The criminal hiding in darkness has no such problem seeing you. Lights designed to point downward don't have that problem. They can safely and efficiently illuminate the entire designated area. Trashy light pollution. If the music at a concert is too loud for the neighbors, they don't hesitate to ask local officials to do something about it.
Light pollution adds to the stress of daily life as much as noise pollution.
When lights send their energy upward, your tax dollars are streaming off into space. Point-down lights focus the energy where it belongs. They can operate at lower wattages, and they don't need to be replaced as often. The sad thing is that we can do a lot about these problems, but we don't. Local lighting authorities are very responsive to our requests.