Thirty years after the international association was founded, the Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design (CPTED) conference is coming home to Calgary this fall.

From Oct. 2 to 4, the Canadian and United States chapters of the International CPTED Association are scheduled to host a joint conference at the Hilton Garden Inn & Homewood Suites. 

Over the course of the weekend, the conference will feature 17 presentations and hands-on tours, where attendees from across the globe can learn how architecture, landscaping, and urban planning can be used to deter criminal behaviour.

New this year will be a session on the role of artificial intelligence in residential safety, which has been described as an example of the field’s “generational shift” from physical deterrence to a focus on community-led initiatives amid technological advances.

The inaugural event was held in Calgary in 1996, and this year’s conference will not only look back but also examine where the work is headed. In a media release sent on Aug. 4, Mayor Jeromy Farkas expressed his approval of the summit’s return. 

“Thirty years ago, Calgary helped give the world a better idea of what safety could mean,” said Mayor Farkas.

“That it is built, block by block, in how we design our neighbourhoods and how we look out for one another. It is an honour to welcome that work home.”

Calgary police chief Katie McLellan is expected to deliver opening remarks. In the days to follow, experts from across the province will lead participants on lecture-and-tutorial-style walking tours to gather feedback on the areas where the city is excelling and falling short.

Transit system and East Village as case studies

Before John Beatson became the founder and director of CPTED Alberta, he was a Toronto police officer who, up until joining the Edmonton Police Service in the 2010s, hadn’t heard of the framework. 

In a not-so-subtle foreshadowing of the work he does today, Beatson conducted his first CPTED assessment as part of the neighbourhood empowerment team after he completed a course to better understand the field. 

“I put together this plan to change this park,” said Beatson. 

“It was just a patch of grass, and there was nothing going on there, and there were people doing things that they shouldn’t be there — you’d find clothes, and needles, and booze bottles.”

Upon bringing it up to the city, he learned that they were already in the process of developing a recreation centre there. In the meantime, Beatson said he pushed for lighting, fencing, and landscaping to be done, and that the difference it made was almost unbelievable. 

“I was driving back past that park, and there were about 10 kids in there with parents playing soccer,” he said. 

“I was like, ‘this place was a dump three days ago, and now there’s all these people that are already taking it back.’”

Beatson defined this, in CPTED terms, as the way in which improving the first generation — the physical environment — changes the second generation — the social environment. These encourage people to take ownership of a space, which discourages unlawful behaviour, he said. 

While both stages are interconnected, the walking tour that Beatson will host on the weekend of the conference will audit the physical attributes of Calgary Transit’s LRT system, including surveillance, points of access, reinforcement, and maintenance. 

Another walking tour, hosted by local urban planner Anna Brassard, will focus on the social characteristics of the East Village neighbourhood in the downtown core, for which she helped develop a master plan more than 20 years ago. 

Both of the tours will invite feedback from guests and, in the case of the transit tour, will be used to generate a report to be sent to the City of Calgary. Brassard emphasized that communicating with residents is at the core of the framework. 

“It takes a very collaborative effort at all levels to make it work,” she said. 

“At the end of the day, it’s about the people…people make it safe, but you need the conditions and the context to work with that can either make that a lot more challenging, or they can make it a lot easier.”

Personifying community-led prevention

Larry Leach, executive director of 12CSI, said the Calgary-based organization started 15 years ago as an indirect response to ideas first introduced at the CPTED conference held years earlier. 

Between Leach emceeing the conference and their administrator overseeing the door, he said that they are excited to be part of the event when it returns to the city. 

“It’s a great opportunity for us and a great opportunity for Calgary,” he said. 

“We weren’t around 30 years ago as an organization, so it’s a very proud moment for us as an organization involved in it.” 

The organization operates on the city’s east side to improve feelings of safety across the 12 neighbourhoods in District 4. Leach said that crime in this area is “really no different” from other parts of the city, but the perception is often another story. 

“There’s covert and overt crime, and so a lot of the stuff that happens here is out in the open,” he said. 

“It’s that overtness that makes it something that residents really want to buy into and help make a better place.”

So far this year, District 4 has the second-highest crime rate per 1,000 residents at 299, trailing the downtown core, which makes up District 1, at 340, according to data from the Calgary Police Service.

Since its inception, Leach said that the organization has made progress by working with the International Avenue BRZ, which spearheaded physical improvements to the area’s parks and transit system. 

Leach said they do this by educating and engaging community members through resources and community walks. He said that this has taken shape as a newsletter sharing crime-prevention tips and a volunteer ambassador team that assists vulnerable residents.

He drew on his past experience as president of the Crossroads Community Association and said that advancements like these demonstrate community-led CPTED in action. 

“Signage, lighting, those kinds of hard-target type things are real simple ways of improving the quality of life for folks,” said Leach. 

“If you’re maintaining something, it shows that somebody cares about your community.”

Attendees are invited to stay at the hotel for just over $150 per night. Tickets to the conference are available to the public for $400 each, with discounted rates for students with institution-provided identification.