Project – Do Street-Light Outages Correlate with Higher Night-Time Crime in Chicago?

Author(s): ZHENGJIE (GORDON) XU

Introduction Street lighting is often considered a crucial factor in urban public safety after dark. This project investigates whether Chicago community areas that experience more street and alley light outages (as indicated by 311 service requests) also tend to have higher levels of night-time crime. The motivation is rooted in the idea that poor lighting conditions might reduce visibility and natural surveillance, potentially contributing to higher crime rates. By examining data from 2020 through 2024, we aim to uncover any spatial correlation between reported street-light outages and crime incidents during night-time hours (defined here as 8:00 PM to 5:59 AM).

Keywords: analysis, Chicago, Choropleth Map

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Gordon Xu

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign




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