Design of Commuter Car Parks
Security Resource Group Inc. has also developed guidelines for
the planning, design and management of commuter car parks. A summary
of the guidelines are presented below:
- Car parks should be capable of receiving surveillance from
surrounding areas or premises (e.g. vegetation around car parks
should be maintained so as to allow natural surveillance by
those passing by)
- Fencing should be used around the car parks to decrease
ordinary pedestrian traffic. Easy access to car parks may allow
thieves to identify potential targets, and many exit points may
also increase the vulnerability of the car park to crime
- The use of overhead walkways should be avoided at or near car
parks, as these may be used by offenders to alert accomplices to
the arrival of car owners or other security persons
- Lighting should be used with a view to minimising shadows in
car parks. Lighting may assist to reduce fear among car park
users, although it does not necessarily reduce thefts
- Patrols and parking attendants should be used in the car parks
where possible
- The placement of emergency phones on station platforms that
have a view over the car parks assists passengers to report any
crimes they observe. See the original document Security,
Safety, and Rapid Transit.
The Secured Car Park Award Scheme has been operating since 1992.
Launched by the Association of Chief Police Officers, it is now
administered by the British Parking Association. The scheme provides
for the certification of car parks that meet certain design and
management criteria, as determined by a site inspection by a police
officer and a surveyor. The scheme provides car park management with
a series of guidelines for self-assessment, which outline good
practice in designing and managing car parks. See the Scheme
website and the Secured Car Park Award Scheme guidelines for self
assessment.
The authors of a recent evaluation of the scheme reported that
those car parks considered in the study, which had been initially
designed with regard to the Secure Car Park guidelines, typically
experienced low levels of crime. They also concluded that the scheme
can assist operators to:
- reduce vehicle crime and users’ fear in high-crime car
parks; and
