your post raises an interesting question for me. I wonder if crime increased
during blackouts in WWII when people were forced by law to turn off their
lights.
sk
----- Original Message -----
From: Anthony West<mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
To: [email protected]<mailto:[email protected]>
Sent: Thursday, February 01, 2007 10:32 PM
Subject: [UC] Let there be a little less light
My gut sense is that Lawrence and Al may be right. I am profoundly conflicted
by the whole "light up the night" approach to urban crime.
As a country boy, I deeply value darkness. I like many things about city life
-- that's why I chose it as an adult -- but its lighting addiction is way
overdone, and getting even more excessive over time. Also, unnecessary burning
of bulbs is destroying the entire planet, rather rapidly. We face larger
problems than "Might I be mugged?" during our lifespans, and global warming is
one of them. As for crime prevention, eyes that swiftly adapt to the dark after
nightfall are stronger and safer than eyes that are chronically dazzled by
streetlights. So I think today's American cities are too bright and we should
cut back on that.
But "perception of safety" is a virtue in itself. Even when it is mistaken,
it takes a psychological toll, which in turn affects other real values: the
value of your real estate, the cost of your insurance, the willingness of all
sorts of others to interact with you for business or for pleasure when their
chief source of information is your address. And if you suffer from bad press
on crime, brighter streets absolutely will change that.
-- Tony West
as the head of the University's own Center for Criminology (Lawrence
Sherman) pointed out in a published study a few years back, evidence is strong
that lighting has an effect on the perception of safety but is lacking on
whether it actually deters crime (that is, some studies suggest that it does,
others suggest that it doesn't, and a few even suggest that it may serve a
facilitating rather than a debilitating role).
Al Krigman
