The role of ambient light in shaping public safety: Evidence from daylight saving time

Scholars frequently characterize incarceration as a possible turning point in criminal activity. This implies a two‐stage process: 1) change in life‐course mechanisms around confinement and reentry result in 2) subsequent change in criminal activity relative to preconfinement. Following this model, we examine change in criminal activity, criminal identity, and social/structural challenges using data from the Prison Project, a cohort of adult males with short‐term confinement in the Netherlands in 2010–2011. Results of a novel test for within‐individual change in arrests from preconfinement to post‐reentry show that most individuals are stable—yet there is a substantial group who go down meaningfully and a much smaller group who go up. Even though changes in criminal identity from the intervening period do not predict these change groups, increases in social/structural challenges predict those who go up in criminal activity. We build from prior work on desistance and reentry, contrasting our findings and highlighting the unique insight gained from, as well as challenges of, measuring individual change within our two‐stage turning point model. Although life‐course mechanisms often correspond with changes in criminal activity concurrently, identifying individual changes that are predictors of subsequent shifts in criminal offending remains elusive.

Objective. Life–course researchers suggest that changes in local life circumstances explain changes in criminal activity in adulthood. Although the extent to which local life circumstances propel offenders toward/away from criminal behavior is a subject of considerable debate, the issue of race has largely been ignored. The objective in this research is to incorporate race into a life–course perspective that examines the influence of changes in life circumstances on changes in criminal activity. Methods. This objective is met by using longitudinal data on 524 parolees released from the California Youth Authority (CYA) who were followed for seven consecutive years after release. Results. The results suggest that changes in local life circumstances are related to changes in criminal activity, but do not eliminate the race/crime relationship for violence. At the same time, the effect of local life circumstances on criminal activity appears more similar than different across race, with the exception that common–law marriages are crime–generating among nonwhites as compared to whites. Conclusions. Because race continues to be associated with criminal activity over the life course, future research should increase efforts to better understand how race might condition life circumstances when influencing criminal activity. Implications of these findings for life–course theory are discussed.

General strain theory, persistence, and desistance among young adult males

Research Summary Street crimes are thought to be influenced by changes in ambient lighting; yet, most studies have focused on small‐scale interventions in limited areas. It remains unclear whether enhanced lighting can improve safety on a larger, jurisdiction‐wide scale. This study examined the first 10 months of Philadelphia's citywide rollout of enhanced street lighting. Between August 2023 and May 2024, 34,374 streetlights were upgraded across 13,275 street segments, converting roughly one third of the city's street segments to new LED (light‐emitting diode) fixtures that provide clearer and more even lighting. We assessed the impact of these upgrades on total crimes, violent crimes, property crimes, and nuisance crimes. Our findings reveal a 15% decline in outdoor nighttime street crimes and a 21% reduction in outdoor nighttime gun violence following the streetlight upgrades. The streetlight upgrades may have contributed to 5% of the citywide decline in Philadelphia gun violence during the study period. Qualitative data also suggest that resident perceptions of safety and neighborhood vitality improved after new streetlights were installed. Policy Implications Although prior research has mostly focused on small‐scale implementations, our study demonstrates that improvements in street lighting can significantly reduce crime rates across large urban areas. These results support the adoption of energy‐efficient LED street lighting as a crime reduction strategy for cities. Further research is needed to explore the impact of enhanced streetlight interventions on other types of crime and to determine whether the crime reduction benefits are sustained when these upgrades are implemented across the entire City of Philadelphia for an extended period.

Much prior research has looked at the changes in criminal activity of narcotics addicts when they enter methadone maintenance treatment programs. Because of the special nature of methadone, a drug which produces a cross-tolerance to other opiates in the user making continued heroin use difficult, the methadone treatment population has also been examined for answers to basic questions about the relationship between drug use and crime. This paper draws on interviews and ethnographic data collection with 368 methadone maintenance clients and 142 narcotics users not currently in treatment to explore the relationship between drug use and criminal activity. Results indicate that methadone clients are not only less involved in criminal activity than users not in treatment, but also among those clients who do continue criminal activity, there is less involvement in more serious crimes such as robbery, burglary, or dealing heroin and cocaine. The differences between those in treatment and those not in treatment are not a function of a lower level or criminal activity prior to treatment, but relate to being in treatment. Methadone clients who continue to commit crime are either clients continuing to use heroin and/or cocaine or clients for whom crime is an income or an income supplement.

