Crime prevention 

Crime prevention design team

The Crime Prevention Design Team (CPDT) is a dedicated team of ten police staff who are crime prevention design advisors (CPDAs).

Their job is to advise the best way to design out crime, disorder and anti-social behaviour at every stage of the pre-planning and eventual planning process.

They are managed by the Crime Prevention Design Manager. The CPDAs are, for the most part, aligned with the local authority boundaries and cover the Local Police Areas within the Thames Valley Police area.

What can the CPDT do for me?

CPDAs need to be made aware of any major development within the Thames Valley Police area – early contact with your local CPDA to get them involved at an early stage is welcomed. This will ensure a greater, positive impact as a result of their advice and will, in the long term, contribute to creating safe and sustainable communities.

It is not normally the policy of Thames Valley Police to object or support individual planning applications but to give balanced and impartial advice on how the planning application may have an impact on crime and community safety.

The CPDT is trained to read, interpret and respond to planning applications and give pre-planning advice to planners and architects. The advice that they give has a long-term impact on crime prevention in new developments – their work now will also have medium-to-long term effects in terms of the future resourcing of the police service.

We keep local authority planners focused on designing out crime and creating safe and sustainable communities. The long-term effects of designing out crime make a community suitable so that those areas will require less police attention.

How does the CPDT fit within Thames Valley Police?

The Crime Prevention Design Team (CPDT) falls under the 'Strategic Partnerships' section of the Force's Local Policing department.

CPDT team members, who are managed centrally from Force Headquarters, consult with internal and external agencies such as Basic Command Units/Local Police Areas/Specialist Units, senior management teams, Neighbourhood Policing teams, community safety teams, counter terrorism security advisers, Property Services, Licensing, and crime prevention and reduction advisers.

Close partnerships with internal and external agencies and departments gives a CPDA a broad picture of an area on which to base their recommendations to planners.