CPTED & Asset Protection(Deterrence by Design)

Client Environment

The site was a townhouse located within a gated master residential community, with nearby retail stores, public parks, and common areas.

The environment inside the townhouse included internal roads, pedestrian routes, landscaped areas, streetlighting, and shared zones used by the residents, visitors, and service providers.

Security Challenge

The client faced a recurring property damage issue that affected both the real estate developer and the community’s end users.

The streetlight poles with video surveillance equipment installed were located along the pedestrian walkway. There was no option to relocate the streetlight poles due to cost, SIRA VSS coverage requirements, lighting coverage changes, design impacts on the community, and the inconvenience to the residents of that townhouse.

Carverisk Approach

Carverisk conducted an initial security survey and studied the streetlight design and its surroundings. A heat map was created, with hot zones identified through a review of incident logs generated by the security workforce.

Samples from the video surveillance system were reviewed for past incidents to understand the behavior of the townhouse users, followed by interviews with residents, visitors, the security workforce, and their management to capture feedback.

Carverisk then conducted a security risk assessment and CPTED compliance review to identify practical protective measures that could reduce further property damage while maintaining the look and feel of the residential environment.

Key Findings

The streetlights were close to the townhouse carport entry points. During vehicle reversing, resident and visitor vehicles were accidentally hitting the streetlight poles, causing damage to both private vehicles and the developer’s lighting and surveillance infrastructure.

The main cause was limited driver visibility and the absence of a protective barrier and a buffer around the streetlight poles. As a result, the poles became the first point of impact, leading to repeated damage (streetlights/vehicles), disruption to VSS coverage, increased maintenance requirements, and a weakness in the physical protection system.

Recommendations

Carverisk recommended using low level landscaping features, such as hedges, as a passive barrier around the streetlight infrastructure to provide a protective buffer against accidental vehicle impact while maintaining visibility and the community’s aesthetic appearance. Site observations indicated that vehicle speeds in the impacted areas were approximately 1–3 km/h. The proposed measure was intended to protect the developer’s assets and the vehicles of residents and visitors.

Outcome

Following implementation, further property damage in the affected area was reduced to zero. The streetlighting and video surveillance system remained active, with no further incidents reported.

Residents and visitors were able to continue using the designated carport areas, and the developer adopted the solution for future project planning.

The solution saved time and workforce hours, reduced insurance exposure for both residents and the developer, and maintained the aesthetics, look, and feel of the community.

Lessons Learned

You do not always need to use traditional security barriers to protect your asset. Implementing CPTED might be the best solution to your problem. It’s important to blend a variety of measures across your site while maintaining the look and feel, and to keep the site welcoming and less aggressive, depending on the environment where our asset is located.

Confidentiality Note

For public release, we did not disclose the actual name of the facility or any sensitive operational security details that took place behind the scenes.