Protect Business with Lighting

Adequate lighting and proper fixture placement are vital for business visibility, security and success. Whether facing smash-and-grab theft or petty crime, exterior and interior business lighting can deter crime and add value.

The senior Language of Lighting editor for this Los Angeles-based blog, which is sponsored by Alcon Lighting, a commercial lighting company with a storefront showroom on Robertson Boulevard, recently interviewed the principal officer who instructed business owners in retail theft prevention for the Beverly Hills Police Department.

First, let’s review the current lighting technology, including emergent industry standards and practices.

Table of contents:

• Modern lighting technology as a deterrent to crime
• A new crime prevention design standard
• Protect your business with lighting: the police perspective
• Business lighting misconceptions and the importance of pedestrian light
• Wayfinding and facade lighting
• Exterior perimeter lighting
• Lighting guidelines for enhanced safety and security
• Advanced lighting considerations to assist security
• Improving business safety and security summary

Modern lighting technology as a deterrent to crime

Reporting by Hubbell Lighting’s Marissa Kiesler, writing in a business-themed trade journal, found that  “[a] significant study from New York City demonstrates how new LED lighting technology can have a positive impact on deterring crime.”

Kiesler notes that:

“The study concluded that “increased levels of lighting led to a [seven] percent overall reduction in “index crimes”—a subset of serious felony crimes that includes murder, robbery and aggravated assault, as well as certain property crimes—and, more specifically, a 39 percent reduction in index crimes that took place at night.” The study focused on building developments that recently upgraded from legacy lighting sources to LEDs. After the installation, crime rates in these areas dropped significantly.

It wasn’t just the new lighting products, however, that made these areas safer. The key here is not that new lights were installed; more importantly, the overall quality of the light was improved. Proper lighting design can change the way humans feel about their surroundings from a safety point of view.”

A new crime prevention design standard

Kiesler’s article points to the lighting industry’s adoption of new design guidelines applicable to the prevention of crime.

Following guidelines from the Illuminating Engineering Society (IES), best practice involves providing appropriate illumination levels for individual space type requirements. There is a difference between a good lighting design for a certain space and the best practice for a space with security being the main priority. The IES publishes a guide for security lighting for people, property and critical infrastructure (IES G-1-16) that highlights recommended light levels for security purposes…Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design, (CPTED) is gaining momentum and changing the paradigm for lighting an exterior environment. CPTED is a multi-disciplinary approach to deter criminal behavior through the use of design principles from planning, architecture, landscape architecture, law enforcement, security personnel, engineers, code enforcement and security maintenance. Yes, lighting design remains important; however, new is the need for collaboration between the aforementioned functions. That’s the essence of CPTED design.

With an emphasis on Light Emitting Diode (LED) lighting technology, which the author notes can have a significantly wider range of Kelvin temperatures compared to older lamp technology, there can be an “enhanced … visual acuity along with the ability to have more uniformity, thus creating an evenly illuminated space for a cleaner, brighter nighttime experience.”

Improved color rendering through LED lighting can give the individual clarity, allowing someone to see certain details due to the quality of light. Such visibility in lighting aids the human in observing the environment and responding faster—As well as more decisively with better data—to a potential threat. Additionally, Kiesler writes: “Improving the retail lighting and overall quality of the space will ultimately contribute to a more inviting environment for customers while keeping them safe during their visit. Not only does this improve the customer experience, it also improves the employee experience as well…LEDs are directional and can be controlled optically…flexible enough to accommodate different patterns of traffic flow on a typical lot and implement precise lighting where it is needed most.”

Kiesler concludes that, while “[s]afety does not mean that an area is always at risk” LED lighting can “also include a level of comfort for employees as they arrive and leave work. Having higher light levels and uniform distributions help individuals with better visual acuity, which leads to feeling more comfortable in a nighttime environment.”

Protect your business with lighting: a police perspective

An interview with Beverly Hills Police Sergeant Jeff Newman

Feeling safe with LED lighting is a key component of what one policeman recommends to protect business with lighting. 

Today’s business challenges include contending with a surge of reported crimes involving random, shadowy, roving criminal gangs breaking into stores—news breaks with these dark tales with alarming regularity—all within the context of today’s technological (i.e., camera and drone) surveillance state.

To address, break down and understand various issues of crime and punishment as well as protecting business with lighting, Language of Lighting recently sat down and sought the guidance, instruction and insight with a top peace officer for one of America’s most respected police departments.

This is an edited transcript of the police headquarters interview with Community Relations Sergeant Jeff Newman at the Police Department of Beverly Hills, California.

