1. Teaching Kids To Help Design Out Crime
Institute for Criminal Justice Studies
This TCLEOSE approved Crime Prevention Curriculum is the property of CSCS-ICJS CRIME PREVENTION II

2. Teaching Kids To Help Design Out Crime
National Crime Prevention Council
And
Institute for Criminal Justice Studies
Materials Needed
Markers
Large sheets of paper
Flipchart
Discuss the topic and mention that the National Crime Prevention Council in partnership with the Bureau of Justice Assistance is the creator of this PowerPoint presentation. Refer participants to NCPC’s two websites, (for children) and its main website,
Note: There is another PowerPoint on this CD that deals with school saftey and security.
National Crime Prevention Council

3. Foreword
Now you have learned a lot about Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design (CPTED) from CPTED Part I and II. You can use this information to teach and win over the kids to help you in your crime prevention efforts.

4. TARGET AUDIENCE Middle school children High school children
College students – young adults

5. Who are you? Where are you from? What is your background?
Why are you here?
If time allows, have participants introduce themselves to the group. If you have a large group, you may ask individuals to raise their hands as you ask general questions, e.g., “How many of you are teachers?” or, “How many of you have children in high school?”

6. Objectives Learn the definition of CPTED
Understand the four key CPTED principles
Learn how children and youth can be involved in CPTED
Review the objectives of the presentation. Participants will
Learn the definition of CPTED
Understand the four key CPTED principles
Learn how children and youth can be involved in CPTED
Identify the strengths of youth-adult partnerships
Learn CPTED activities for your community
Learn CPTED teaching strategies

7. Objectives - continued
Identify the strengths of youth-adult partnerships
Learn CPTED activities for your community
Learn CPTED teaching strategies

8. What is Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design (CPTED)?
Ask the participants to guess what CPTED means. Write their responses on the flipchart.

9. Formal Definition… (Review from previous lesson)
Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design (CPTED) is the proper design of the physical environment to reduce fear and the incidence of crime and improve the quality of life.
Have one of your participants read this definition aloud. Discuss how these definitions support one another and how the participants’ ideas agree with the actual definition.

10. Simply put…
CPTED is using common sense to design and build an area so it feels safe and is safe.
When CPTED principles are applied, people who use an area feel safer and would-be criminals are discouraged from committing crime.
Have one of your participants read this definition aloud. Discuss how these definitions support one another and how the participants’ ideas agree with the actual definition.

11. Visioning Experience
Divide your participants into small groups (ideally 4–6 people per group) and give each group two large sheets of paper and markers.

12. Two Scenarios Imagine a safe community. Imagine an unsafe community.
Instruct the participants to close their eyes. First, have your participants individually think of a safe community. (Depending on your audience and location, you may substitute a school, park, or community center.) Then have each group draw such a community. Have one person from each group come up and talk about the group’s drawing. Use the same process to have each group generate and share a drawing of an unsafe community , residential street, or park.
You can save time with this exercise by asking half of the groups to draw a picture of a safe community and by asking the other half to draw an unsafe community. Then, ask each group to share three things that they included in their drawings.
Note that many of the first things the participants thought of when they thought about safe and unsafe communities were elements of the physical environment. The pictures of the safe community most likely included bright lights, trees, and flowers. The pictures of the unsafe community most likely included images of abandoned buildings with broken windows and graffiti. Observe that the physical environment has a great impact on our sense of safety in an area, and it can have an impact on helping to prevent crime.

13. In order for a criminal to commit a crime…
the following three factors are necessary:
The desire to commit the crime
The ability to do it
The opportunity to do it
Talk about the three factors necessary for a criminal to commit a crime:
The desire to commit the crime
The ability to commit the crime
The opportunity to commit the crime
Take away any one of the three and the criminal is much less likely to commit the crime. CPTED deals with constructing a physical environment that takes away a criminal’s ability and opportunity to commit a crime.
Note: You may want to download and pass out as a handout “Twenty-Five Techniques of Situational Prevention” by Ronald V. Clarke and John Eck (2003) available on

14. By using CPTED strategies, we can start to design out crime
by modifying…
Manmade features
Natural features
Use the drawings that the group has created to show the difference between manmade features and natural features in the community.

15. Four Key Principles of CPTED
Access control (coming and going)
Surveillance (keeping watch)
Territoriality and maintenance (showing we care and watching everywhere)
Activity support (having fun, studying, reading, walking)
Introduce the four CPTED principles and tell participants that you will explain them in more depth with the coming slides. Tell participants that when they work with children and youth, they may need to talk about these principles using more age-appropriate language. You can use the terms in parentheses with children and youth.

