Mon, September 17, 2007
Lighting Crime—12:02 PM
Bruce Schneier, promoter of the phrase "security theater," has a blog about security that I've linked you to from time to time. Today I read a short piece about light and crime which was very interesting.
In it, he excerpts a passage from a New Yorker story about light pollution, which explains that keeping an area brightly lit does not necessarily reduce vandalism or other property crimes. This fascinated me, because on the way to the airport Friday before dawn, I was noticing all the industrial parks and self-storage buildings we passed, and how they were covered with bright lights that stayed on all night.
Which got me thinking about how wasteful that is, but I figured they did it to prevent theft. Which made me wonder if someone had optimized the placement of the lights – using only as many as were absolutely necessary to deter crime. It turns out, no. The truly optimal placement would be no light at all in most situations. Something to think about.
