Cut lighting: Does not make crime increase

BBC:

Reduced street lighting at night does not lead to an increase in crime or car crashes, a report suggests.

Researchers analysed 14 years of data from 62 councils in England and Wales which had tried strategies such as permanently switching off lights or dimming them.

They said the findings could help save money and reduce carbon emissions.

The AA said the results were "extremely surprising" and differed from their own analysis of inquest findings.

The Local Government Association (LGA) said reducing street lighting does not happen everywhere but the research appeared to support some councils' decision "to save taxpayers' money and improve the environment without compromising public safety".
'No evidence'

The study, led by the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine in partnership with University College London and published in the Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health, looked at councils which had implemented a range of schemes.

These included switching lights off permanently, reducing the number of hours that lamps are switched on at night, dimming lights, and replacing traditional lamps with energy-efficient LED lamps.

To assess crime, they looked at data from 2010 to 2013 to analyse how many crimes took place in different areas and the types of street lighting used there.

They focused on offences more likely to occur at night, including burglary, theft of or from a vehicle, robbery, violence and sexual assault.

Overall, there was no evidence of an association between reduced lighting and increased crime.

They also looked at all roads in participating authorities, examining what type of street lighting was used and the number of traffic collisions that happened at night relative to the day during 2000 to 2013.

They found no evidence of a link between reduced street lighting and night-time collisions.
'Little chance'

Lead investigator Dr Phil Edwards said: "An estimated £300m is spent every year on street lights in the UK.

"At a time when local authorities need to make spending cuts, our findings show that by carefully assessing risks, street lighting can be reduced without an increase in car crashes and crime."

Co-author Prof Shane Johnson said while the findings were "very encouraging", any changes to lighting "should be managed carefully".

AA president Edmund King said the motoring group's analysis of inquest findings uncovered six road deaths from 2009 to 2013 where coroners said the switching off of street lights had been a contributory factor.

"Police crash investigators said the drivers had little or no chance of avoiding the collisions," he said.

He said the AA advised its members to drive using their full beams on roads where street lights have been switched off, except where they might dazzle other road users.

Cllr Peter Box, environment spokesman for the LGA, which represents more than 400 local authorities, said "careful consideration" was given to safety when reducing street lighting.

"With local government funding having seen substantial cuts, reducing or dimming streetlights can free up vital cash to protect under-pressure services such as child protection, adult social care, collecting bins and filling potholes," he added.

Research published by the Labour Party in November suggested street lights were being switched off or dimmed in three-quarters of England's council areas.

On Wednesday, July 29, 2015 at 12:54:24 AM UTC-4, RichA wrote:
BBC:

Reduced street lighting at night does not lead to an increase in crime or car crashes, a report suggests.


Perhaps those unlikely to commit crimes in the first place prefer to move to and live in areas that are less brightly lit. The criminal element ends up being concentrated in garishly lit areas as a result.

On Wednesday, 29 July 2015 12:45:14 UTC+2, wrote:

Perhaps those unlikely to commit crimes in the first place prefer to move to and live in areas that are less brightly lit. The criminal element ends up being concentrated in garishly lit areas as a result.

What a superb bit of logic!
Nice people: Coming to a [dark] neighbourhood near you!! :ø))

I have always been of the opinion that all security lights should be on a proximity sensor with auto day/night override to avoid them being lit all day. The sweeping lights, you see in action films, are so easily avoided. Floodlights assume somebody is watching every movement in every dark corner and not bored, dozing, watching TV or reading a magazine.

Proximity sensors trigger the lights from darkness. So the crook cannot spot the sensors prior to setting them off. Everybody in the neighbourhood notices the lights have come on and pays attention out of sheer curiosity. The crook is caught out in the open, lit up like a stand-up comic who fluffed his punch line, with no pre-arranged exit strategy. Gotcha!

Why no proximity sensors on street lights? What is the light illuminating when you're not there? The side-walk, pavement, road, sky, stray cat or front lawn. The lights are lit. The crook is walking in the shadows. Where's the security?

Lights, with sensors, come on from darkness... your crook is a scared rabbit in the headlights! Every curtain twitches. Gotcha!

I can't believe I'm not paid to write this stuff. ;ø]

On Wednesday, July 29, 2015 at 7:08:42 AM UTC-4, Chris.B wrote:
On Wednesday, 29 July 2015 12:45:14 UTC+2, wsne... wrote:

Perhaps those unlikely to commit crimes in the first place prefer to move to and live in areas that are less brightly lit. The criminal element ends up being concentrated in garishly lit areas as a result.

What a superb bit of logic!
Nice people: Coming to a [dark] neighbourhood near you!! :ø))

The nicer neighborhoods tend to have fewer streetlights, fewer billboards, fewer car lots, fewer strip malls. The crime rates are generally much lower.

"Chris.B" wrote:
On Wednesday, 29 July 2015 12:45:14 UTC+2, wrote:

Perhaps those unlikely to commit crimes in the first place prefer to
move to and live in areas that are less brightly lit. The criminal
element ends up being concentrated in garishly lit areas as a result.