16. Access Control
Natural Access Control describes how people get into and out of an area in order to keep would-be criminals out of the area.
Use barriers such as entrances, exits, fences, and landscape to prevent people from entering private or dangerous areas.
Know who is currently in a building or other space.
How People Get Into and Out of an Area
Natural access control strategies use barriers such as entrances, exits, fencing, and landscaping to prevent people from entering private or dangerous areas. Access control also includes knowing who is in a building or other space. This is how we keep would-be criminals out of an area. We do this every day when we lock our homes and cars. Ask the group for examples of access control in their own communities. Does the community center have a welcome desk where visitors sign in? Does the school keep all doors but the main entrance locked after school has started?

17. Surveillance
Natural surveillance strategies provide people with ways to watch an area.
Remove hiding places, add lighting or benches, trim bushes, and bring more people to the area so that it can be easily seen and protected.
How People Watch Over an Area
Natural surveillance strategies involve removing hiding places, adding lighting or benches, trimming bushes, and bringing more people to the area so that it can be easily seen and protected. Often people do not even realize that they are acting as monitors of the area. Perhaps youth sitting outside a library or neighbors relaxing on their front porches may be serving as monitors. Ask the group for other examples of monitors. Surveillance deters would-be criminals because criminals don’t want to be seen as they commit their crimes. Ask the group for examples of natural surveillance in their own communities. Does the office of the school look out into the main lobby? Are there playground monitors at the community center?

18. Territoriality and Maintenance
Territoriality and maintenance are ways that people show that they own or care for an area.
Mark clear boundaries with such things as fences, art, signs, and landscaping.
How People Express Ownership of an Area
Territoriality, or how people show that they own or care for an area, includes marking clear boundaries with such things as fences, art, signs, and landscaping. It expresses ownership of the community. Many of us do this in our own homes when we set out a welcome mat. Territoriality and maintenance communicate the idea that individuals are looking out for an area to make sure it stays safe. Discuss with the participants examples of territoriality and maintenance in their communities. Do buildings have clearly visible name signs? Are there enough trash cans in the park to discourage littering? Do broken windows or playground equipment need repair?

19. Territoriality and Maintenance continued
The way we say “this is our space and we care about it and who uses it.”

20. Activity Support
Activity support promotes positive and appropriate events and behavior in an area.
Play in a park, eat in a restaurant, park vehicles in a parking lot.
Have a clear idea of how space should be used to enable planners to decide what to put there.
Is an area designed and set up to meet its intended purpose. If you are attending an art class there should be tables, easels, paper, paint, and brushes. If not, this won’t be a very fun art class.
Often, the way an area is used depends on what is in that area. To illustrate this principle, have participants think about their own homes. There is a room with a stove, refrigerator, and microwave that is used for cooking. There is a room with a bed that is used for sleeping.
Ask the participants to imagine that they are designing a park. What would they put in the park to encourage children to play sports there? What would they put in the park to encourage families to have picnics there? By providing opportunities for positive activity in an area, communities can reduce the risk that crime and other dangerous activity will occur in that area. Ask the participants if they can share examples of activity support in their own communities.
Before you continue, ask the participants if they have any questions about CPTED.

21. Activity Support - continued
Remember, the way an area is used depends on what is in that area.
Some considerations could be?

22. What can kids do? Children and youth have “insider” information.
What can kids do?
Children and youth can contribute to CPTED efforts.
Children and youth have “insider” information.
Children and youth have a desire to help out and volunteer.
Tell the participants that CPTED is most often used by adults—law enforcement officers, architects, city planners—to address safety concerns in communities. But children and youth can and should be an integral part of this crime prevention process. Elaborate on the ways children and youth can contribute to CPTED efforts.
Children and youth have “insider” information. They use the parks, walk home from school, and use community centers. They see things going on in the community that adults might not notice.
Children and youth have a desire to help out and volunteer. Young people today are volunteering at higher rates than ever before. According to a survey by NCPC, four out of ten teens say they are engaged in volunteering and community service (Are We Safe? Focus on Teens, 2002).
Young people have skills to do what needs to be done. Adults often feel overwhelmed with responsibilities, so taking on new projects and tasks related to community safety may seem like a burden. But children and youth can assess, design and lead elements of community safety projects. They can assist in approaching local businesses for donations and support, they can design fliers to publicize efforts, they can organize events. Young people may need guidance from adults, but they can do much on their own.
Children and youth can reach their peers. Young people can serve as positive role models for their friends and classmates. They also understand what messages resonate with their peers, and so can communicate safety and crime prevention information effectively.

23. What can kids do?
Young people have the skills to do what needs to be done and can design and lead elements of community safety projects.
Children and youth can reach their peers.

24. What does every High School have you can tap into for student support?
J.R.O.T.C.

25. Other considerations Band club PAL (Peer Assistance Leaders)
Latin club
Church youth
Boy Scouts

26. Who is walking the streets, playing in the parks, and using community facilities?
Children and Youth
Explain to participants that children and youth are as much members of the community as adults are. They have a vested interest in making sure the community is safe, and they have a desire to help out and serve that community.

