In all my work over the last 3 decades I’ve yet to see the benefits to working alone. Collaboration really is the key and the only way we can truly improve community safety throughout our country. We have put most of the onus on our police services to deliver what they often can’t or won’t due to capacity issues or budgets. Working with one another can tip the scales.
Crime prevention through environmental design (CPTED) is a remarkable way of achieving better outcomes. As its definition states:“the proper design and effective use of the built environment can lead to a reduction in the incidence and fear of crime, and an improvement in the quality of life”. Who can argue with that? Anyone that wishes to learn about the best practice and adopt it will immediately see its many benefits. Most, if not all practitioners will admit that it’s not a silver bullet and yet it can and does continue to make a dramatic difference when used throughout our rural and urban built environments.
Just think of the outcomes we could achieve if we began to adopt CPTED on a national level!
During the past few years I’ve seen more and more competition within this field. I often refer to this as the good, the bad and the ugly – based on an old Clint Eastwood film. Truth be told it’s been interesting to follow the trajectory and see what some have chosen not to see or worse yet, address. Rather than collaborating more, some practitioners have chosen to remain independent while others have little or no practical experience tout themselves as experts, and even teach courses.
The founders of CPTED Canada have strong roots in the practice which continues to evolve. Most of us have been dedicated to this work for decades and continue to immerse ourselves in it. It’s truly a passion and I encourage you to meet the board that will continue this mission. During the course of this year we have worked diligently to design a new website, meet regularly and begin planning events like our upcoming Special Speaker Series starting this November.
As the Vice President of CPTED Canada, and a dedicated practitioner I’m inviting everyone to join us, collaborate and enjoy the benefits of membership. One of my favourite authors couldn’t have said it better:
WE APPROACH OUR lives on different trajectories, each of us spinning in our own separate, shining orbits. What gives this life its resonance is when those trajectories cross and we become engaged with each other, for as long or as fleetingly as we do. There’s a shared energy then, and it can feel as though the whole universe is in the process of coming together. I live for those times. No one is truly ever “just passing through.” Every encounter has within it the power of enchantment, if we’re willing to look for it. – from his book Embers, Richard Wagamese.