September 2008 will mark the 20th anniversary of the Association of Chief Police Officer’s (ACPO) crime reduction initiative, Secured by Design (SBD).
Offering a holistic approach to crime prevention, the SBD initiative blends CEPTED, physical security and police expertise together to reduce crime in the built environment and is delivered to the community via more than 300 Architectural Liaison Officers (ALO’s) and Crime Prevention Design Advisors (CPDA’s) attached to local police forces.
ALO’s and CPDA’s provide authorities, planning departments, architects, designers, builders and members of the broader community with free advice on environmental and design factors that are known to influence crime.
Secured by Design began as a regional crime reduction project in 1998 and was developed over the following years to cover the United Kingdom as a whole.
In 1999 ACPO Crime Prevention Initiatives (CPI) was established in to manage Secured by Design and other ACPO crime prevention initiatives. In order to fund ACPO CPI, the scope of SBD was expanded to include a unique product licensing scheme, offering the only official form of national police accreditation for security products.
Products displaying the SBD logo have been independently tested to verify they meet relevant British standards or, where there is no appropriate standard already in place, other reliable performance benchmarks.
The Secured by Design logo offers developers, architects, designers, builders, specifiers and members of the public instant reassurance that a product has been deemed by the police to provide a realistic level of resistance to criminal attack.
Since the product accreditation scheme was launched, the range of SBD approved security items and services has expanded from traditional doors, locks and windows to encompass computer security, vehicle tracking systems, smoke generating devices, property marking, forensic security systems, anti-blast, anti-graffiti and anti-climbing products. For a full list of SBD product categories and information on the companies and products boasting Secured by Design accreditation, visit www.securedbydesign.com.
ACPO Crime Prevention Initiatives General Manager, Alan McInnes, said that while the success and growth of Secured by Design over the past 20 years is cause for celebration, it is important to look to the future and how Secured by Design will continue to evolve.
“As sustainability becomes firmly cemented as the key issue facing the building and construction industry, building to SBD standards and utilising SBD accredited products has never been more important, “ said Mr McInnes.
“By working with architects, builders, and planners during the design stages, police Architectural Liaison Officers and Crime Prevention Design Advisors are able to maximise the security of a building without sacrificing its aesthetic appeal.
“Using Secured by Design accredited products, which have been certified to security standards identified by ACPO, also helps increase the life-span of a building. It allows residents to feel safer and improves the security of a premises while reducing unnecessary maintenance work which is often required to repair the damage caused by criminal attacks.”
An evaluation of Secured by Design by Dr Rachel Armitage showed the incidence of recorded crime was considerably lower for both new build and refurbished SBD housing than on non-SBD counterparts. The research also found the fear of crime among residents living in SBD housing was markedly lower.
ACPO Crime Prevention Initiatives has recently commissioned Professor Ken Pease, an expert in criminal science, to validate Secured by Design’s credentials against the emerging eco-agenda.
Mr McInnes believes that while Secured by Design is already recognised as making a valuable contribution to sustainability through its long-term approach to crime reduction and creating safer communities, this research will help develop the ‘green’ benefits of the initiative.
“We know that Secured by Design is effective in reducing crime and the fear of crime and that it reduces unnecessary maintenance and replacement costs that are incurred as a result of criminal attacks. We want to reinforce what we already know with some in-depth research that will also highlight other ways Secured by Design can contribute to sustainability.”
With Secured by Design now a requirement in many building tenders and the construction of three million new homes set to take place across the UK, the initiative is well placed to make a valuable contribution to the country’s move towards sustainable living.
“We want to ensure that we’re doing our part. If there are ways in which we can become more eco-friendly or look at new ways of applying the SBD initiative then we want to make sure we’re informed.
We have enjoyed a very successful 20 years of growth and are very much looking forward to building on that success.”
For more information on Secured by Design visit www.securedbydesign.com
ACPO CPI and CABE partner
ACPO Crime Prevention Initiatives and CABE are forging a strong, new partnership that’s providing mutual learning opportunities and ensuring a consistent and effective message and approach is delivered when it comes to best practice for designing-out-crime.
CABE has recently completed a review of ACPO CPI’s Secured by Design initiative, the results of which were announced at the January ALO Training Event by Director of CABE Space, Deborah Fox.
The results of the review showed Secured by Design is achieving success and presented some objectives which will assist with further developing and expanding the initiative.
Brian Quinn, CABE’s lead on crime prevention through good urban design, will be working with ACPO CPI over the coming weeks to explore ways to develop the illustration of SBD principles, the updating of guidance and methods for bringing designers and crime professionals together.
Need for computer security highlighted by data losses and thefts
The protection of data is becoming an increasingly prominent security issue with high profile cases of sensitive information being lost continuing to make headlines.
Numerous private and government organisations have come under fire following a string of blunders and thefts which have led to the loss of personal data relating to hundreds of thousands of UK residents.
With increasing fears over vulnerability of sensitive data, the need for effective and intelligent computer security has never been so important or so well publicised.