27. Our greatest natural resource

28. What are the benefits of youth and adults working together?
They learn new things about each other.
Each group contributes its own skills and knowledge base.
Ask participants to share any experiences they have had working with young people on service projects. Ask the volunteers what was the greatest benefit of working with the young people, or what was the young people’s greatest contribution to the project.
Note that even if there is a desire to partner with young people to make the community safer, building an effective partnership in practice can be difficult. Adults are used to interacting with young people that they have some sort of authority over—such as parents with authority over children, or teachers with authority over students. The following tips will help young people be active partners.
Include youth at meetings and make meetings accessible. Pick times and locations that are convenient for all group members including children and youth.
Ask young people questions and give them time to answer. Children and youth may be intimidated by adults and hesitant to speak up and offer their ideas. Adults may need to ask them direct questions, and give them time to organize their thoughts and build up the courage to share their ideas.
Work together on all tasks. Whether the task is typing notes, planning a budget, or writing safety tip sheets, young people and adults can share responsibility for these tasks.
Ask participants who have worked with young people for other suggestions on building effective youth-adult partnerships.

29. What are the benefits of youth and adults working together?
More ideas lead to better results.
It creates a dialog between children and adults about safe and unsafe places in the community.

30. Involvement = Ownership
What does this mean to you?
Involvement = Ownership
Do we make our youth feel a
part of the community?
Talk about what this means to your audience and then talk about what this might mean for youth. Are there times when youth may not feel a sense of ownership or are not at the decision-making table? Is there anything that can be done to change this? Have your participants prepare an action plan on ways to involve youth in their community and establish three goals to be accomplished in the next three months.
Are we teaching the ownership
And responsibility?

31. How To Involve Children and Youth in CPTED
Share the following ideas for involving young people in CPTED-based safety efforts in your community:
Create a drawing exercise to teach about CPTED.
Conduct a walk-around safety search.
Share ideas for involving young people in CPTED-based safety efforts in your community. There are many ways to teach youth CPTED principals and get them involved in CPTED safety efforts.
Drawing Exercise – Activities similar to the “draw a safe/unsafe neighborhood” exercise used earlier in the presentation are effective ways to illustrate CPTED to children. Other examples include creating a shadow box or taking pictures of neighborhood areas.
Walk-around safety search – Take groups of children or youth on a field trip or walking tour of their school, community center, or other neighborhood areas and ask them to point out good and bad CPTED practices. Afterwards, ask them to write a report including positive points and recommendations for improvement. Younger children could draw pictures or do show and tell.
Neighborhood Watch groups – Children and Youth should be involved in the local Neighborhood Watch programs and included in age appropriate activities. Events that target specific age groups should be planned.
Check-in Desk – Having a central check-in point at the entrance of a community center or other public building promotes good CPTED practice. It serves as a place to observe those outside the facility as well as those entering the building. Having someone at the desk sends a message that the facility pays attention to who is there and what is happening. Older youth could be recruited to assist with staffing the check-in desk.
Kids can influence elected officials. They can petition for better lighting at a park or playground.

32. How To Involve Children and Youth in CPTED - continued
Join forces with Neighborhood Watch groups.
Create a check-in desk at a community center.
Petition for better lighting in a park or playground.

33. QUESTION WHAT CAN YOU DO IN YOUR LOCAL COMMUNITY TO INVOLVE
YOUR YOUTH?
Well there is hope!

34. McGruff’s CPTED Library
Designing Safe Spaces: Involving Children and Youth in Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design
How To Help McGruff®! Service Projects for Children To Make Communities Safer
Designing Safer Communities: A Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design Handbook
Review the publications listed on this slide. Emphasize NCPC’s publication, Designing Safe Spaces: Involving Children and Youth in Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design. This publication has more ideas for CPTED activities that can be carried out by children and youth. This publication and the others listed above can be ordered from NCPC’s Fulfillment Center at

35. TEAM PRACTICAL EXERCISE
Each TEAM will come up with ten (10) things you can do to involved your local youth with Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design.

36. Resources Youth Crime Watch of America – www.ycwa.org
National Criminal Justice Reference Service –
Bureau of Justice Assistance –

37. National Crime Prevention Council
1000 Connecticut Avenue, NW
Thirteenth Floor
Washington, DC
Ask participants if they have any questions about any of the information you provided. Answer questions to the best of your ability. If you are not sure of an answer, please let the participant know that you cannot answer that question at that time, but you will investigate the question and respond to the participant in the future. Ask the participant for his or her contact information and then call or the National Crime Prevention Council with the question. (Call NCPC at and ask to speak to someone in the Children and Youth Initiatives Department.)

38. Presenter Contact Information
350 N. Guadalupe, Suite 140, PMB 164
San Marcos, Texas