Prior evidence suggests that publicity might be influential factor in enhancing crime prevention efforts. However, no systematic analysis to determine whether this is the case has been done. This paper examines evidence concerning the role of publicity in crime prevention and hypothesizes that a likely mechanism for publicity effect would be that it deters offenders from committing offenses by increasing their perceptions of the risks involved. Information on crime rates and a wide range of other data, including cost effectiveness information and the use of publicity, were collected for 21 burglary reduction schemes situated in the north of England. The following pattern of results was revealed: (1) in terms of overall scheme effectiveness, of the intervention types implemented, location-specific situational crime prevention and stakeholding interventions appeared to be most highly associated with effective burglary reduction; (2) publicity was the most significant predictor of decreases in the burglary rate in comparison to the other variables; and (3) there was statistically significant evidence of an anticipatory benefit across the 21 projects, meaning the burglary rate decreased before the official start date of the schemes. The paper shows that publicity is an effective crime prevention tool and that many different types of publicity have been associated with burglary reduction schemes. Further research is recommended to investigate the role of publicity in crime prevention and determine whether the effects described extend to other types of crime and to other locations. References