Study finds brighter street lighting reduces violent crime

Adding LED lights to illuminate crime hot spots throughout the city of Newark reduced violent crime by nearly 46% and burglaries by 58%, according to new research from Rutgers University–Newark published in the Journal of Quantitative Criminology.

A data-driven partnership between PSE&G, Rutgers-Newark researchers, Newark residents and public safety officials identified areas in the city where crime rates were high and adding new lighting or replacing existing lights could potentially reduce crime.

For six months, violent crime levels plummeted in the areas where enhanced LED lighting was installed, but the results dissipated over time, leading researchers to conclude that additional community-based efforts were needed to sustain the impact.

“The effect was not permanent,” said Alejandro Gimenez-Santana, head of the Newark Public Safety Collaborative. “Lighting alone is not the solution.”

The collaborative, created at the School of Criminal Justice, analyzes hyperlocal places where crime concentrates, such as abandoned buildings and vacant lots, rather than targeting perpetrators.

Established in partnership with the Newark Mayor’s Office, it shares data on a biweekly basis with 45 community-based organizations, along with city government and law enforcement.

The collaborative’s study was the first of its kind, focusing on citywide changes rather than individual areas where lighting was improved.

The paper’s co-authors include Rutgers-Newark Vice Chancellor for Research and Collaborations Joel Caplan and Professor Emeritus Les Kennedy. Additional co-authors were School of Criminal Justice researchers Gaspard Tissandier, a postdoctoral associate, and graduate student Adriana Santos, the collaborative’s senior program manager; and independent researcher Khalil Zlaoui.

“A data-driven partnership between PSE&G, Rutgers-Newark researchers at the Newark Public Safety Collaborative (NPSC) and the Rutgers Center on Public Security (RCPS), Newark residents and public safety officials identified areas in the city where crime rates were high and adding new lighting or replacing existing lights could potentially reduce crime. Between 2019 and 2021, more than 1,500 LED fixtures were installed citywide.”

Another important finding of this study is that brighter street lighting didn’t displace crime from one area to another, providing evidence against concerns about displacement.

“Why this is important is that most prior studies were very specific in parts of the cities, a neighborhood and a particular street,” Gimenez-Santana said. “This was a citywide effort.”

The study has attracted international attention and was recently presented at a criminology conference in Spain, where researchers shared Newark’s findings with scholars and practitioners interested in evidence-based approaches to crime prevention.

“The theory supports our work, but there wasn’t any empirical evidence. What we’ve been able to do is put numbers on it,” Gimenez-Santana said. “This has the potential to become a powerful case study to show that lighting is an effective tool to reduce crime, with the caveat that it’s not a permanent solution.”

The study builds on decades of research supporting crime prevention through environmental design, the idea that changes to the built environment can influence criminal behavior.

While enhanced street lighting lowers crime in the short term, it should be viewed as one component of a broader public safety strategy that includes community-led cleanups, violence interruption efforts, neighborhood engagement and coordination among public safety partners, said Gimenez-Santana.

“The more you engage community organizations and residents to become active co-producers of safety, the more likely you are to obtain better outcomes,” he said.

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