ABSTRACT
Installing or improving street lighting in an area, a sign of positive investment, might signal to residents that efforts are being made to improve their community. By improving street lighting, the offender is believed to perceive greater risks of apprehension, while residents are believed to invest more in their community and thus work to prevent crime in their community. Interventions that focus on improving street lighting aim to prevent crime by modifying an environment and reducing opportunities for offenders to commit crimes. These interventions may occur in public or private settings, such as residential neighborhoods, parking lots, shopping malls, campuses, hospitals, or various other facilities. Improving street lighting to prevent crime is grounded in two main perspectives: situational crime prevention and strengthening informal social control and community cohesion. Situational crime prevention focuses on reducing the opportunities for crime, while also increasing an offender's perceived risk of apprehension.
