YARMOUTH,
Maine—Ensuring that schools are secure has come to the forefront in the
wake of the shootings in Newtown, Conn. Schools throughout the country
are retrofitting entrances with cameras, installing access control
systems and putting other measures in place, all to account for the fact
that they weren't designed with security in mind in the first place.
"We're still seeing a lot of buildings, including schools, designed without good security in the design," said Jonathan Lusher of i3 Security Services in Texas.
Lusher is past chairman of the International Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design Association. CPTED uses a multi-disciplinary approach to deterring criminal behavior through environmental design. Secure design includes "natural surveillance," making sure front-desk employees in lobbies are able to see for themselves, without the use of cameras, the people approaching and entering the building; sufficient lighting; and proper maintenance around the exterior of the building.
"It doesn't always come down to equipment, access control, technology. Sometimes it's just design, to get people to do what you want them to do without them knowing it," said Toby Heath, security division leader for C&S Companies in New York. He has been trained in CPTED principles.
Perception is important, Heath said.
"You need lots of windows," he said. "You want to delineate borders between pubic space, like a sidewalk, and a facility's private property with territorial reinforcements such as landscaping or concrete barriers. You want people to identify that once you break that barrier, you're on private property. That gives them the sense that 'They know I'm here.' "
It also gives employees, and in the case of schools, students, a feeling of security.
Since Lusher became involved with CPTED in 1995, he has seen "slow but steady improvement" in CPTED designs in all sectors, he said, but "we are way behind our friends in Canada and in Europe, where they've been doing it for years, even though they might call it something else. Even in Latin America we have a really active CPTED group down there, and they've been using it in new public buildings, barrios and in neighborhood design. It just really hasn't taken off in the U.S. yet."
Heath agreed. "Over the past 10 years, my experience has been that security is always an afterthought." He said he has been working with several K-12 schools recently to upgrade security at their main entrances.
"Statistically, there's no way to show that any of the recent school shootings could have been prevented or in any way affected by CPTED. There's just not enough of it out there on school buildings to see if it has made a difference," Lusher said.
"Unfortunately, with CPTED in general, a lot of people in designing these buildings aren't aware that there are specialists in this aspect of design," he said.
"We're still seeing a lot of buildings, including schools, designed without good security in the design," said Jonathan Lusher of i3 Security Services in Texas.
Lusher is past chairman of the International Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design Association. CPTED uses a multi-disciplinary approach to deterring criminal behavior through environmental design. Secure design includes "natural surveillance," making sure front-desk employees in lobbies are able to see for themselves, without the use of cameras, the people approaching and entering the building; sufficient lighting; and proper maintenance around the exterior of the building.
"It doesn't always come down to equipment, access control, technology. Sometimes it's just design, to get people to do what you want them to do without them knowing it," said Toby Heath, security division leader for C&S Companies in New York. He has been trained in CPTED principles.
Perception is important, Heath said.
"You need lots of windows," he said. "You want to delineate borders between pubic space, like a sidewalk, and a facility's private property with territorial reinforcements such as landscaping or concrete barriers. You want people to identify that once you break that barrier, you're on private property. That gives them the sense that 'They know I'm here.' "
It also gives employees, and in the case of schools, students, a feeling of security.
Since Lusher became involved with CPTED in 1995, he has seen "slow but steady improvement" in CPTED designs in all sectors, he said, but "we are way behind our friends in Canada and in Europe, where they've been doing it for years, even though they might call it something else. Even in Latin America we have a really active CPTED group down there, and they've been using it in new public buildings, barrios and in neighborhood design. It just really hasn't taken off in the U.S. yet."
Heath agreed. "Over the past 10 years, my experience has been that security is always an afterthought." He said he has been working with several K-12 schools recently to upgrade security at their main entrances.
"Statistically, there's no way to show that any of the recent school shootings could have been prevented or in any way affected by CPTED. There's just not enough of it out there on school buildings to see if it has made a difference," Lusher said.
"Unfortunately, with CPTED in general, a lot of people in designing these buildings aren't aware that there are specialists in this aspect of design," he said.
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