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Safety in Design - CPTED in the News

Posted by: Tim Halbur

12 August 2008 - 1:00pm

A columnist in Saskatoon, after a robbery at his office, takes a look at CPTED (Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design).

"Expensive locks didn't help me when my office was robbed a few weeks ago, in broad daylight. The thief who made off with the computers was identified and caught through the vigilance of someone in my building who noted a suspicious character lurking about.

This experience points to the importance of natural surveillance for crime prevention, one of the principles of CPTED (Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design). CPTED, an approach that originated in the 1960s, is based on a theory that the proper design and effective use of the built environment can reduce crime and the fear of crime.

Research into criminal behaviour shows the decision to commit a crime or not is heavily influenced by cues about perceived risk of being caught. CPTED strategies increase a criminal's perceived risk of detection using three main strategies: Natural surveillance, natural access control and natural territorial reinforcement."

Full Story: Good building design key to keeping bad guys away
Source: Saskatoon, August 12, 2008
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The areas where we have severe blight and indications of more blight to come are basically the same as they ever were. How in the world are we ever going to move our community development selves into an alternative future that thinks differently about the challenges we face in our cities and low-income suburban and rural communities?
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