] State Crime Records Bureau, 2016-19 [11] Analysis of Crime Incidence in Thiruvananthapuram City;

Achu A L, Dr. R S Suja Rose; 2016.





[12] International CPTED Association. [13] Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design: General

Guidelines For Designing Safer Communities [14] Safer Places: The Planning system and crime prevention, 2004 [15] Newcastle city council safe city plan 2017- 20. [16] Effectiveness of a Project Applying Crime Prevention through

Environmental Design in an Urban Area in South Korea; 2017

1. 2nd Generation CPTED strategies and effect for the urban and rural complex city; ICA International conference; 2017.

Documents

Crime Prevention through Environmental Planning- The Case