Students lead in crime prevention

By: Natasha Pande

Posted: 12/5/08

The University City District has been asked to assist the Local Initiative's Social Corporation to come up with a large crime prevention plan for the area.

Assistant Professor Robert Stokes met with the UCD over the summer and asked them if they had any issues with which Drexel Students could help. Stokes' crime prevention class was then given the opportunity to focus on crime prevention for the Lancaster Avenue business corridor.

Stokes, who specializes in Urban Planning and Public Policy, said having a crime prevention plan is an important element of any development plan. The main area the class will be focusing on will be Lancaster Avenue-the students will learn that crime and fear of crime is an issue in these areas.

Stokes said that they extended the plan to 41st Street, which is slightly outside the UCD boundary.

"The UCD boundaries stop at Spring Garden and Lancaster and contracted by folks in this district to clean the sidewalks, however, their management district does not extend all the way through the Lancaster Avenue District corridor," Stokes said, and suggests that it should be done.

When asked why this project specifically tailored to Lancaster Ave. business corridor, Stokes said: "Crime prevention plans are usually place specific, and focused on key strategic areas. Business districts have an interesting dynamic and thus are usually more amenable to these sorts of plans than residential neighborhoods."

Students from Stokes' crime prevention planning class are working on this project in groups because it is not only within walking distance but promoting security is something Drexel encourages all the time. Stokes said that ten weeks is a very short time to come up with a plan. His class worked on the initial stages, which was the "needs assessment." He said they had to "survey the area, make note of its problems and crime trends, and see what the police and the community were doing about these issues."

Stokes added that because of the brief time they had, he will be handing over a final compilation of recommendations in collaboration with the UCD to the LISC over winter break.

According to Stokes, some recommendations may include the role of the new Drexel Police Department, finding funding for a new streetscape plan that includes better lighting, CCTV, and a better business recruitment plan that can fill some of the empty storefronts with thriving businesses.

He also suggested smaller plans, such as making the area cleaner and safer, which are more appropriate so that when money is available again from the city budget, it can "boom" from there.

When asked what strategies he has used to help the students, Stokes said "To be successful, the planning process really needs to engage key long term and legitimate community stakeholders. Even though the planning process was short, his main intention was to make his students think of crime as a complicated community problem and to make people realize that this is a community problem."

Stokes added, "The intent was to expose the students to the comprehensive planning process as well as getting them out into the community, to be more engaged."

Stokes added that a plan is successful only after there are resources and leadership to implement it. According to Stokes, the UCD is a well-reputed organization that had been accredited mainly around Penn's campus for its substantial accomplishments. Implementing this plan will hit its financial peak and this is what may be the most difficult part of the plan, according to Stokes.

Stokes said that KSK are also in the middle of planning under contract with the Delaware Valley Regional Planning Commission.

"I think the big driver right now in areas of West Philly, especially from Market Street north up through Lancaster Ave. is the development of Transit Oriented Development," Stokes said.

"SEPTA is allocating $750 million for the reconstruction of the El which goes from 46th to 69th Street and also for the development from 40th and 46th streets onwards to TODs," Stokes added.