FACT SHEET
Engaging Crime Prevention Organizations
in Your Brownfields Project
EPA 560-F-18-184
October 2018
This fact sheet provides information about partnering
with law enforcement and community crime prevention
organizations to prevent and reduce crime as part of
brownfields revitalization efforts. The fact sheet
identifies the advantages of partnering with these
organizations, provides examples of potential types of
organizations with whom to partner, and presents a
case study that demonstrates how these types of
partnerships have benefitted brownfields sites and
nearby residents and businesses.
Advantages of Partnering with Crime
Prevention Organizations
Forming partnerships with and soliciting input from law
enforcement and community crime prevention groups
early in the Brownfields redevelopment process can
yield numerous benefits, including:
•	Ensuring a safer site both during and after
redevelopment.
•	Gaining valuable insights based on these
organizations' in-depth knowledge of community
issues and concerns that inform decision making.
•	Facilitating communication, awareness and trust
between members of the public and other
brownfields redevelopment stakeholders.
•	Educating community members and assisting
communities in addressing issues of interest.
Forming and leveraging partnerships with law
enforcement and community crime preventions
organizations can help sites attract and absorb more
capital and enhance economic opportunities.
Types of Law Enforcement
Partnerships
Partnerships with law enforcement organizations can
take the form of a formal agreement with the local
police department, but can also include informal
associations with police activity leagues and first
responders. For example:
•	A partnership with the local police department could
include increased police patrol and attention around
a site.
•	Police participation in brownfield project advisory
boards, public outreach efforts, community meetings
and site tours can provide a valuable perspective to
help inform redevelopment and reuse planning.
•	Policy Activity Leagues often have close contact with
community members and can encourage behavioral
change at neglected spaces that are crime attractors.
•	First responders are important community
stakeholders and can engage neighborhood residents
and encourage them to take an interest in the
redeveloped space, thereby enhancing site safety.
About the Brownfields Program
Since its inception in 1995, EPA's Brownfields Program has grown into a proven, results-oriented program that has
changed the way contaminated property is perceived, addressed and managed. Brownfields are properties whose
expansion, redevelopment or reuse is complicated by real or perceived environmental contamination. EPA's
Brownfields Program empowers states, communities and other stakeholders in economic redevelopment to work
together in a timely manner to prevent, assess, safely clean up and sustainably reuse brownfields. Revitalizing
brownfields reinvigorates communities, increases employment, reduces pollution, and increases neighboring
property values and tax revenue.
Visit us at https://www.epa.gov/brownfields
1

-------
Community Crime Prevention
Organizations
Various community crime prevention organizations and
resource groups can serve as valuable partners during
the redevelopment process. These types of
organizations include:
•	Neighborhood Watch
•	Locai Initiative Support Corporation (LISC) safety
programs, which support partnerships between
community developers and law enforcement — they
report that communities supported have seen up to a
70% decrease in crime compared to locations with no
law enforcement partnership.
•	Community development corporations
•	Community advisory committees and other
community foundations
•	Other trusted neighborhood organizations that work
directly with the community, such as schools and
churches
Gaining the support of established community crime
prevention organizations can add buy-in to a
redevelopment project and increase the number of
people committed to its success. Engaging with groups
that have already established a community's trust can
help build networks and connections that foster an
interest in a brownfields project among residents.
Challenges of Partnering with Law
Enforcement Organizations
Partnering with law enforcement organizations can be
challenging in some communities, particularly if a
community has a troubled relationship with those
organizations. In communities with unique dynamics or
where trust of law enforcement is low, building
relationships may take time and extensive effort. In
these cases, it is critical to identify and work with
trusted community leaders, because they can help
establish and reinforce the primary objectives of the
law enforcement presence and involvement at a site,
including ensuring site safety. Challenges can also be
associated with site location (such as rural versus
urban), size, and usage, as well as the culture of a
community, each of which can introduce different
considerations. Ultimately, it is important to identify
and tailor partnerships with law enforcement and other
community crime prevention organizations so that they
address a community's unique concerns.
Potential Consequences of not
Partnering with Law Enforcement
Organizations
Sites that do not engage and involve law enforcement
organizations during and after redevelopment can
become crime attractors or crime generators during the
redevelopment process In some cases, land
revitalization and redevelopment can create a 'target
rich environment,' meaning a space where criminals can
take advantage of the redeveloped site and layout to
commit crimes. It is especially important in these cases
to plan ahead to engage and promote a law
enforcement and community presence to help ensure
site and public safety. During the planning stages of site
redevelopment, planners should also consider the crime
prevention through environmental design (CPTED)
concept, which helps site developers, architects and
designers create a redeveloped space that is not
conducive to criminal activities.
WARNING

>
i
PROGRAM IN FORCE
WE IMMEDIATELY REPORT
ALL SUSPICIOUS ACTIVITIES
JO OUR POLICE DEPARTMENT
J
Neighborhood Watch Sign
2

-------
"Private sector investors tell me all the time, that what
gets them excited about making investments in
underserved communities, is seeing the community
members and the local police departments working
together on programs and projects that make residents
feel safe in their own neighborhoods."
- Ed Johnson, East Tampa's Brownfields Coordinator
Community Meeting in the Roll Call Room at the Police District Office
Case Study:
How East Tampa, Florida Leveraged
Brownfields Funds and Law Enforcement
Partnerships to Reduce Crime
East Tampa, Florida has a disproportionate number of
young families, underserved residents, and few
businesses. In 2003, East Tampa was designated a
'Community Redevelopment Area,' which enabled it to
receive city-wide brownfield assessment grants. East
Tampa used the brownfields funds to assess small sites
around the community and to consider a wholistic
approach to redevelopment.
In the past, the East Tampa community experienced a
violent crime epidemic and lacked trust in the police
department. In 2003, in an effort to improve
community trust and engagement, local brownfields
officials and the police department invited the East
Tampa community to participate in community
meetings to provide input on brownfields projects.
Affordable Housing Built on Formerly Vacant Land
3

-------
Acting on the community's concerns, East Tampa also
hired a police detective to address environmental
crimes, such as illegal dumping and issues with
abandoned cars. The environmental detective meets
with the citizen council monthly and is in frequent
communication with community residents. He also
meets with residential committees, such as the
economic development subcommittee, and works with
other city government agencies to address
neighborhood problems as needed.
The new police department building contains meeting
rooms and safe gathering spaces for community use.
East Tampa also runs the Rich House (two locations)
that is staffed by a police officer, which provides a safe
and constructive place for students to go after school
and in the summer. The Rich House sponsors sports
leagues, teaches parenting and other community skills,
and helps residents find employment.
East Tampa's approach to redevelopment serves as a
model for other communities that are looking to take
advantage of the brownfields program. Since 2003,
crime in the East Tampa neighborhood has decreased
by 68%. Developing partnerships with law enforcement
has helped East Tampa enhance community trust and
involvement, increase safety at the city's brownfields
sites, and leverage private investment and reduce
crime.
East Tampa Police Department, District 3 Office
In 2004, East Tampa conducted a brownfields project to
eradicate contamination and build affordable housing
consisting of 40 single-family units to be managed by a
housing and community development program. In
2007, East Tampa's brownfields program used grant
funds to purchase a former public housing property that
contained uninhabitable, vacant buildings that were
built over a landfill. On this site, the police department
built a new district headquarters and Brownfields
Redevelopment Office.

EastTampa Environmental Detective Examining a Pile of Dumped Tires and Trash
4

-------