The leader of Lincoln City Council Ric Metcalfe has said that a ‘fear in crime’ is the root of the public’s backlash against the new controversial street light timings.
Since last year, the street lights have been turned off at midnight in a bid to save the council 1.7 million pounds each year.
The lights were initially supposed to be switched off at ten o’clock each night, but this was changed to twelve o’clock after both public and city council scrutiny.
Lincolnshire Police’s Chief Constable Shaun West has said that there is no evidence that the street light switch off is to blame for the four percent increase in crime.
He also said that the rise in criminal damage does not apply to all areas of the county. North Kesteven is subject to a substantial increase, and there are prominent also rises also in both Boston and Stamford.
They also stressed that the national average of crime saw an 11% rise while Lincolnshire has only seen an overall rise of four percent.
For this reason, the force said the increase was ‘not surprising’, highlighting that it could find no link between the new street light timings and the increased levels of crime.