Our Florida CPTED Practitioners
The quality of a CPTED assessment is inseparable from the qualifications and field experience of the practitioner who conducts it. Under Fla. Stat. 768.0706, the assessment becomes a central document in establishing the presumption against liability - and in the event of litigation, the methodology, observations, and professional judgment reflected in that report will be subject to scrutiny by opposing counsel and experts. A report produced by a practitioner with limited experience presents a target for challenge; a report produced by a seasoned professional with defensible credentials and documented methodology is a fundamentally different instrument in court.
CIS assigns Florida CPTED Practitioners to each assessment who hold the FCP designation issued by the Florida Crime Prevention Training Institute of the Florida Attorney General's Office. Several members of our team hold additional board certifications through ASIS International - including the Certified Protection Professional (CPP) and Physical Security Professional (PSP) designations - and bring professional backgrounds spanning law enforcement, military service, security consulting, property management, and premises liability litigation. Members of our senior team also serve as expert witnesses in security-related liability cases, providing CIS with direct familiarity with how assessment work products are examined and challenged in legal proceedings. Our practitioners have collectively conducted hundreds of CPTED assessments on multifamily residential properties throughout Florida, each following the standardized compliance frameworks and documentation methodology CIS has developed specifically for Fla. Stat. 768.0706 engagements.
Craig Gundry has over 25 years of experience assessing, designing, and advising on security programs for some of the most demanding facility environments in the world - from international government facilities and corporate campuses to multifamily residential communities throughout Florida. His work in crime prevention through environmental design spans both the principles of environmental design and their practical application in the field: he has conducted CPTED and security assessments across hundreds of facilities, developed the compliance frameworks and methodologies CIS uses in CPTED assessments today, and authored widely referenced guidance on Fla. Stat. 768.0706 that property owners and practitioners rely on for understanding compliance with the statute.
Craig holds the Florida Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design Practitioner (FCP) designation issued by the Florida Crime Prevention Training Institute and is a board-certified Physical Security Professional® (PSP) through ASIS International - a credential requiring demonstrated expertise in physical security assessment, design, and integration. He serves on the board of the Florida Design Out Crime Association (FLDOCA) and is a frequent speaker and author on CPTED and Fla. Stat. 768.0706 compliance for organizations including IREM, ASIS International, and insurance industry groups. He also serves as an expert witness in security-related liability cases.
Hector Rodriguez brings over 20 years of experience with Critical Intervention Services to the firm's CPTED assessment practice, with a professional background that spans the full spectrum of security operations - from frontline protective services to consulting and program management. Hector's career with CIS began in 2003 as a protection officer and progressed through every operational leadership role in the organization, including command of over 300 security personnel and supervision of school protection programs across the Tampa Bay area. That operational foundation gives him a perspective on crime prevention that is grounded in the practical realities of how security measures perform in the field - not just how they appear on paper.
As Managing Partner and Security Strategist, Hector conducts CPTED assessments for multifamily residential properties under Fla. Stat. 768.0706 and consults on crime prevention strategies for residential communities, schools, and houses of worship. He holds the Certified Protection Professional (CPP) designation through ASIS International - the profession's most widely recognized senior-level credential - and is a designated Florida Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design Practitioner (FCP) through the Florida Crime Prevention Training Institute. Hector also serves as an expert witness in premises liability cases.
Shannon Bryson is a Partner and Security Consultant at Critical Intervention Services with particular expertise in crime prevention for multifamily residential communities - including properties contending with elevated crime conditions where environmental design interventions and operational changes are needed to produce measurable improvement. Before joining CIS in 2013, Shannon spent over 25 years in law enforcement as a narcotics agent, SWAT officer, and tactical instructor - experience that provides him with a detailed understanding of how criminal offenders select targets, exploit environmental vulnerabilities, and respond to changes in the security posture of a property.
