Building Design Seen as a Key to Fighting Crime

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There’s a new target in L.A.’s war on crime: poorly designed apartment buildings.


Los Angeles Councilman Tony Cardenas believes developers and architects can build better crime-resistant residential and mixed-use projects by thinking about prevention long before breaking ground.


“You know on TV when the guy is breaking out of jail and he can hide from the searchlights by ducking into a crevice or something?” Cardenas said. “Well, I want to make sure there’s no crevices where the criminals can hide.”


An initiative, dubbed “Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design,” would subject multi-family housing proposals to the scrutiny of the Los Angeles Police Department in addition to the already lengthy process of getting approval from the city.


The Greater Los Angeles-Ventura Chapter of the Building Industry Association hasn’t taken a stance but believes crime is already a top consideration for developers and architects.


Market motivations prompt developers to build safe buildings with units they can easily rent or sell, said Holly Schroeder, the chief executive of the builders’ group. “We’re already concerned about these issues,” she said.


Getting approval for projects in Los Angeles by most accounts already an arduous process would only be made more difficult with an added layer of scrutiny. And the additional requirements could dissuade some developers from building residential projects in L.A., which is already facing a critical housing shortage.


Still, Cardenas argues if developers and architects know from the outset what to consider, then there’s no added costs. He also maintains the reduction in crime would actually lower law enforcement costs. “What we are going to have is less crime and therefore less need for police to patrol those streets,” he said.


Along with fewer crevices, Cardenas cites large pillars or tall hedges as common design flaws for providing a place where criminals can hide and attack residents, noting any cop can look at a building and immediately see its vulnerabilities: “They know in their gut whether a place is good or bad when it comes to crime prevention.”


The initiative is being considered by several city departments, including police, with a report expected back to the City Council by mid-year. Cardenas hopes to have an ordinance in place by year-end, which would make L.A. the first city in the country to require such standards.


“Other cities only make recommendations,” he said. “We would be the first to have it in our codes.”

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