How Smart Street Lights Can Deter Crime and Improve Safety in Cities
Author: Scott Steinberg,Date published: September 15, 2025,A cornerstone of the smart city movement, smart street lights, also known as , allow municipalities to remotely operate, preprogram, dim, turn on or shut off a single or a group of lights from a centralized management system (CMS). The conversion of high pressure sodium (HPS) lights to LEDs and the use of smart street light systems hold the potential to reduce the estimated national street light . However, smart cities can gain more than just energy efficiency from smart street lights. They also could help deter crime, improve services, and enhance public safety. When paired with wireless motion detection sensors that activate lights when movement is detected and with near-real time notifications to provide alerts when lights go out or other concerns arise, they can also help promote greater civic safety as well. What's more, today's most advanced systems can or control nodes that can continuously capture and transmit information on demand. Capable of being retrofitted to existing lampposts, intelligent lighting systems leverage high-speed wireless connectivity, cloud computing and analytics to offer more sustainable ways to manage energy use, reduce operational costs and promote public safety. Equipped with a , smart street lights go beyond providing city leaders with a network of Internet of Things (IoT)-powered safety and potential watch posts on virtually every corner. Their can also help illuminate what's happening on the streets in ways that can help government planners design smarter, more efficient cities—and explore the correlation between smart street lights and crime prevention. According to market researcher Northeast Group, over 90% of by 2029. The reasons for this extend beyond the energy and cost savings already discussed. It's also because smart streetlights hold the potential, particularly when paired with 5G and multi-access edge computing, to help reinvent the way municipal leaders manage cities. This technology can leverage preexisting city infrastructure elements and can be equipped with added hardware technologies (e.g. internet-connected cameras, loudspeakers and wireless data transmitters) and software upgrades (i.e. artificial intelligence and machine learning programs) over time. Smart street lights are becoming more capable of enhancing operational efficiency, boosting safety and improving constituent satisfaction. Research by the University of Chicago and Crime Lab New York found areas with increased lighting than those without. Based on their findings around street lights and crime, housing developments equipped with intelligent lighting systems enjoyed increasing levels of lighting that led to a 36% drop in personal- and property-related incidents. Other research also indicates . Smart city technology, which includes smart street lights, has additional potential public safety use cases as well. Below are a few examples:,Beyond enjoying roughly and reduced operational expenses, cities also gain the ability to lay the foundation for other smart city capabilities and applications. Put simply, thanks to smart street lights' IoT and connected capabilities, which allow them to collect near real-time data and speak with other devices, they can serve as a connective tissue that helps tie tomorrow's smart city together. Smart street lights have many other benefits beyond public safety:,Given smart street lights' growing footprint and capabilities, public safety agencies are already working to stay one step ahead of potential privacy-related concerns. Nationwide, numerous cities are of data-gathering, facial recognition and surveillance systems. By instituting new policy standards and guidelines that help protect citizens' privacy, and promoting greater public/private sector collaboration, they aim to curb potential hiccups. Going forward, the work of municipal task forces and committees to research and discuss emerging areas of concern will only continue as well. Noting smart street lighting's many upsides and the fundamental role it can play as a basic building block in smart city design, it's important to work with a trusted, experienced partner on upcoming rollouts. can help save energy and gain unprecedented control over your lighting infrastructure. It can also help you access an ever-growing array of smart city applications and innovations that can help you lay the groundwork for a brighter future. Learn more about how Verizon can help you with smart street lighting technology. 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