The primary objective of the current study was to assess the effect of improved street lighting on crime, using victimization surveys in carefully matched experimental and control areas that encompassed two adjacent public housing estates in Dudley (United Kingdom).
For all crime in the experimental area, the crime prevalence (total number of victimizations) decreased by 23 percent after the improved street lighting was installed compared to the 12 months prior to the installation of the lights. In the control area, the crime prevalence decreased by only 3 percent. The changes in the experimental area were significantly greater than the changes in the control area for burglary, personal crime, and all crime. The most important differences between the characteristics of the experimental and control areas were that more of the residents in the control area were ages 60 or over, an age group significantly less likely than other age groups to be victimized by crime. Also, more of the control sample reported that they had seen a police officer on their estate in the previous month; however, seeing a police officer on the estate in the previous month was not significantly related to the prevalence of victimization. The greater decrease in prevalence in the experimental area held independently of the prior non-equivalence of the experimental and control samples. For all crime in the experimental area, incidence (the average number of victimizations per 100 households, allowing a maximum of 10 per household) decreased by 41 percent after the improved street lighting compared with crime incidence before the installation of improve lighting. There were no significant changes in the control area. The changes in the experimental area were significantly greater than the changes in the control area for vehicle crime, property crime, personal crime, and all crime. 2 tables and 3 figure