Crime Reduction - Helping to Reduce Crime in Your Area

This review examined the impact of improvements to street lighting on both crime and the public’s sense of fear. It drew on the latest research findings, including those from a substantial study carried out by a team from the University of Southampton, who monitored the effect of large-scale lighting improvements in Wandsworth. Their work was published at the same time, as Crime Prevention Unit Paper 28 PDF (548Kb).

Title: The effect of better street lighting on crime and the fear of crime: A review
Author: Malcolm Ramsay with the assistance of Rosemary Newton
Series: Crime Prevention Unit Paper 29
Publication date: August 1991
Number of pages: 54

Key points

• The report suggests, on the basis of the available research evidence, that lighting improvements are in general more likely to have a positive impact on the public’s fear of crime than on the incidence of crime itself.

• Exceptionally, in localised ‘blackspots’, where lighting is particularly inadequate crime and incivility may be reduced in addition to pedestrians’ sense of security being improved.

• The report also documented the Home Office’s expenditure on lighting improvements - geared primarily to reducing people’s fear of crime in crucial settings - through the Safer Cities Programme.

Getting a copy

The full report  is available online. Download “The Effect of Better Street Lighting on Crime & The Fear of Crime: A Review” PDF 165 Kb.