Shannon conducts CPTED assessments for multifamily properties under Fla. Stat. 768.0706 and has assisted dozens of residential communities and property management companies in developing and implementing crime prevention strategies. He previously served as the Director of Public Safety for the CIS Private-Sector Led Public Safety Program at MetroWest, where he directed comprehensive crime reduction efforts for a large residential community. Shannon holds the Florida Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design Practitioner (FCP) designation through the Florida Crime Prevention Training Institute and a Bachelor of Arts from Ohio Dominican College.
Carlos Austin is a Crime Prevention Consultant with Critical Intervention Services and a retired law enforcement officer with over 21 years of service spanning the United States Marine Corps, the Florida Highway Patrol, and the Miami Gardens Police Department. His law enforcement career concentrated heavily on community policing and crime prevention - disciplines that translate directly to the environmental design principles and community-level problem solving that CPTED assessments demand. Carlos conducts CPTED assessments for multifamily residential properties under Fla. Stat. 768.0706, bringing particular strength in properties serving diverse communities, where his bilingual fluency in English and Spanish is a practical asset during on-site assessment work.
Carlos earned his Florida Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design Practitioner (FCP) designation through the Florida Crime Prevention Training Institute and holds the additional Florida Crime Prevention Practitioner (FCPP) credential. He currently serves as the Region 5 Chair (Southeast Florida) of the Florida Design Out Crime Association (FLDOCA) and is a Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) coordinator and instructor.
Leon Lipsick is a Crime Prevention Consultant with Critical Intervention Services and one of the few practitioners in Florida whose CPTED experience encompasses both the operational management of multifamily residential properties and the assessment of those properties for compliance with Fla. Stat. 768.0706. As the Director of Risk Control and Program Compliance at the West Palm Beach Housing Authority, Leon oversees security operations across 18 properties in Palm Beach County - including the armed in-house security department he established in 2015, the agency's first in its history. His day-to-day responsibilities include managing access control and surveillance systems, conducting criminal and fraud investigations, and directing emergency management operations, giving him a working familiarity with the operational challenges property managers face in maintaining compliance with the statute's requirements.
Leon earned his Florida Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design Practitioner (FCP) designation in 2016 and has since applied CPTED principles to multiple large-scale redevelopment projects, including the multi-million-dollar redevelopment of Dunbar Village. He is an instructor with the Florida Crime Prevention Training Institute of the Florida Attorney General's Office and serves on the board of the Florida Design Out Crime Association (FLDOCA), where he is the immediate past president, and is the chair of the City of West Palm Beach Criminal Justice Advisory Committee.
Matthew Little Sun is a Crime Prevention Consultant with Critical Intervention Services who joined the firm in 2016 following 26 years of service in the United States Army, where he served as a Paratrooper in special operations and as a paralegal noncommissioned officer in the Judge Advocate General's Corps. After retiring from the Army, Matthew worked as a Federal Tort Claims Investigator and Mediations Supervisor for a large personal injury law firm - experience that provides him with a practical understanding of the litigation environment in which premises liability claims and Fla. Stat. 768.0706 compliance questions are ultimately resolved.
As a CIS consultant, Matthew spent several years assigned as a dedicated in-house crime prevention specialist for a large multifamily property management company, conducting ongoing CPTED-related work across a portfolio of residential properties. That direct operational experience with the day-to-day realities of multifamily property management - from landscaping maintenance and lighting to access control and resident behavior - informs his approach to CPTED assessments under Fla. Stat. 768.0706. Matthew holds the Florida Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design Practitioner (FCP) designation through the Florida Crime Prevention Training Institute.
Patrick Miller is a Crime Prevention Consultant with Critical Intervention Services with over two decades of experience across the U.S. military, federal government security contracting, and the private security industry in Florida. Patrick's career began with six years in the United States Marine Corps as a Force Reconnaissance team member, followed by service as a U.S. government security contractor supporting the Department of State and the Central Intelligence Agency in Iraq and the Middle East - experience that provided an extensive foundation in risk assessment, physical security, and protective operations in high-threat environments.
