“The Secured by Design projects worked on have been free from burglaries due to good design” – Surrey’s Chief Constable visits new development

Chief Constable Stephens was accompanied by North Surrey Designing Out Crime Officer Vic Smith and Crest Nicholson Senior Technician Eleni Stamoulou for an inspection of the development in Chertsey, as well as the presentation of the certificates.

Secured by Design is the national police crime prevention initiative. It is part of Police Crime Prevention Initiatives (PCPI), a police owned organisation that works on behalf of Police & Crime Commissioners and Chief Constables to deliver a wide range of crime prevention and demand reduction initiatives across the UK. It is a not-for-profit organisation and Board Members include senior police officers from each of the four Home Nations who control and direct the work PCPI carries out on behalf of the Police Service.

As a national crime prevention scheme, SBD has achieved significant successes. In our work with National Government, SBD have influenced national planning policy to embed crime prevention in the planning process and established police security standards in the building and construction industry.

SBD work to include proven crime prevention techniques and measures into the layout and landscaping of new developments and also work to improve the physical security of buildings using products, such as doors, windows, locks and walling systems that meet SBD security requirements.
This has led to more than one million homes built to SBD crime prevention standards across the UK – that’s 30% of all new homes built – with reductions in crime of up to 87% year-on-year as reported by Police Scotland in 2017.

Key to such achievements is the network of SBD trained Designing Out Crime Officers based in Police Forces and local authorities around the UK, who specialise in designing out crime and who liaise with local authority planners, developers and architects to design out crime at the planning stage in a wide range of building sectors. A number of local authorities have even gone so far as to introduce SBD standards as a planning requirement.

It is important for buildings of all types to be physically secure to deter criminal activity and reduce crime. SBD has worked with manufacturers, the construction industry and standards authorities for many years to ensure that security standards are current and updated to keep pace with changing patterns of criminal behaviour.

SBD’s most iconic buildings include the 2012 London Olympics site, the 2014 Commonwealth Games Village, Wembley Stadium, the National Stadium of Wales, and the Scottish and Welsh Assembly Buildings.