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How Outdoor Lighting Can Deter Crime

No one wants to have someone break into their home and homeowners do many things to prevent this from happening. According to the FBI in 2016 there were over 1.5 million burglaries and 7.9 million property crimes, and while that is down from a decade before that is still a staggering number. One of the easiest things to do to prevent this is to install outdoor lighting and around the country lighting has been deterring crime by simply being turned on.

Lighting can help in many ways.

Criminals do not want to get caught. That should hopefully be obvious. When a criminal moves into the light they increase their chance of being caught, whether it is from the homeowner, a vigilant neighbor or a security system. It is the same reason that good lighting helps to deter crime anywhere from city streets to a parking lot.

Working in tandem with security cameras outdoor lighting can help to illuminate dark spaces. By forcing a criminal to move into the light, whether they are there to rob a home or to vandalize a property, it makes catching them potentially easier. That is if they even risk it.

Tried and true motion detection.

Any security system requires proper lighting to get the best possible image. This makes the job of catching the person much easier or at the very least filing an insurance claim. At the same time the lighting itself does not need to be bothersome for your neighbors. Sensors can turn the lights on when movement is detected and it can go off or dim after a certain amount of time.

One other important thing to keep in mind when installing outdoor lighting is to make sure that it covers the entire home to eliminate any dark spots. It may take some panning to mark the locations and there are professional services that can help with this.

Other helpful items to consider.

Of course just simply illuminating your home and property will not completely deter a burglar. There are other precautions that a sensible home owner should not ignore like not showing off your possessions and most importantly locking doors, windows and the garage. Installing outdoor lighting though can go a long way towards deterring crime on your property so that you can sleep easier at night.

 

FBI Crime stats thru 2016https://ucr.fbi.gov/crime-in-the-u.s/2016/crime-in-the-u.s.-2016/tables/table-1

Resources:
https://www.smartwatt.com/does-outdoor-lighting-deter-crime/
https://www.protectyourhome.com/blog/articles/2014/august/3-things-you-can-do-to-deter-burglars
https://www.outdoorlights.com/blog/archives/2013/10/03/how-outdoor-and-landscape-lighting-can-deter-burglaries/
http://www.mistersparkyhelp.com/blog/deter-crime-outdoor-security-lighting/

 

“I have not failed. I’ve just found 10,000 ways that won’t work.” – Thomas Edison

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