We examined the impact of adding a single-high-melanopic-illuminance task lamp in an otherwise low-melanopic-illuminance environment on alertness, neurobehavioral performance, learning, and mood during an 8-h simulated workday. Sixteen healthy young adults [mean(±SD) age = 24.2 ± 2.9, 8F] participated in a 3-day inpatient study with two 8-h simulated workdays and were randomized to either ambient fluorescent room light (~30 melanopic EDI lux, 50 lux), or room light supplemented with a light emitting diode task lamp (~250 melanopic EDI lux, 210 lux) in a cross-over design. Alertness, mood, and cognitive performance were assessed throughout the light exposure and compared between conditions using linear mixed models. The primary outcome measure of percentage correct responses on the addition task was significantly improved relative to baseline in the supplemented condition (3.15% ± 1.18%), compared to the ambient conditions (0.93% ± 1.1%; FDR-adj q = 0.005). Additionally, reaction time and attentional failures on the psychomotor vigilance tasks were significantly improved with exposure to supplemented compared to ambient lighting (all, FDR-adj q ≤ 0.030). Furthermore, subjective measures of sleepiness, alertness, happiness, health, mood, and motivation were also significantly better in the supplemented, compared to ambient conditions (all, FDR-adj q ≤ 0.036). There was no difference in mood disturbance, affect, declarative memory, or motor learning between the conditions (all, FDR-adj q ≥ 0.308). Our results show that supplementing ambient lighting with a high-melanopic-illuminance task lamp can improve daytime alertness and cognition. Therefore, high-melanopic-illuminance task lighting may be effective when incorporated into existing suboptimal lighting environments. NCT04745312. Effect of Lighting Supplementation on Daytime Cognition. https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT04745312.

Several randomized controlled trials (RCTs) conclude that heroin-assisted-treatment (HAT) has a larger benefit-cost ratio than oral methadone because HAT more reliably and substantially reduces participants' criminal activity. This review: (1) summarizes results from RCTs concerning the comparative effectiveness of HAT for reducing criminal activity and (2) examines the role of different mechanisms for explaining changes in crime. Systematic search of five databases for RCTs evaluating comparative effectiveness of HAT on participant crime outcomes and potential mediators of crime. Narrative synthesis with tabular comparisons of outcomes extracted across RCTs. Europe and Canada. Twenty studies, spanning 10 RCTs with 2427 participants, met inclusion criteria. HAT compared to other treatments for opioid use disorder, primarily oral methadone. The primary outcome was criminal activity. Mediator outcomes included illicit heroin use, drug expenditures, employment and earnings and social functioning. All trials found significantly reduced criminal activity among HAT participants, and four found significantly larger reductions for HAT compared to control condition [median odds ratios (ORs)=0.45]. Reductions in crime are concentrated in drug-related and property offenses (ORsrange from0.14 to 0.90 and from 0.12 to 1.89, respectively). Comparative efficacy of HAT for reducing illicit heroin use probably explains reductions in drug possession offenses, but does not show consistent correlation with drug dealing or property offenses. While three trials showed reductions in drug expenditures as possibly driving crime reductions, others did not report expenditures. There is little evidence that treatment effects on economic and social functioning outcomes explain within-trial changes in criminal activity. Existing literature suggests that heroin-assisted treatment reduces criminal activity, but trials varied in whether these effects exceeded those from oral methadone treatment. Inconsistency in outcome measures across trials complicates understanding drivers of heterogeneity. More detailed information on legal and illegal income, drug expenditures and social interactions could improve our understanding of the causal mechanisms underlying the effect of heroin-assisted-treatment on crime.

Reentry postcorrectional involvement is a high-risk time for patients with a history of addiction. We investigated whether participation in an addiction medicine clinic with active case management led to improvements in patients' recovery capital and whether there were associated changes in criminal activity and co-occurring methamphetamine or alcohol use. Participants (n = 136) were patients with an opioid or stimulant use disorder who had Department of Corrections involvement in the preceding year, who completed the Assessment of Recovery Capital (ARC) and reported criminal activity and days of methamphetamine or alcohol use twice over a 6-month study. Three logistic regression models were used to assess changes in total ARC with criminal activity, alcohol use, and methamphetamine use over the previous 30 days. Baseline mean (SD) ARC scores were 34.1 (11.1) and increased to a mean (SD) score of 40.3 (9.4) at study end. A 1-SD shift in ARC was significantly protective across outcomes, with adjusted odds ratios of 0.32, 0.18, and 0.34 for any past 30-day criminal activity, alcohol use, or methamphetamine use. There was no significant difference in baseline ARC, crimes committed, days of alcohol use, or days of methamphetamine use for study completers versus noncompleters; however, unmeasured confounders may have had a differential impact on retention. Recovery capital provides an additional framework to help address patients' substance use and criminal activity in a multifaceted way, which is especially important in the postincarceration community. Recovery capital is dynamic and has multiple areas to target psychosocial interventions.

