Neighborhood Questions Darkened Lights In High Crime Area

COLORADO SPRINGS – Some in Colorado Springs are becoming worried about neighborhood safety due to darkened street lights but, according to the city, they have a plan and they’re sticking to it.

A NEWSCHANNEL 13 viewer contacted us about three of four street lights darkened along Sonoma Drive, on the southeast part of town. Their neighborhood already sees it’s fair share of break-ins, car thefts and drive-by shootings according to neighbors. They believe eliminating street lights in their neighborhood makes them even more vulnerable to crime.

“This is a quiet neighborhood where we all know each other on the block and it’s even harder to look out for each other when you can’t see who’s doing what,” said Jessica Battista.

She said that just a few months ago they were able to help catch a car thief by giving police good witness information. Without the lights many don’t believe that will be possible.

The city says if the street light is not near a park, school or busy intersection it won’t be turned back on unless your neighborhood adopts that light.

“If you have to determine levels of safety it’s more likely that car crashes are going to happen on busier streets and that’s what we wanted to protect against,” said John Leavitt.

“Often time cul-de-sacs are left dark or lights along a long stretch of residential road will be turned off but that is following the criteria we’ve established.”

City leaders say police helped determine that criteria and don’t believe leaving lights on in high-risk areas of criminal activity are necessary. That plan is flexible however, Leavitt said one street light near a club with a history of violence was turned back on at the request of police.

The city began shutting off street lights back in February to save money. So far, a total of about 6,800 street lights have been shut off. The plan is expected to more than $1 million dollars.

Last month the city began an Adopt-A-Streetlight program. The cost is $75 for a residential light and $180 for an industrial light. That money pays for the cost of the maintenance and the energy that powers the light.