Business lighting misconceptions and the importance of pedestrian lights

Alcon Lighting: What is the biggest misconception about lighting for protecting your business?

Jeff Newman: People tend to want to turn on lights inside of a business—especially at night. But that’s gonna point out that, one, no one’s there; two, they may be highlighting merchandise, and, third, they may waste money, power and electricity. 

Time and again, we’ve seen statistics and studies that show that the more light, the better. If I needed to [relieve myself] and were to do so in public, though that might be a crime, I would have two choices: [go to] an area that’s extremely well-lit or this super dark area. I’m going to the dark area, right? Because most people don’t want to commit a crime in the light. Take the same concept—even something as simple as an officer driving by at night—and, if all lights are off, it’s harder for the officer to see someone. If there’s light, you see someone rummaging through a store in a ski mask as an officer’s driving by. That’s gonna get your attention. You’re gonna see it. 

It’s why people turn headlights off when driving down an alley trying to look for some sort of criminal opportunity. So, [police], we tell [the business]: the more light, the better you’re gonna protect your business. Mainly because, we can see [better] (maybe via a local camera—in Beverly Hills, we have over 2,500 closed circuit TV cameras—and a lot of them are in the business district) and you can actually see [crime] with better clarity, thanks to LED lights, which give the best bang for your buck to identify license plates, clothing descriptions, what people look like and for the cost of keeping lights on at night lower as well.

Before LED, there was a distinct difference in what you could see. The old lights were warmer, and had a calming effect. But they didn’t let the [police] officer see with clarity. When you’d see someone lurking on a sidewalk, you want to know: is it a person who’s walking their dog or someone who’s creeping around? We have closed-circuit televisions and the lighting makes it easier to see [what’s in view] and this may provide an investigative follow-up, such as the license plate. Certainly, as a patrol officer, I see the difference lighting makes.

Alcon Lighting: Do you find that there are crime and punishment differences in uplighting and downlighting?

Jeff Newman: Each case is different. Some criminals are opportunistic and some are professional thieves. Professionals are a lot less likely to care about the type of lighting. They have a targeted goal in mind. An opportunistic criminal doesn’t want to get caught and will do everything to avoid light. We do see that pedestrian-focused lighting is ideal. So, if you have something that is shining up on a wall—or a wall pack that shines down—but it’s really only illuminating a very small place instead of a larger area—that is less effective than something that’s pedestrian-focused. If you have some sort of shielding that is forcing that light down—a parking lot is a good example—and you see a giant light bulb that’s basically illuminating the sky and [casting] some [light] below that’s not focused, you’re wasting some of that light. For ideal light, it’s shooting some of that lighting downward, so it’s pedestrian-focused because the vast majority of criminals are not flying through the air. [Criminals are] gonna be pedestrians, or on a bicycle or getting dropped off in a car, making themselves pedestrians to commit some type of crime.

Alcon Lighting: How long have you been a policeman?

Jeff Newman: I’ve been a police officer for about 12 years now—a sergeant for the last two and a half years—more recently in communications. For the vast majority, I’ve worked as a patrolman and as a supervisor. Through that, some of this is anecdotal. When I had training through Environmental Design—or Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design (CPTED) for short—it really gave me an understanding backed up by studies and statistics. 

There was an example of a massive problem in a parking lot, which was adjacent to a building with no windows—it was just a blank wall with a door—and they had a lot of problems with car break-ins. The first thing they did was install lights to reduce crime and then they drew a mural of people at a bus stop. While the mural was clearly not real what it did was bring positive attention to the area so more ‘good’ eyes were there and watching—you don’t want to commit a crime in front of people because they’re going to call the police—and also it caused this illusion that they were being watched. Even the shapes of humans make people wonder whether that’s a real human. 

Another study out of Cleveland, Ohio, found that during the 2008 housing and financial crisis, so many houses were foreclosing and people were breaking into these vacant houses, so, instead of just boarding up windows, they hired a local artist to come in and draw people—they didn’t even look like real people, they were more cartoonish—and those houses were substantially less likely to be burglarized. Again, it comes down to the sense that you’re being watched. Lighting is a huge factor in that—because, if you feel you’re being watched, less people are going to commit those crimes. And, of course, we see it every day, that people are still going to commit crimes when they’re very directed and focused but the majority of crimes are done by opportunistic criminals. Ocean’s 11 is an entertaining movie but most criminals aren’t [hiring] the hacker and developing these substantial plans to do crime. The average person may be experiencing homelessness or be a drug user or be someone who’s looking to take quick advantage of someone and a business and then get out of there. The more difficult you make that, the less likely they’re going to commit those acts.

Alcon Lighting: Are most of those crimes drug-related?

