Nature

In most people’s minds, there is a simple and indirect relationship between lighting and crime: the more lights you have the lower the crime rate will be, better lighting will deter offenders who benefit from the cover of darkness. When researchers partnered with New York City police and municipal officials to place lighting towers randomly in some of the city’s highest-crime public housing complexes, in 2016, they found that serious nighttime crimes plunged 60 percent in those areas over the next six months.Previous research suggests that violent crime tends to be geographically concentrated and that criminals tend to focus on short- rather than long-term factors in deciding whether to commit such crimes. Thus, a small change — such as more street lighting — in areas where there is a high likelihood of illegal activity may have more impact than a longer-term threat of, say, stiffer prison sentences. Lighting is clearly associated with perceptions of safety. A recent survey of New York public housing found that 50 percent of residents felt safe walking around in daytime, but only 21 percent at night. From 2010 to 2016, street lighting outages were the third most common complaint to the city’s 311 services and reporting line.  Improved lighting means that offenders are more likely to be seen by someone who might intervene, call the police, or recognize the offender. Even if this does not happen, some offenders who fear that it might would be deterred from crime.

For example,

When it is night time

1. Improved lighting deters potential offenders by increasing the risk that they will be seen or recognized when committing crimes.
2. Police become more visible, thus leading to a decision to desist from crime.
3. If improved lighting leads to the arrest and imprisonment of repeat offenders they can no longer commit crimes in the area.
4. New lighting can encourage residents to spend more time on their stoops or in their front yards in the evenings and thus increase informal surveillance.
5. Improved lighting can encourage more people to walk at night, which would increase informal surveillance.
6. Since there are brighter lights at night, anyone walking home at night would feel safer walking home.

When it is day time

1. New lighting shows that the city government and the police are determined to control crime. As a result, potential offenders might no longer see the neighborhood as affording easy pickings. In addition, citizens might be motivated to pass on information about offenders.
2. Better lighting can increase community pride and cohesiveness, leading to a greater willingness to intervene in crime and to report it.
3. If offenders commit crime in both light and darkness, nighttime arrests and subsequent imprisonment would reduce both daytime and nighttime crime.