The field of criminology tries, day by day, to be updated in all factors and prevention measures that manage to avoid or diminish the criminality that scourges the streets and endangers public safety. That is why in some countries, several organizations that watch over security and prevention have chosen to change their public lighting for a blue one . The reason for this change is that it seems that there are already several empirical results that indicate that streets lit with this type of light report a notable decrease in crime.

Here’s this rare but important discovery.

Blue light seems to prevent suicide and crime

Already in the year 2000, the Scottish city of Glasgow tried to change the colour of the light emitted by the street lamps . The experiment allowed some of the busiest avenues in that city to acquire different visual nuances, thanks to the change from the traditional white, orange or yellow lights to lights with blue tones. On this occasion, however, only an aesthetic purpose was being pursued.

A chance discovery, in Glasgow

However, over the course of a few weeks, the authorities realized that in those regions where the blue light was placed there was a considerable decrease in crime and suicide. This discovery quickly became a legislative proposal aimed at reducing street crime and was adopted and applied in other countries, despite the fact that at that time there was no scientific evidence or conclusive studies linking this phenomenon to the blue light.

For example, in 2005, the city of Tokyo, Japan decided to implement this strategy in some of its streets, placing headlights with blue light and surprisingly, the Japanese authorities reported a decrease of 9% of crime in these areas . Subsequently, a Japanese railway company called Central Nipoon Expressway began installing LED panels in 2013 to project light of this color, in order to deter those who try to commit suicide by throwing themselves on the tracks. Those responsible for this change claim that, after several years, this measure has reduced suicide attempts by 20%. Coincidence?

Studies and hypotheses

Although the decrease in crime seems to be directly related to the public blue light, there are still no scientific results that conclusively support this theory .

As Keio University professor Tsuneo Suzuki points out, “There is still a lot of data to be analyzed to know what relationship exists between blue lighting and its “calming effect” on people. What is clear is that blue lights are rare. So people can feel strange and avoid standing out, crimes and suicides go down with this type of lighting.There is a lot of research related to the psychology of color , and one of it investigated short wavelength blue light. It has been shown to be a potentially effective treatment for seasonal affective disorders (a type of depression linked to time change). If new research is done to support the benefits of blue light, we could be looking at a fantastic finding. An inexpensive change that can help reduce area crime rates as well as suicide cases”

Other psychological effects of the color blue

The blue light is also credited with a number of other features and benefits:

1. May cause insomnia

A study by Steven Lockey, a neuroscientist at Harvard Medical School showed that exposure to blue light causes decreased sleep and even insomnia because this light suppresses the synthesis of melatonin , which is the sleep hormone

2. Increases heart rate and memory

Gikes Vandewalle, researcher at the University of Montreal, found that blue light increases heart rate and improves memory , since using encephalograms he observed that a person exposed to this light performed memorization tasks more efficiently since the responses of the frontal and parietal cortex improved.

3. Improves learning

According to a German chronobiologist, Dieter Kunz, increasing the amount of blue in artificial light could increase performance and learning ability both in schools and in offices and other indoor workplaces. It could even improve the health of patients in hospitals.

Psychology of the Color Blue

It is worth remembering that among the positive qualities in the psychology of the color blue we find that is a friendly, sympathetic color that usually inspires us with confidence . It is a colour that practically everyone likes and is the colour that we most associate with friendship, harmony and trust. It also represents the colour of the divine and the eternal since we associate it with the colour of the sky. The continuous experience is also associated with this colour, it is the colour of everything we want to remain and of everything we want to be eternal. It is one of the colors most associated with peace (after white) since, for example, the UN flag is of this color, as well as that of the helmets of its peace troops.

It is highly likely that in the future, in-depth investigations will be carried out to verify, with certainty, the link between the presence of blue lighting and the decrease in crime. This would provide a scientific basis and would make a major difference to all our streets.