Jeff Newman: I think there is some nexus to that and rationally that makes sense. I can’t speak to every criminal’s actions but many of them are impaired by something—whether it’s alcohol or drugs—or mental illness. With the drug problem, we definitely see that the crime rates are directly related to people on drugs because they usually don’t hold steady employment so it’s very difficult for them to hold steady income to support their drug habit so they have a couple of options: stop using drugs, which usually doesn’t happen, or break into a car and, in California for instance, and this will blow people’s minds, if you have an unlocked car door—as criminals just walk down the street and check car doors, the criminal can get in and take $950 of property and it’s a misdemeanor. If the criminal smashes the window and takes one penny out of the ashtray, that’s a felony. So they know where the risk is lower—there’s a rationality to it. 

Also, in San Francisco, where they have a huge problem of people breaking into cars, that’s more of an organized crime operation. They have people taking those goods and purposely selling them to what they call a fence who they’re working with and purposely giving electronics. You can have different scales.

Alcon Lighting: Why is that taking root in the Bay Area as against Southern California?

Jeff Newman: I don’t know the specifics—whether it’s a lack of law enforcement or other cause but you see that being an organized crime problem. It depends on where people are; you can see people walking down an alley toward a carport and that’s less organized crime than a random crime of opportunity however during the holidays when more tourists are out and you can see the barcode in the back of a rental car for when they scan it when it comes in and out of state license plates—those cars are more likely to be burglarized by criminal opportunists or organized criminals because it’s highly likely that they are shopping on Rodeo Drive and put the bags in the car while they go get some food and that’s when the criminal strikes and we’ve seen that. 

We advise: lock it, hide it or take it with you. Lock the car. I can blow your mind by the number of people that do not lock their car doors. People think they live in a safe city or think it will not happen to them. Some people don’t drive cars that automatically lock—even if you hide it, that may not be enough to prevent a crime. In a certain area where we did a recent Neighborhood Watch meeting, we found that 50 percent of stolen vehicles were caused by leaving the keys inside the car.

The odds of crime happening are still pretty low. We don’t want to scare people and make it sound like crime is just happening left and right all the time but the whole idea of crime is to blend in. My daughter, who’s six, loves rollercoasters. I don’t want to go on that stuff. I’ve read news stories of people dying on a rollercoaster or flying out—but, to her, that doesn’t even register because she’s never seen anything go wrong with a rollercoaster in her life. It’s a life experience issue. You don’t really think about it if it never happened. I imagine that, if you knew someone whose kid drowned in a swimming pool and you have kids, you’re gonna think about pool safety more than the average person because you have that exposure. With crime, people are not always thinking about the latest crime trends and how to protect their stuff because it happens less often.

Alcon Lighting: Do you find that so-called public service advertising works to help people be vigilant?

Wayfinding and facade lighting

Alcon Lighting: What wayfinding lights help prevent crime?

Jeff Newman: People hide from police. Most patrol officers carry two flashlights—the first one will die randomly in the middle of your shift even though you have it fully charged—so we have these backup flashlights. Ironically, after this vehicle pursuit in LA, it was so dark, there were no streetlights—just these tiny solar lights—so without my backup flashlight, because my primary light stopped working, I would never have seen feet sticking out of a bush. I shined a light over, saw [the feet] and moved the flashlight again because I didn’t want them to think that I found them. I walked away, went around the corner, though I absolutely knew where they were. I called it in on the radio. We got a team there and took [the perpetrator] into custody. Lighting directly affected me in that instance in a negative and, then, positive way. He was hiding in shrubs—where the lights weren’t strong enough—and it would have been different if there had been more intense pathway lights. We have a smaller city and a lot more cops than most [police departments are able to] staff given the city’s size, so when you [have enough police officers to] look, you tend to find.

Alcon Lighting: What three things do you recommend for business lighting at night?

Jeff Newman: In general, the two main places for a business to light up at night is the front facade of the building—anything that’s showing the front—because if someone’s standing in front of your building, you can see that very clearly—and anything that’s visible to a police officer if they drive by. 

If your business has one window and a door, then the place where the window is should have a light on to show anything to see inside. If you have a multiple-roomed office or the main floor of the business is lit, and the storage area’s in the back, and you have the lights off, that makes sense because I’m not gonna be able to see in there anyway while driving by the street on proactive police patrol.

