Eastern Region Crime Prevention Program

The ERCPP funded through the State Attorney General's Department is an extension of the crime prevention program begun in the Cities of Norwood Payneham and St Peters and Campbelltown in 1998. The Cities of Burnside, Prospect and the Town of Walkerville joined to create the Regional program in 2003.

The focus of the ERCCP has been on Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design (CPTED), which recognises the need to design and manage public and private space in ways that discourage criminal activity and increase community perceptions of their safety. CPTED therefore concentrates on safety of people and security of property.

CPTED typically considers issues such as the intention of those who designed particular areas, how it is defined in terms of borders, ownership and maintenance and how well the design of the area encourages its intended function. Timothy Crowe a leading American academic criminologist outlines three CPTED strategies namely:

  • Natural access control (measures that will control access to a site or part of it)
  • Natural surveillance (design measures that increase the possibility of easy observation of areas where criminals may see opportunities to offend but may feel uncomfortable about the possibility of observation)
  • Territorial definition. (Measures that create a sense that a space is owned and managed by its legitimate users)

Please view some of the Fact Sheets(PDF, 245KB), which outline some of the key CPTED principles and strategies are they relate to:

  • Fencing
  • Private Dwellings
  • Business & Retails Premises
  • Vehicle Security
  • On Street Parking