Secure Design
Design Against Crime: Overview
The Design Against Crime initiative is part of the Home Office’s Crime Reduction Programme and is important because it tackles the causes of crime at the earliest stage.
Too often, design improvements are only made after a crime wave has occurred. The Design against Crime initiative, working with the Department of Trade and Industry and design bodies, seeks to encourage companies to think through the crime-resistance of their designs and systems before launching them on to the market.
A number of key projects are underway:
Crime Resistant Design of the Built Environment
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The need for better urban design - Department of Transport Local Government and the Regions (DTLR formerly DETR) By Design: Urban design in the planning system: towards better design'
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Local planning guidance - delivering Crime Reduction through Design - a model from Fareham Borough Council
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The Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO) Secured by Design Award Scheme (SBD)
Electronic 'Chipping' of Goods to prevent property theft
Design Practice - encouraging designers to take the potential for crime as a dominant issue in the design process
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Royal Society for the encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce - (RSA) Student Design Award scheme
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A research project in conjunction with the Design Council is underway to assess the extent to which industry, designers and others are aware of the issues of crime resistance of the products they produce and the extent to which they take account of such considerations from the outset
Tackling crime in the future - the role of the Foresight Crime Prevention Panel
The message is clear. Good design can improve the quality of life for everyone, reducing crime and the fear of crime and providing safe sustainable communities where people want to live.
Last update: 27/08/03