Crime prevention through community policing innovations, environmental design, environmental security, and defensible space functions of neighborhood improvement districts.

F.S. 163.513

in effect

All boards of local governments, property owners’ associations, special neighborhood improvement districts, and community redevelopment neighborhood improvement districts created pursuant to this part shall: (1) Collect data on the types, frequency, severity, and location of criminal activity occurring in the district, including determination, from surveys and other research techniques, of the level of crime as perceived by neighborhood residents and comparison of the types of crime in the district on a per capita, citywide, and countywide basis. (2) Provide an analysis of crimes related to land use and environmental and physical conditions of the district, giving particular attention to factors which support or create opportunities for crime, which impede natural surveillance, which encourage free circulation through the district, or which hinder the defense of social territories perceived by residents as under control. Any factor used to define or describe the conditions of the physical environment can serve as the basis of a crime-to-environment relationship. These factors include streets, alleys, sidewalks, residential blocks, position of dwellings on a block, single vs. multifamily dwellings, abandoned houses, parking areas and parking lots, informal pathways, functional areas of the environment, traffic flow patterns, and the existence of barriers such as fences, walls, gullies, and thick vegetation. (3) Determine, from surveys and other data collection techniques, areas within the district where modification or closing of, or restriction of access to, certain streets in a manner consistent with crime prevention through community policing innovations, environmental design, environmental security, and defensible space principles would assist crime prevention and enhance neighborhood security for property owners and residents. (4) Formulate and maintain on a current basis for each district short-range and long-range projects and plans which the crime-to-environment analysis, including surveys and citizen participation, has determined are applicable and utilize crime prevention through community policing innovations, environmental design, environmental security, and defensible space strategies and tactics which will improve the attractiveness and security of the district by reducing criminal activity, will stabilize neighborhoods and enhance property values within the district, will promote proper use and informal control of residential streets within the district, will improve public facilities and amenities and provide for territorial control of streets and areas within the district by legitimate users, and will increase the probability that persons who commit crimes in the district will be apprehended. (5) Prepare and initiate actions deemed most suitable for implementing safe neighborhood improvement plans, including modifications to existing street patterns and removal, razing, renovation, reconstruction, remodeling, relocation, and improvement of existing structures and facilities, and addition of new structures and facilities, and coordination with other agencies providing relevant informational, educational, and crime prevention services. The preparation of actions for implementation shall utilize crime prevention through community policing innovations, environmental design, environmental security, and defensible space strategies and tactics. (6) Participate in the implementation and execution of safe neighborhood improvement plans, including any establishment, acquisition, construction, ownership, financing, leasing, licensing, operation, and management of publicly owned or leased facilities deemed beneficial in effecting such implementation for the public purposes stipulated in s. 163.502. However, this subsection shall not give the board, association, or district any power or control over any city or county property unless and until assigned to it by the city or county governing body. This subsection shall not be construed to give neighborhood improvement districts the power to restrict access to or prohibit the use of public facilities for lawful purposes. (7) Ensure that all capital improvements within the district are consistent with the capital improvement elements of the applicable local government comprehensive plans.

Source: FL Statutes (Official Site)URL: https://www.flsenate.gov/Laws/Statutes/2025/Chapter163/AllFetched: 7/8/2026