Kangan Batman TAFE students to conduct a crime prevention study of Sunbury
11 September 2003
Students undertaking their Advanced Diploma of Justice and Diploma of Security Management at Kangan Batman TAFE and Victorian University will soon embark on a joint crime prevention study of Sunbury’s central business district.
As part of this study, the students will survey people’s perceptions of how safe Sunbury is to live in. Then they will compare this perception to the level of actual crime as reflected by the statistical data.
The students will also examine the type, scale and location of any criminal or anti-social behaviour that may be taking place around the Sunbury town centre. They will also conduct community safety audits based around the concepts of Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design (CPTED).
These audits will be conducted on the areas community members perceive as being unsafe to determine such things as lighting of the area, blind spots and any concealment areas. They will also identify if the areas are being properly serviced and if there are clearly defined zones of public, semi-private and private usage.
1500 survey forms will be distributed in the second part of the week commencing on 15 September, through various organisations throughout Sunbury. The survey forms will be collected after two weeks and analysed by the students. The community safety audits will then be planned based on the responses to the survey.
According to the group’s teacher, Mr Phillip Wright, this study will benefit both the students and the community.
“Students relate better and learn more from real-life situations such as this, rather than when they learn through hypothetical scenarios,” he says.
“The students will also have the benefit of participating in a major crime prevention study on a ‘real case’ basis, and the community will have the benefit of any insights the group may be able to bring to the situation.
“We chose Sunbury because it provides a safe environment for the students to work in and as a Sunbury resident myself I know that these issues are in the community’s consciousness due to recent coverage in the local papers,” says Mr Wright.
Copies of the findings in the form of a report will be provided to the Sunbury Chamber of Commerce, to the Sunbury Police Station and Hume City Council. The report will be edited and quality controlled by Mr Phillip Wright.
Sunbury Online through the Sunbury Chamber of Commerce has contributed $100 worth of shopping vouchers as a lucky draw prize to encourage people to complete and return the survey forms.
