Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design

Entries should  feel welcoming so students and teachers feel excited to be there and feel valued. This can be done through architecture and graphics for school pride.

Crime Prevention through Environmental Design (CPTED) fundamental strategies to use:

Natural surveillance:

Provide adequate lighting and landscaping techniques as important factors in the “see and be seen” approach to prevent crime.  Sufficient lighting in parking areas and outside circulation zones increases student, parent and staff safety, especially after hours.  Site lighting to cover parking lots, spaces for evening events and the areas used for pick-up

Natural access control:

Use walkways, fencing, lighting, signage and landscape to direct people and vehicles to and from entries.

Natural territorial reinforcement:

Clearly define private areas from public areas to deter trespassers. Good landscape design can contribute to this. For example, if fencing is needed it should look aesthetically pleasing and non-institutional. Setting fences back so there is a “no man’s land” buffer of landscape (prickly planting) that would make a person walking in that zone stand out as an intruder prevents intruders from talking to students or being able to access to them. Examples were shared in the visioning sessions at the evening community engagement meetings.