An idyllic neighborhood

Deterring Crime through Preventative Measures: Upcoming Topic at Orange County Community Conference

Community & Services

For Jason Reynolds in the Orange County Neighborhood Services Division, the concept of reducing crime through environmental design has always been fascinating. While receiving his master’s degree in Urban and Regional Planning at the University of Florida, Reynolds took a class in crime prevention that opened his eyes to the simple things people do not consider when building and designing communities.

“I started to analyze things from this particular viewpoint moving forward and wanted to effectively share these concepts with others,” he said. “I wanted to create something all local residents and community entities could easily understand.”

Reynolds’ presentation, Simple Crime Prevention Techniques to Keep Your Home and Neighborhood Safe, is built on the National Crime Prevention Institute concept of Crime Prevention through Environmental Design, which highlights how proper design and effective use of the built environment leads to a reduction in the fear and incidence of crime and an improvement of quality of life.

“Criminals will go elsewhere because your home, neighborhood or business is a deterrent to them,” explained Reynolds. “They’re opportunistic, and they’re looking for easy targets. If you make it hard for them, they’ll go somewhere else, thus displacing crime.”

Reynolds asserts that many of these crime prevention measures are based on common sense, and he stresses how simply knowing your neighbors and adding landscaping and lighting in your yard can deter the bad guys.

“The goal of the presentation is to let people know these things can be done effectively on a small scale,” he said. “People should realize they are truly empowered to improve their communities and make them safer.”

Reynolds will be giving his presentation at the annual Orange County Community Conference on Saturday, October 5, 2019 at the Orange County Convention Center, North Concourse. The conference, which focuses on how residents can get more involved in their local government, will include presentations, workshops and a luncheon. For more information, call 407-836-5606 or visit www.ocfl.net/CommunityConference.

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