Ambient lighting, use of outdoor spaces and perceptions of public safety: evidence from a survey experiment.

Ambient Lighting, Use of Outdoor Spaces and Perceptions of Public Safety: Evidence from a Survey Experiment

Abstract: This project presents a street light detection system using Arduino, LED, LDR (Light Dependent Resistor), IR (Infrared) sensors, resistors, and a breadboard. The aim of the project is to automate street lighting based on the ambient light conditions, thereby optimizing energy consumption and enhancing safety. The system utilizes LDRs to measure the ambient light intensity and IR sensors to detect the presence of vehicles or pedestrians. The Arduino microcontroller processes the sensor inputs and controls the operation of the streetlights accordingly. The system incorporates a breadboard for easy prototyping and connectivity. Upon detecting low ambient light levels and the absence of vehicles or pedestrians, the Arduino triggers the LED street lights to turn on. Conversely, when the ambient light levels are high or a vehicle or pedestrian is detected, the Arduino instructs the LEDs to turn off, conserving energy and reducing light pollution. To ensure accurate light detection, appropriate resistors are used to calibrate the LDRs and IR sensors. This allows for precise measurement and detection thresholds, enhancing the reliability of the system.

The trends in development of doctrine of forensic characterization of crimes, debatable issues regarding its concept, quantitative and qualitative composition are considered. It was established that forensic characterization of crimes is a theoretical category of criminalistics, system of data on the most general specifics of type of crimes, typical circumstances, methods and mechanisms of their commission, and other circumstances that are important for the investigation. The main purpose of forensic characterization of crimes is to implement its data in investigation methods. Globalization processes, scientific and technological progress con-tribute to quantitative and qualitative changes in criminal activity. Legal statistics of the General Prosecutor’s Office of Ukraine, results of our research indicate that crimes in the field of property relations, financial and economic and service activities in the process of production, distribution, exchange and consumption of material goods and services at enterprises, institutions, organizations of priority areas of economy, implementation of official powers in the field of managerial, financial, tax, and customs control is most often committed by organized groups with corruption ties. In this regard, the purpose of the research is to determine forensic specifics of economic crimes committed in the priority areas of economy, to develop a conceptual apparatus of such crimes, to characterize economic crimes committed by organized groups with corruption ties, to distinguish their components. In order to achieve the goal, scientific methods of cognition are applied: observation, analysis, analogy, deduction, synthesis, descriptive-analytical, modeling, etc. A new approach to defining the concept of economic crimes is proposed. Economic crimes committed by organized groups with corruption ties are characterized, and their components are singled out for use in the investigation methods of this type of crime.

This study examined whether street homelessness, sheltered homelessness, and the severity of psychological symptoms predicted non-violent and violent crime among 207 mentally ill participants who were homeless at baseline. Participants were interviewed at 9 time points over 4 years. Hierarchical linear modeling (HLM) was used to examine whether changes in homelessness status and symptom severity predicted changes in criminal activity over time. Results indicated that homelessness both on the streets and in shelters and psychological symptom severity predicted increases in non-violent crime. Sheltered homelessness and symptom severity predicted increases in violent crime, although street homelessness did not. A separate mediational analysis with 181 participants showed that the relationship between diagnosis of a psychotic disorder and both non-violent and violent criminal activity was partially mediated through the severity of psychotic symptoms. Implications for research and intervention are discussed.

This paper extends and develops Newman's (1972) theory of defensible space, by investigating changes in criminal activity as a result of a re-development programme initiated by a district council and local police authority. As part of a re-development programme, the housing estate underwent changes in environmental and residential design as part of a crime prevention campaign to reduce criminal activity. The offence types: burglary, criminal damage, theft of a motor vehicle and theft from a motor vehicle were assessed both before and after the implementation of the redevelopment programme. Problems in analysing qualitative data were overcome by using a non-metric multidimensional scaling analysis, Partial Order Scalogram Analysis (POSA). The crime site profiles of all four offences were shown to be qualitatively and quantitatively different in the ‘new’ estate. It was found that, where access by both roads and footpaths had been restricted, the crime site profile changed favouring features such as a corner and terraced and identifying a new, vulnerable property. Reported offences relating to motor vehicles reduced significantly. However, incidences of both burglary and criminal damage increased. It was argued that this shift in offence type was an example of ‘displacement theory’, whereby, due to the restrictions imposed in the new estate, the criminal activity had been displaced towards an alternative offence.

Gender differences in criminal activity among Jewish and Arab junior and senior high schoolers in Israel