SECURED BY DESIGN
Secured by Design - 35 Years of Designing Out Crime and Protecting Communities
Secured by Design ( SBD ), the police initiative to guide and encourage those engaged within the specification , design and build of new homes , and those undertaking major or minor property refurbishment , to adopt measures to reduce the opportunity for crime , celebrates its 35th anniversary in 2024 .
ยป PART OF THE POLICE Crime Prevention Initiatives portfolio , SBD was created in 1989 following the housing boom of the 1960s-1980s when there was a huge and urgent demand for housing , with estates being built quickly and often cheaply without any basic security . This resulted in a significant rise in burglary , and it was clear that criminals were taking easy advantage of residential layouts that failed to provide adequate natural surveillance , were highly permeable , where anonymity was absolute and escape routes plentiful . Add to this scenario the lack of effective physical security standards associated with homes at the time , it was of no surprise that by 1996 UK burglary figures peaked at 1.8 million offences a year . It was obvious that something needed to be done to reduce burglary and
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APRIL 2024
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