This article’s intention is to comprehend in what ways the urban space and crime are depicted by Mossoró’s press in the years of 1872-1928, a moment of meaningful changes both in the physical structures as in the ways of living in the city. Concerns such as the ordination of the urban and social control are intensified with the city’s growth and its social problems, criminality being amongst these. We intend to comprehend and problematize the world of crime presented by Mossoró’s newspaper by the late 19^th century and early 20^th.