Environmental features of a business or shopping center can contribute to our feelings of safety or danger. Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design  is a multi-disciplinary approach to deterring criminal behavior through  environmental design. In other words, if a site is laid out well, the likelihood of  it being targeted for a crime may be reduced.

Most implementations of CPTED occur solely within the  urbanized, built environment. CPTED principles of design affect elements of the built environment ranging from the small-scale (such as the strategic use of  shrubbery and other vegetation) to the overarching, including building form of  an entire urban neighborhood .

Information provided by the Maple Valley Police Department