Motion sensor lights are second best because constant lighting yields constant light—and, with motion lights, it depends on how long they stay on—do they turn on for one minute and then, even if there’s more motion, they turn off?  Some [motion sensory lights] notoriously go off for weird reasons, too, like, if a squirrel goes by and, all of a sudden, the lights are shining everywhere—then the police officer notices that. Constant light is better for policing. I have a motion sensor light at my house. Having those two spots covered in constant lighting is ideal. Motion sensor lights placed anywhere [there’s potential criminal motion] are appropriate as well. I know people have motion lights. They have the potential to scare someone off.

If we’re searching a building—or wherever we’ve gone in— some newer cops start searching with flashlights. But, hold on, why not just turn on the lights? Having that ability to turn on all the lights from a central source can be awesome for police because we’re able to search the whole place with full lighting.

One of the scariest things that’s ever happened to me as a police officer is searching a house where I did not do that. For whatever reason, this [property owner] had a life-sized clown with a hatchet in his hand—like an evil clown—near where the exit to the garage was located.  [I about] shot it 17 times. Granted, in retrospect, you could tell it’s a fake clown. For me, it was an immediate heart rate spike. It would’ve been nice if I’d remembered to turn on the lights because I’d have identified the evil clown, avoided it and moved on. [Laughing] I even gave it commands: “let me see your hands.”

Alcon Lighting: In downtown Beverly Hills, [do] businesses light the entrance to make that space visible to the public?

Jeff Newman: Yes. The homeless often go into those little alcoves and set up camp for the night and leave trash and junk. Again, if there’s a bright light right there, they’re substantially less likely to sleep there. Like anyone else, they don’t want to sleep in bright light. Basically, if someone’s there to commit a crime—as small an act as seeking a place to sleep—that can pose a potential crime threat, discourage visitors and detract from tourism. There is a correlation between unhoused people with mental illness. They can be unpredictable. Beverly Hills Police have a mental health evaluation team with a [Los Angeles] county clinician that goes out there and addresses this. We’ve been successful in getting people long-term care. But it’s not fair to expect businesses to have to clean up human fecal matter off of their alcove before someone can come into their business. We’ve seen that. We do see that retail lighting can stop someone from camping there.

Alcon Lighting: What are your thoughts on policing Smash-and-Grab crime?

Jeff Newman: There are ways we deal with Smash-and-Grab. Without disclosing our methods, we want to know: what is the target for the [criminal] crew? Lighting is important, though when it’s a [sudden] mass attack there’s not a lot of evidence in studies that deterrence can play a major role. Keep lights on inside. We’ve had officers driving around and seeing criminals in black masks right in front of the police even when it’s well-lit. Smash-and-Grab is less about light than [it is about] specific protection of products. It’s a physical security problem. 

Crime goes in trends and waves. I don’t see Smash-and-Grab being the future of crime. It’s a tough nut to crack. We do recognize the severity. But I don’t think it’s a game-changer. Whether the trend is criminals flying into the area for zero bail reasons or Smash-and-Grab, crime usually does not pay off. Eventually, we catch them.

Alcon Lighting: What else can a business owner do to protect business with lighting?

Jeff Newman: First, get a security assessment—it’s free. [BHPD will] provide lighting and physical recommendations [for businesses in Beverly Hills]. Seek help and guidance. Also, dogs offer good protection. Having a TV on can help—there’s a $20 device which can project an image on the wall that looks like a TV—and remember it has to be scalable. 

From a lighting standpoint, get more constant lighting and LED. There’s not a lot of studies on deterrence but lighting is one topic that has some study-based evidence. For example, businesses with parking lots tend to have more crime and there’s crime reduction in parking lots that are well lit. Lighting reduced crime around a housing complex, according to one study, so, for the best bang for your buck, we recommend constant or LED—and also motion sensor—lighting. We recommend having as much constant light, such as along pathways and in any high-traffic areas, as possible. 

You don’t want someone going off to the side. Some people get the idea that there’s an Ocean’s 11 type crew targeting specific locations but the average burglar is looking for a crime of opportunity and may seek to hop a wall. This type of criminal will take a clearly approachable way, such as through an alley, and we do recommend that people use constant lighting for this reason—even on the inside—whether at a business or at home—so it’s a good idea to keep lights on. You can use timers for lights—with Smart Control lighting such as Phillips Hue lights, you can randomly turn lights on in the home, which randomizes lighting.

Because business is constantly in turnover, we offer security assessments [using guidelines from] Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design. A big portion of that is lighting. It matters how comfortable you are with lights. You can turn your property into Fort Knox but your neighbors might not like that. With LED lights, the cost is lower and the time a light lasts is longer. It’s easier to have more lighting than ever.

