| Using data collected as part of the "Operation Target" project in Jersey City, New Jersey, this research tested the value of offender-oriented publicity to reduce auto crimes when combined with added police patrols. This study used a quasi-experimental design to measure the impact of offender-oriented publicity in three experimental areas, testing the impact of publicity, increased directed police patrols, and a combination of the two.;Anti-crime campaigns usually target potential victims in an attempt to increase crime prevention knowledge. Publicity campaigns aimed directly at reducing offending through deterrent messages exist, but the general content of the warnings and the lack of law enforcement usually reduces effectiveness. Reduced official attention devoted to the problem of car crime allows potential thieves to remain secure in their assumptions that police apprehension represents only a slight risk.;To test the effectiveness of offender-oriented publicity, warning posters directed to potential offenders warned them of increased police patrols in designated areas. The warning posters also described the nature of the directed police patrols, and highlighted the concerned geographic area of these patrols to specify the boundaries of the protected zones.;Across the different areas, the intervention did not appear to have a significant effect on car crimes or other dependent variables such as the overall number of calls for service. The area receiving the publicity treatment did not exhibit a lower rate of car crime, regular crime incidents (robbery, burglary, aggravated assaults, etc.), or calls for service. The threat of apprehension did little to deter the car criminals, and it failed to affect person and property crimes.;When looking at the area receiving only the added police patrols, there was a similar lack of significant results, showing that the police patrols did not deter the criminal element. When looking at the area combining the police patrols and the publicity, the area with the most salient threat of apprehension, there was no statistically significant change in the dependent variables.;The role of publicity in crime prevention endeavors, however, needs further study as the more offenders learn about the eventual risks of apprehension through effective information mechanisms; the less likely they are to offend. |