What a superb bit of logic!
Nice people: Coming to a [dark] neighbourhood near you!! :ø))

I have always been of the opinion that all security lights should be on a
proximity sensor with auto day/night override to avoid them being lit all
day. The sweeping lights, you see in action films, are so easily avoided.
Floodlights assume somebody is watching every movement in every dark
corner and not bored, dozing, watching TV or reading a magazine.

Proximity sensors trigger the lights from darkness. So the crook cannot
spot the sensors prior to setting them off. Everybody in the
neighbourhood notices the lights have come on and pays attention out of
sheer curiosity. The crook is caught out in the open, lit up like a
stand-up comic who fluffed his punch line, with no pre-arranged exit strategy. Gotcha!

Why no proximity sensors on street lights? What is the light illuminating
when you're not there? The side-walk, pavement, road, sky, stray cat or
front lawn. The lights are lit. The crook is walking in the shadows. Where's the security?

Lights, with sensors, come on from darkness... your crook is a scared
rabbit in the headlights! Every curtain twitches. Gotcha!

I can't believe I'm not paid to write this stuff. ;ø]

You're not paid because in this instance you're mostly wrong. We were
burgled 4 times in Leeds despite proximity sensor 500 watt security lights.
When your house is busy with lots of coming and going neighbours won't
notice the lights. in my village most of the houses have security lights
and you get used to the dog walkers going along the road at night since
they are marked by the sequential on and off of security lights marking
their progress along the road. Windy nights are also well illuminated.
They do make it easy to spot the occasional deer though.

On Wed, 29 Jul 2015 04:08:39 -0700 (PDT), "Chris.B"
wrote this crap:

On Wednesday, 29 July 2015 12:45:14 UTC+2, wrote:

What a superb bit of logic!
Nice people: Coming to a [dark] neighbourhood near you!! :ø))

I have always been of the opinion that all security lights should
be on a proximity sensor with auto day/night override
to avoid them being lit all day.

I have motion-sensor lights on all lights on the outside of my
mansion. They are off during the day, but only turn on at night when
someone approaches. The problem with those is that when a crook
arrives and sets them off he runs away, but when he tries a few times
he figgers it out and is not afraid of them anymore. So I have lights
and cameras on the outside of the house. My one neighbor has lights,
cameras and a motion-sensor alarm. When you walk in her back yard at
night an alarm goes off inside the house so a criminal won't hear it
and the cameras start recording.


This signature is now the ultimate
power in the universe

On Wednesday, July 29, 2015 at 1:22:06 PM UTC-4, palsing wrote:
On Wednesday, July 29, 2015 at 10:12:08 AM UTC-7, wsne... wrote:

A reduction of lighting in high crime areas might very well lead to an even higher crime rate.

Or, as the study shows, and as many other studies also show, it might not.

There are no scientific studies of the issue, only speculations based on conjectures based on sparse data.

On Wednesday, July 29, 2015 at 2:31:32 PM UTC-4, Mike Collins wrote:
wsnell01 wrote:
On Wednesday, July 29, 2015 at 10:28:01 AM UTC-4, Mike Collins wrote:
"Chris.B" wrote:

Lights, with sensors, come on from darkness... your crook is a scared
rabbit in the headlights! Every curtain twitches. Gotcha!

I can't believe I'm not paid to write this stuff. ;ø]

You're not paid because in this instance you're mostly wrong. We were
burgled 4 times in Leeds despite proximity sensor 500 watt security lights.
When your house is busy with lots of coming and going neighbours won't
notice the lights. in my village most of the houses have security lights
and you get used to the dog walkers going along the road at night since
they are marked by the sequential on and off of security lights marking
their progress along the road. Windy nights are also well illuminated.
They do make it easy to spot the occasional deer though.

A reduction of lighting in high crime areas might very well lead to an
even higher crime rate.

Didn't you read the study. It showed no difference. Just as earlier studied
did. The difference in this study is that traffic casualties did not
increase.

Cars have headlamps, don't need street lights, therefore irrelevant.

Burglars like street lights. It makes them less conspicuous.

Then getting rid of the street lights should lead to an increase in burglaries?

Two things
stopped the burglaries in our old house. One was that we took further
precautions with lights inside the house on timers and radio and TV
programmed to come in when the house was empty.

That probably didn't hurt.

collins further, unsupported, speculations deleted

On Wednesday, 29 July 2015 06:45:14 UTC-4, wrote:
On Wednesday, July 29, 2015 at 12:54:24 AM UTC-4, RichA wrote:
BBC:

Reduced street lighting at night does not lead to an increase in crime or car crashes, a report suggests.


Perhaps those unlikely to commit crimes in the first place prefer to move to and live in areas that are less brightly lit. The criminal element ends up being concentrated in garishly lit areas as a result.

This study is like one done in Sweden about 10 years ago. Same conclusions.

On Wednesday, July 29, 2015 at 3:21:16 PM UTC-7, wrote:
On Wednesday, July 29, 2015 at 1:22:06 PM UTC-4, palsing wrote:
On Wednesday, July 29, 2015 at 10:12:08 AM UTC-7, wsne... wrote:

A reduction of lighting in high crime areas might very well lead to an even higher crime rate.

Or, as the study shows, and as many other studies also show, it might not.

There are no scientific studies of the issue, only speculations based on conjectures based on sparse data.

Which is why your 'might' statement and my own 'might' statement have equal weight...