Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design

I recently attended a School CPTED Course – Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design. The course was conducted at the Montgomery County Public Safety Training Campus in Conshohocken, PA. The facility was great and very well maintained. The course was fantastic. The two instructors were excellent. About fifty people attended the class, primarily current/former law enforcement, with a few administrators and other supporting staff. It was conducted over three days, with each day being different from the others. Day one was in-class instruction. Day two was an on-site evaluation of a local high school. Day three was group presentations to the class.

On day one, the instructors taught the basic concepts and six principles of school-based CPTED: Natural Surveillance, Access Management, Territoriality, Physical Maintenance, Order Maintenance, and Other Factors. Essentially, how and why do unsafe environments increase unsafe behavior? How can these environments become safe, and why does a safe environment increase safe behavior?

Day two brought us to North Penn High School in Lansdale, PA. The instructors broke the class into five groups. We used what we learned the previous day to evaluate school functioning during regular hours. We asked ourselves questions like:
Does security/front desk personnel have proper visibility of people accessing the school?
Are the main access points monitored?
Are the school grounds upkeep and labeled with signage?
Is there adequate lighting during periods of darkness?
North Penn is an excellent high school with excellent security staff.

Group presentations through PowerPoint occupied the final day. Although each group presented the same subject, each presentation was unique and interesting. In addition to supporting other group members, I was tasked with examining land use surrounding the school. I looked at things like where the school is located, such as whether there are homes or vacant lots. Is there easy access to the school via major and minor roads? I don’t particularly enjoy public speaking, but it was an opportunity to work at it. Our presentation went well, and it was a nice finish to an excellent course.