April 12, 2018 – Starting today, Municipal District of Bonnyville Peace Officers will be offering free Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design Assessments (CPTED) to farmers, residents and business owners in the M.D.
M.D. Peace Officers, as well as staff from the Planning and Development Department recently took CPTED training to better help our residents. Late last year, the M.D. held a crime forum and had residents fill out a survey about crime and how it affected them. One of the common remarks on the survey highlighted the need for a program like CPTED.
“M.D. Council is pleased to offer this proactive service to our residents, farms and businesses,” said Reeve Greg Sawchuk. “This is just one part of our overall crime reduction plan that we continue to work on.”
CPTED assessments are made up of five components – Natural Surveillance, Natural Access Control, Territoriality, Maintenance, and Lighting.
- Natural Surveillance includes: keeping an eye on your and your neighbour’s property while going about your daily lives, i.e. being part of a Crime Watch Association, such as the Beaver River Crime Watch
- Natural Access Control includes: using landscaping to make natural barriers and paths, alerting people of where they should and shouldn’t be on the property i.e. sidewalks, flower beds, bushes, and woodchips.
- Territoriality includes: fenced yards, plants/trees acting as natural borders between your land and neighbouring land, whether public or private, and could also include Rural Crime Watch signage.
- Maintenance includes: making sure all outdoor lights are in working order, keeping lawns and yards maintained, making sure your home and outbuildings are painted and well looked after.
- Lighting includes: making sure all outdoor lighting elements are in working order, having motion-activated lights.
To book an appointment to have an assessment done, please call the Public Safety Department at 780-812-3332, or book online by clicking here. Once you get to the Incident Type page, select “Crime Prevention – Property Assessments”. Once the online process has been completed, an officer will get in touch with you on the next working day.
“I hope that people take advantage of this free service,” said Director of Public Safety, Chris Garner. “I’ve seen it make a difference between what properties get targeted, and which ones don’t. The M.D’s CPTED assessments will tie in nicely with the what the Beaver River Crime Watch Association is doing.”