APPLICABILITY OF CRIME PREVENTION THROUGH ENVIRONMENTAL DESIGN (CPTED) STRATEGIES FOR CRIME PREVENTION IN SRI LANKA

Abstract

Attached

Crime Prevention through Environmental Design (CPTED) is a crime prevention strategy which demonstrates how physical environments can be designed for crime prevention by reducing the opportunities for crime. The CPTED recommends environmental design as an effective crime prevention method, as crimes are being created according to the opportunity based on particular environmental factor. CPTED strategies allow for the most productive use of space while reducing the opportunities of crimes. The main objective of the study was to investigate the applicability of CPTED strategies in Sri Lanka. Data were gathered through the natural observation and semi structured interviews. Fifty (50) police officers were randomly selected as the sample from both Colombo and Galle Districts while doing the natural observation of the physical environment of the main cities of two districts. Collected data were analyzed using elementary statistics. Observation revealed that 1) Domestic 2) Educational institutes 3) Commercial Institutes 4) Other government institutes and 5) Common places as major space structures which used CPTED strategic procedures. CPTED is being used for crime prevention more in the institutions related to private sector of all above categories than the institutions related to the government sector. Majority of the strategies being used by government places have not developed according to the modem CPTED strategies. Most of the police officers are not aware of CPTED and its applicability by the particular name. Night petrol sessions and Crime maps are being used by the police as CPTED strategies. High costs, lack of current knowledge, lack of congeniality of the neighbors, lack of maintenance were traced as the problems affecting the application of CPTED strategies for crime prevention in Sri Lanka.