A Safer Environment Through Music

We would all enjoy a safer community, but for many of us it can be hard to understand how we can help. Very few of us (law enforcement aside) posses the cunning detective skills or washboard abs normally associated with ‘fighting crime’. The truth is, some very simple changes to the environment around us can have a big impact on crime, and one student is hoping to bring that to Stephen Avenue.

Valerie Cheadle is a graduate of the Mount Royal University Criminology department, and she has helped spearhead a CPTED (crime prevention through environmental design, pronounced sep-ted) project to help prevent crime on 8th ave in downtown Calgary.

The idea is a street piano, decorated by the Boys & Girls club that will spend the summer on the 8th Ave right outside of McDonalds. The reasoning behind this, is that crime will effectively be lowered by attracting attention to the piano, and the environment around it. What person in their right mind would attempt to commit a crime while Beethoven’s 5th played in the background to a gathering crowd?

Everyone is invited to sit down and take a turn tickling the ivories, so the hope is that buskers, students, office workers and tourists all have the opportunity to share their song.

The official launch of the Stephen Avenue street piano is Saturday, June 23rd at Noon. There will be a performance from Randi Boulton and refreshments for all.

If you’re interested in learning more about CPTED, check out Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design on wikipedia.

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