DENVER — Denver police are hoping to shine more light on the importance of reporting street lights that are not functioning.
“It’s been statistically proven that lighting is the number-one deterrent to criminal activity,” said Denver Community Resource Officer Robert Gibbs.
Lighting also helps with security systems that require light to be effective.
Gibbs said DPD is encouraging people to leave exterior lights on at night, including: porch lights, driveway lights, backyard lights and garage lights.
Xcel Energy maintains 55,000 public lights in the city and county of Denver, and operates a 24-hour repair service.
“We agree with the city that [the] ability to use lighting at night is a great contributor to making your neighborhood more safe,” said Xcel spokesperson Mark Stutz.
If you need a street light repaired, Xcel suggests customers report the numbers or tags on the poles to help identify exactly which light needs repair.
“Look for the grid tag on the pole. This helps the customer identify and helps us identify exactly where the pole is,” Stutz said.
According to Xcel, he most common types of street light issues include:
- Light is out
- Light goes on and off
- Light is dim
- Globe broken or hanging
- Pole leaning
Xcel’s goal is to have 95 percent of its lights working at any given time and to repair 85 percent of street lights within five days of a repair request.
“We have found areas that have more lighting have a lot less criminal activity,” Gibbs said.
Report and outage online and learn more about repairs here.