The Town of Okotoks along with Protective Services are looking at new ways to make the pathways system along the Sheep River safer than before.

The pathways in particular include the Sheep River pathway from the Okotoks Library and also the Woodhaven Pathway.

Okotoks Protective Services Director Scott Roberts

Protective Services Director Scott Roberts says through a Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design assessment they may have found some new controls to implement.

"Whether it be through surveillance meaning how is the area watched by passers by or by people using it," he says. "How do we control access to it, how can we reinforce the territory throughway finding or signage and finally maintain it."

Roberts says one effective control measure they found was simply adding more lights to the pathways.

"We want to illuminate the path so that people who are using the pathways that connect Woodhaven to the Downtown can do so safely and it's not just safely from a crime prevention perspective it's safety so they can see any obstacles that might be on the pathway and they're not tripping and falling and getting hurt that way."

Roberts adds by saying the Town can put all the crime prevention measures in they want but at the end of the day without the community helping each other out the controls mean nothing.

"The best form of crime prevention comes when our citizens are engaged and that they're aware of their surroundings and that they're looking after each other. So that if you see a crime in progress that you call the police or that you don't put yourself in a position to become a victim."

Some highlighted spots on the pathways Protective Services highlighted in their studies were the bathroom facilities and the Laurie Boyd Bridge.