Nearly a generation after Oscar Newman first wrote about the issues of place-based crime prevention and defensible space, cities large and small throughout the world are showing interest in what is now generally known as the field of “Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design.” In the United States and elsewhere throughout the world, preventing crime and reducing the fear of crime continue to be high priorities of citizens and city officials. Place-based crime prevention techniques are increasingly viewed as important urban planning tools to enhance the physical safety of citizens and to protect the public and private economic investment in new development projects, particularly, large urban mixed use residential-commercial-entertainment centers and in new urban and suburban large housing developments. This article provides a discussion and analysis of the legal techniques and regulatory mechanisms used in the zoning and urban planning process by cities in the United States to implement place-based crime prevention and security strategies related to the design and development of the built environment.