Does LED Street Lighting Reduce Crime? Evidence from a Staggered Large Scale Retrofitting Program

• In Event: Promoting Safety in Online and Offline Spaces: The Importance of Activity and Structural Features

Abstract

Street lighting can influence crime by modifying the built environment. Evidence comes mostly from short-term blackouts or portable lighting towers. Such interventions do not resemble the street lighting retrofitting many cities have done in the last years to reduce energy consumption: LED lighting. This research leverages the upgrading of street lighting in a prominent US city in a staggered difference-in-differences framework. It examines the short- and long-term impacts of street lighting on crime and disorder measured through police reports and emergency calls. It also explores its heterogeneous effects by neighborhood composition and built environmental features. Policy recommendations are provided.

Author

• David Mitre Becerril, University of Connecticut