Exterior perimeter lighting

Linear exterior wall wash perimeter lighting refers to the use of long, narrow waterproof LED strip lighting with varying beam angles and lumen outputs that are designed to wash light across the exterior walls of a commercial or residential property. This creates a uniform, even illumination along the perimeter, which can be particularly effective for highlighting architectural details, enhancing safety and security or creating a dramatic effect.

Lighting guidelines for enhanced safety and security

Appropriate interior and exterior lighting are both important for crime prevention. Not only does good lighting design attract more business, an elevated atmosphere deters vagrancy. Exterior lighting, including outdoor landscape and facade lighting, have the greatest impact to enhance the safety and security of a business. Producing the appropriate light levels and contrast ratios of lighting ensures that outdoor lighting is not too dim or too bright. Too much light creates glare and contrast, too little light decreases visibility.^[1] 

Having appropriate light levels around a storefront and its perimeter areas are critical for the safety of these spaces during and after business hours. Appropriate business lighting also helps customers and pedestrians visually adjust to darker and brighter spaces with less eye strain, to enhance safety and comfort.

Footcandles is the unit that measures the amount of light that falls on a surface, while contrast ratios measure the difference between the darkest and brightest illumination upon the surface. Follow this guide to reference the best light levels for exterior commercial spaces (light levels on given surfaces are intended for typical urban areas):

Following these light levels creates better urban spaces, developing the safety and security of building perimeters, corridors, pedestrian pathways, storefront spaces, and overall circulation. Having appropriate light levels for your business spaces also improves wayfinding, while deterring loitering and break-ins.

Advanced lighting considerations to assist security

Good lighting practices improve the security of a business. Aditionally, lighting helps security cameras capture footage at a higher quality. Light sources with excellent color rendering (CRI 90+) make a difference in viewing spaces clearly. “LEDs allow us to see details better because of the quality of the light itself. Improved visibility and lighting helps an individual better observe his or her surroundings and respond quicker to a potential threat. You can say goodbye to the typical grainy, washed-out images of security cameras. With improved optics for LEDs and better quality of light, it is easier for the eye to make out the details in this footage.”^[2]

Poorly positioned and aimed lights can create shadows that hide unwanted activity, while glare or high contrast also make these spaces less safe. A large part of this consideration is improved through smart lighting. Use of timed lighting, occupancy sensors and motion detectors are effective methods for mitigating unwanted activity.^[1] Smart lighting is easy to install and integrate into most lighting systems.

Good quality lighting is advised from a design perspective, but glare-heavy lighting can also be strategically used to deter intruders. High-output flood lighting with less glare cutoff can be used with motion detectors to intentionally create poor visibility and discomfort for anyone entering into protected areas. This effect is similar to that of an alarm, and can scare away intruders.

Making sure the outdoor areas of your business have proper lighting is essential for protecting its safety and security

Improving business safety and security summary

General principles:

• Risk assessment: Conduct a thorough assessment to identify potential security vulnerabilities and prioritize areas that require enhanced lighting
• Layered security: Implement a multi-layered approach to security, combining lighting with other measures like surveillance systems, access controls and physical barriers
• Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design (CPTED): Incorporate design elements that discourage criminal activity, such as well-lit walkways, clear sight lines and defensible space

Lighting design considerations:

• Illumination levels: Ensure adequate illumination levels in critical areas like entrances, parking lots and perimeter boundaries. The IES recommends specific footcandle levels for various security applications
• Uniformity: Provide uniform lighting to minimize shadows and dark spots that can conceal potential threats
• Glare control: Avoid excessive glare from fixtures that can hinder visibility or create discomfort
• Lamp selection: Choose lamps that offer long life, high efficiency and good color rendition. LED lamps are often preferred for their energy efficiency and durability
• Fixture placement: Position fixtures strategically to illuminate key areas and deter intruders. Consider factors like the height of fixtures, light distribution patterns and the need for security cameras
• Control systems: Implement lighting control systems that allow for remote monitoring and management, enabling business owners and staff to adjust lighting levels based on changing conditions or security threats

IES guides:

• IES G-1-22: Security lighting for critical infrastructure focuses on lighting design for infrastructure, such as government buildings, power plants and transportation hubs
• IES RP-2-20: Guidelines for achieving high-quality, energy-efficient lighting in retail spaces establish recommended illuminance levels, uniformity criteria and lighting quality metrics for various merchandise displays
• IES RP-43-22: Pedestrian-oriented illumination recommendations for outdoor environments, considering factors beyond illuminance to ensure safety, comfort and enjoyment

Sources:

[1] International Dark Sky Association. Outdoor lighting, Crime and Safety.

[2] QSR. Preventing Crime Through Good Lighting Design.

Featured image photo credit: Photo courtesy of L’Observatoire International