In the private sector, Patrick has owned and operated security consulting and guard services firms in Florida, directing CPTED assessments, physical security surveys, and security program design for a range of commercial and residential clients. He conducts CPTED assessments for multifamily residential properties under Fla. Stat. 768.0706 and holds both the Certified Protection Professional (CPP) designation through ASIS International and the Florida Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design Practitioner (FCP) designation through the Florida Crime Prevention Training Institute, as well as the international ICA CPTED certification. Patrick holds a Bachelor of Arts in Security Management from American Military University and has served as Chairman of ASIS International's Palm Beach Chapter.
Patricia Schmitt is a Crime Prevention Consultant with Critical Intervention Services with over three decades of experience in security management, risk assessment, and physical security program design. Over the course of her career, Patricia has provided security consulting services to a broad range of organizations - from financial institutions and energy utilities to master-planned communities - with a consistent focus on evaluating existing security programs, identifying vulnerabilities, and developing practical strategies for improvement. That background in systematic facility assessment translates directly to the CPTED assessment process, where the objective is similarly to evaluate a property's physical environment against defined criteria and produce actionable recommendations.
Patricia conducts CPTED assessments for multifamily residential properties under Fla. Stat. 768.0706 and holds the Certified Protection Professional (CPP) designation through ASIS International - a credential she has maintained since 1997 - and the Florida Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design Practitioner (FCP) designation through the Florida Crime Prevention Training Institute. She has served as a member of the Florida Private Investigative, Recovery, and Security Advisory Council (PIRSAC) and as a board member of the ASIS International Florida West Coast Chapter.
Ryland Poulin is a Crime Prevention Assistant Consultant at Critical Intervention Services and a designated Florida Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design Practitioner (FCP) through the Florida Crime Prevention Training Institute. Ryland has assisted senior CIS consultants in conducting over 75 CPTED assessments for multifamily residential properties under Fla. Stat. 768.0706, with a particular focus on nighttime lighting assessment - including the systematic measurement and documentation of illumination levels across parking areas, walkways, and common areas required for verifying compliance with the statute's lighting provisions.
Victoria Gundry is a Crime Prevention Assistant Consultant at Critical Intervention Services and a designated Florida Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design Practitioner (FCP) through the Florida Crime Prevention Training Institute. Victoria has assisted senior CIS consultants with over 50 CPTED assessments for multifamily residential properties under Fla. Stat. 768.0706. She is currently pursuing a Bachelor of Arts in Public Safety Administration and certification as a Physical Security Professional (PSP) through ASIS International.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is an FCP designation?
The Florida Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design Practitioner (FCP) designation is issued by the Florida Crime Prevention Training Institute of the Florida Attorney General's Office. It is the credential required under Fla. Stat. 768.0706(2)(b) for practitioners conducting CPTED assessments on multifamily residential properties. The designation requires completion of a 64-hour training program administered by FCPTI.
What credentials should a Florida CPTED practitioner hold?
At minimum, a practitioner conducting assessments under Fla. Stat. 768.0706 must hold the FCP designation from the Florida Crime Prevention Training Institute. Beyond this statutory requirement, credentials such as the Certified Protection Professional (CPP) and Physical Security Professional (PSP) through ASIS International indicate additional expertise in security assessment methodology, physical security design, and risk analysis - disciplines that strengthen the technical foundation of the assessment and its defensibility if challenged.
How many practitioners does CIS assign to a CPTED assessment?
The number of practitioners assigned depends on the size and complexity of the property. Smaller properties may require a single practitioner, while larger communities with multiple buildings, extensive parking areas, and numerous points of entry and exit typically require a team of two or more practitioners to complete the assessment thoroughly - particularly for nighttime lighting measurement, which must be conducted across the entire property in a single session.
Can a law enforcement officer conduct a CPTED assessment instead of an FCP?
Yes. Fla. Stat. 768.0706(2)(b) permits the CPTED assessment to be performed either by a designated Florida CPTED Practitioner or by a law enforcement agency. However, the scope and documentation rigor of the assessment should be evaluated carefully regardless of who conducts it, because the report itself becomes the central document for establishing compliance in the event of litigation.
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Download a PDF version of our guide to compliance with Florida Statute 768.0706