ABSTRACT
Forensic architecture is of recent pedigree in the forensic sciences. Robert Lynch (Lynch, 2013) proposed forensic architecture as a branch within forensic science due to its difference from other forms of the field. This chapter describes the evolution of crime prevention through environmental design (CPTED) and crime and place theories as part of forensic architecture, here titled spatial forensics. Spatial forensics and the sociospatial patterns emerging from offender target search and selection decisions now comprise a new way to assess crime foreseeability and retroactive investigation at crime sites. A growing number of CPTED practitioners already appear at criminal and civil trials each year to assess the crime opportunities created, or prevented, by urban design. As such, spatial forensics and the CPTED principles at the foundation of its practice require a robust set of analytical procedures so that spatial forensic analysts provide reliable assessments about the crime event.
