Architecture, Design, and School Crime Prevention

National School Safety and Security Services' strongly believes that the design of a school and its surrounding campus can play a significant role in preventing crime and facilitating school safety measures.  

School officials involved in designing new school facilities or remodeling school sites should consider taking the following steps:

1.   Insist on being involved in the design process.  Work with architects and construction personnel in the early stages to provide input on how the school design can help improve supervision and safety.

2.   Carefully consider the placement of common areas, sites used extensively for after-hours events (such as gyms, auditoriums, cafeterias, and libraries), and other key locations to help control access, limit use requiring movement and open access to all areas of the school in the evening, etc.

3.   Review parking lot placement, size, and related factors to best facilitate safe movement and supervision.

4.  Consider the importance of "line of sight" in hallways and areas requiring supervision.  

5.   Take into consideration opportunities for natural surveillance and supervision by placing areas of greater activity or higher risk in areas where there will be higher levels of adult supervision.

6.   Involve your school security officials, School Resource Officers, and/or outside school safety specialists in the planning and design of new or remodeled facilities.  Their perspectives may provide very different, but valuable, insights.