Visibility and natural surveillance in victimized pharmacies: a CPTED assessment with augmented reality

Abstract

Pharmacies are frequent targets of robbery and burglary, yet transparent methods for documenting natural-surveillance conditions remain limited. This study developed a structured observational methodology informed by environmental criminology and Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design (CPTED) and supplemented by Augmented Reality (AR) visualization. Assessment of 55 victimized pharmacies documented recurring combinations of window coverage, obstructed sightlines, blind spots, and limited register visibility. Cross-tabulations further described how selected visibility-related conditions co-occurred across the sample. Representative AR visualizations translated completed observations into spatial scenarios while remaining separate from data collection and analysis. The study provides a transparent and systematically defined approach for documenting natural-surveillance conditions and illustrates how completed CPTED observations can be communicated visually. The methodology is descriptive and does not establish causal or predictive relationships between the documented conditions and pharmacy victimization.