Community Safety and Crime Prevention

A community is safest when everyone works together and supports activities that reduce crime, violence and victimization – every resident and every organization can make a difference.

Most Canadians consider being able to live in a safe and secure environment one of the most important aspects of their lives.  As well, we also recognize the important of developing strategies that enhance public safety and security through crime prevention and the development of programs that help people most at risk of becoming involved in crime.

Crime prevention in it’s purest form looks at people who are not involved in criminal activity and asks, “What can we do to make sure they never come into conflict with the law or disorderly behaviour?”    It also looks at places and situation which are not yet troubled by much criminal activity and asks, “How can we make sure crime never becomes a significant problem here?” 

Crime reduction starting point is people, places or situations already known for criminal activity.  Crime reduction starts with assessing the current problem and developing strategies to decrease the amount of criminal activity, or minimize the harm it causes.

Types of Crime Prevention:  Crime prevention can be broken down into people -, place- and situation-oriented strategies.  The people-oriented strategy is usually known as “crime prevention through social development,” or CPSD.  Place-oriented strategies are known as “crime prevention through environmental design,” or CPTED.  When combined with situational approaches, these strategies form a holistic and effective crime prevention package.