Study: Street Lights Don't Reduce Crime

Pacific Standard shares news of a study that debunks a long-held assumption of public safety.

1 minute read

June 6, 2016, 9:00 AM PDT

Lisa Wade digs into the research into the question of whether street lighting reduces crime. Although people, and sociologists, usually associate crime with economic factors like poverty and joblessness, "[w]hen early lighting companies began lobbying cities to install the first street lights at the end of the 1800s, they argued that bright lights would certainly deter crime."

A 2015 study published in the Journal of Epidemiology & Community Health concludes, however, that lighting does not deter crime. According to Wade, continuing to make an honest account of what does and does not deter crime, and how society might make investments with some hope of succeeding in reducing crime.

FULL STORY: Do Bright Street Lights Actually Reduce Crime?

Thursday, June 2, 2016 in Pacific Standard

Infrastructure World United States Streetlights Crime Public Safety View More

I love the variety of courses, many practical, and all richly illustrated. They have inspired many ideas that I've applied in practice, and in my own teaching. Mary G., Urban Planner

I love the variety of courses, many practical, and all richly illustrated. They have inspired many ideas that I've applied in practice, and in my own teaching.

Mary G., Urban Planner

Cover CM Credits, Earn Certificates, Push Your Career Forward

Learn More

Advertise with us

Urban Design for Planners 1: Software Tools

This six-course series explores essential urban design concepts using open source software and equips planners with the tools they need to participate fully in the urban design process.