Center for Problem-Oriented Policing

smoking, drinking and vandalism in a high school lavatory reported by custodial workers

tagging and graffiti at the back of an office center noted by property managers

nighttime ATM patron robberies reported to police

• students
• faculty
• staff (includes custodial workers)
• administration
• police/SRO
• parents

• property owner
• property management
• tenant businesses
• police
• adjacent property owners and managers (depending on outcome of analysis)
• tenants and patrons of adjacent businesses (depending on outcome of analysis)
• traffic engineering or transit

• robbery victims
• other bank and ATM patrons
• bank management
• bank employees
• corporate security
• police
• property owner or management (if different from the bank)
• adjacent property owners and management (depending on outcome of analysis)

• small group meetings (faculty group, student group, custodial group), OR
• CPTED task force
• stakeholder interviews

• small group meetings (property management, tenants, adjacent property owners, and managers)
• stakeholder interviews

• stakeholder interviews

• number of incidents (from maintenance records related to vandalism)
• temporal distribution of problem
• typical scenario or MO,
• similar problems and their locations elsewhere in school

• number of incidents (from maintenance records)
• temporal distribution of problem
• offender characteristics based on analysis of graffiti and tagging

• number of incidents reported to police
• other reports or indications of “unusual” behavior
• temporal distribution of incidents
• offender characteristics from victim reports and CCTV tapes of robberies

• N/A

• residents, employees, patrons, and visitors to the area

• area residents, employees, patrons and visitors

• N/A

• adjacent land uses
• activity patterns and use schedules

• adjacent land uses
• activity patterns and use schedules

• N/A

• traffic volumes and travel patterns
• pedestrian routes (sidewalks, greenways, trails, and informal paths)
• parking lots/garages and loading facilities
• transit routes, stops, or transit centers

• traffic volumes and travel patterns
• pedestrian routes (sidewalks, greenways, trails and informal paths)
• parking lots/garages and loading facilities
• transit routes, stops, or transit centers

• custodial workers, students, faculty, and administrators
• known and perceived problems
• offender identification
• strategy recommendations

• property management interviews
• surveys of tenant businesses

• victim interviews
• corporate security interviews

• lunchtime “movement” (use of cafeteria and other locations on campus); multiple days in the case of changing schedules
• activity and use of lavatory during remainder of school day
• activity and use of lavatory during sporting events

• after-hours use and nighttime movement, both weekday and weekend, and both on-site and to/from adjacent properties

• N/A

• building floor plan
• room/space assignments
• class, cafeteria and sporting event schedules
• locking systems and CCTV
• maintenance and repair policies and procedures
• cafeteria policies and procedures
• hallway monitoring policies and procedures
• student code of conduct (application, enforcement, consequences, etc.)

• building design
• site layout and landscaping (e.g., fencing), and relationship to adjacent properties and nearby land uses
• lighting and CCTV
• maintenance policies and procedures
• hours of operation for tenant businesses

• building design and any related corporate policies
• ATM location and design
• site layout, including relationship to adjacent properties and nearby land uses
• CCTV and lighting
• security policies and procedures
• hours of operation and staffing

• close cafeteria and campus (no one leaves), which requires changes to lunch schedules
• install lock on lavatory door
• install barricade, removing access to gym/sport area(s)

• perimeter fencing, removing access to the site
• graffiti-resistant paint/surface treatment on problem areas

• remove ATM completely, or move it to another location (including automobile access rather than walk-up)
• change hours of operation and availability of ATM
• install fence between ATM and drive-through bank lanes

• change faculty monitoring assignments
• install CCTV
• change lavatory design to improve visibility

• increase light levels
• install CCTV
• trim or remove vegetation
• increase police patrol (through site as well as around site)
• hire private security to patrol

• increase police patrol or hire private security
• increase lighting around the building, especially in the drive-through area

• limit the area available for lunch outside the cafeteria
• change lavatory available during lunch periods to one in an area that is more easily supervised
• immediately repair and replacement of damaged fixtures, etc.
• consistently enforce school policies and consequences for policy violations

• negotiate alternative use strategies with neighboring property owners (e.g., “no readmittance” policy to keep skaters inside the building)
• immediately repaint when graffiti is installed

• N/A

• there is no evidence of smoking, drinking or vandalism in the lavatory, OR
• the problem occurs infrequently and only during sporting events when the lavatory is unlocked, OR
• changes to lunchtime monitoring have resulted in fewer behavioral problems in other areas near the cafeteria, not just in the problem lavatory, OR
• the problem appears in another lavatory or another location at the school, OR
• the problem has changed, e.g., the problem is now bullying, not vandalism, OR

• there is no evidence of tagging or graffiti on the site, OR
• the amount and/or frequency of graffiti is reduced, OR
• “hanging out” and other problems at the skating rink have been reduced or eliminated, OR
• graffiti problems shift to another location on this site or elsewhere in the neighborhood, OR
• graffiti continues to be a problem, OR
• the problem has changed, e.g., the problem now includes vandalism to lighting, OR

• the robbery problem is eliminated, OR
• the adjacent commercial strip is seeing new investment and increases in patronage, OR
• ATM patrons are now robbed at their cars, OR
• ATM robberies move to another bank, OR
• other types of robbery are emerging in the neighborhood