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CRA workshop presents CPTED plan and Carson Drive case study as blueprint to curb nuisance crime
Summary
At a Panama City CRA workshop, Fort Walton Beach CRA administrator Alisa Burleson outlined Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design (CPTED), described a Carson Drive case study paid for in part by a $10,000 CRA grant that reduced calls, and offered a five-phase citywide implementation plan and training options for planners and police.
Panama City — At a February CRA virtual workshop, Alisa Burleson, administrator of the Fort Walton Beach Community Redevelopment Agency, laid out Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design (CPTED) as a strategic, low-cost way to reduce nuisance and criminal activity and support local policing efforts.
Burleson told commissioners and staff that CPTED uses deliberate design—natural access control, natural surveillance, territorial reinforcement, consistent maintenance and social-management programming—to encourage desired activity and deter undesirable behavior in public spaces. "Effective community safety is not an accident. It is by design," she said.
She described a Fort Walton Beach one-block "Carson Drive" case study in which city researchers and police identified hotspot locations, applied a CPTED site analysis and prioritized interventions. The CRA provided a $10,000 grant to demolish one abandoned house and support an investor who is rebuilding workforce housing; additional nuisance-abatement grants paid for demolition of a derelict multifamily building. Burleson said those targeted actions, combined with community engagement and code enforcement, persuaded property owners to evict a problem tenant and led other investors to renovate or replace blighted properties.
Burleson cited outcome metrics from police activity reports for the block: she said the months of July and December recorded zero police calls and that incident reports dropped dramatically in the months after interventions. "When we cleaned up the park and implemented CPTED strategies, the police didn't have to go there anymore," she said.
Her recommended five-phase citywide process begins with governance and zone identification; moves to data review and community engagement; then to site analysis, multidisciplinary task-force implementation and staff training; and finishes with reporting and formal adoption so the city can sustain prevention efforts. She emphasized working directly with the police department to identify problem areas and to measure outcomes.
Burleson also described incentive programs she has used: targeted grants for lighting or security cameras, nuisance-abatement grants that cover demolition costs for developers, and development-incentive grants to encourage construction of workforce housing. She said the CRA can prioritize zones by risk and available funding and that many interventions use existing staff across departments rather than new hires.
Commissioners raised implementation questions, including how to avoid displacing long-standing property owners. Burleson said the program seeks to help legacy owners retain properties by addressing problem tenants and improving rental income, not by displacing homeowners. Commissioners also asked for five years of crime data by zone and neighborhood to help prioritize CPTED zones.
Burleson offered training options—a three-day CPTED course aimed at planners and police officers—and said she partners with a security training group, Lionheart International Securities, for situational-awareness exercises at large events. She noted grant-writing support is available for streetscapes, traffic calming and parks redesign that incorporate CPTED principles.
The workshop concluded with staff reminders about a CRA social the next evening and follow-up conversations between elected officials and staff to explore a possible Panama City CPTED strategic plan.
