Market reduction approach

History

Early

In 1796, the London magistrate Patrick Colquhoun observed that "[i]t rarely happens that thieves go upon the highway, or commit burglaries, until the money they have previously acquired is exhausted," and that "...without a safe and ready market he [the thief] is undone."

Recognizing the key role played by dealers in stolen goods in facilitating profit from theft and motivation for offenders to steal and with an aim to influence harsher legislation and sentencing of professional fences, the American jurisprudentialist Jerome Hall emphasised the role of the professional fence in the marketing of stolen goods and created a typology that distinguished between professional fences, part-time dealers, and those who knowingly buy stolen goods for their own consumption. A number of ethnography studies (e.g. Klockars 1974; Henry 1977 and Steffensmeir 1986) hinted at the influence of the market for stolen goods upon levels of theft of certain goods.

A systematic study of the various ways that stolen goods are stored, sold and bought – going beyond the previous focus upon the guilty mind and level of involvement of dealers and consumers – was conducted by Mike Sutton, who created a fivefold market typology based on his interviews with expert prolific thieves, inexperienced thieves, fences, drug dealers and stolen goods consumers. In 1998, the UK Home Office published Sutton's reportSutton, M. (1998) Handling Stolen Goods and Theft: A Market Reduction Approach. Home Office Research Study 178. Home Office. London. (Peer reviewed national government research report). UK National Archives: http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/20110220105210/rds.homeoffice.gov.uk/rds/pdfs2/hors178.pdf proposing a systematic framework for researching and tackling local stolen goods markets.

Modern

Current development of the market reduction approach (MRA) has its origins in a 1995 British Journal of Criminology paper: Supply by Theft that was followed by a 1998 United Kingdom Government Home Office research study entitled Handling Stolen Goods and Theft: A Market Reduction Approach, both written by Mike Sutton Further work on implementing and process evaluation of the MRA was conducted by Schneider.

Described by Marcus Felson as "...a simple idea in an important article" and as classic research, Sutton's concept of MRA has had an influence upon theory and practice regarding stolen goods markets and markets for other illicit commodities. Some criminologists have incorporated Sutton's work on stolen goods markets to explain the issue of offenders’ capacity to commit crimes. The general MRA principles have influenced work beyond research into markets for theft of high volume consumer goods, since the MRA is described as underpinning recent research into illicit markets for cultural artefactsMackenzie, S. and Green, P. (2003) Criminalising the Market in Illicit Antiquities: An Evaluation of the Dealing in Cultural Objects (Offences) Act. https://ssrn.com/abstract=1004267 and as a useful method for tackling the trade in endangered species.

Sutton's 1998 stolen goods Handling Report includes findings from the nationally representative British Crime Survey (1994). This revealed that 11 percent of those questioned had bought stolen goods in the preceding five years, and that 70 percent believed that some of their neighbours had stolen goods in their homes. The Handling Report was followed by a more comprehensive MRA policing guide to stolen goods markets.

Application

Kent constabulary were the first to experiment with the MRA in Operation Radium.{{cite web|url=http://www.tradingstandards.gov.uk/kent/documents/KentAct%20HOreport.pdf |title=The Kent Acts: A case for National Legislation

Based on Situational Crime Prevention (SCP) "rational choice, opportunity reduction" principles, and employing philosophy from routine activity theory (RAT) the MRA is designed to reduce theft through reducing the demand for stolen goods that motivated thieves to steal. In addition it seeks to make handling stolen goods at least as difficult as it is to steal them and to increase the risks of detection for all those selling and buying stolen goods. In this way the MRA answered a long-standing academic criticism that SCP and RAT did not take account of offender motivation. MRA principles are now firmly established within both SCP RAT{{ cite AV media | access-date=3 June 2023}} and Problem Oriented Policing (POP) key texts.{{Cite web

The MRA has been implemented in the United Kingdom by Kent Constabulary,Joint Report from: Kent County Council Trading Standards; Medway Council Trading Standards and Kent Police. The Kent Acts: A Case For National Legislation. (2001) Report to the Secretary of State. West Mercia Constabulary,{{cite journal Nottinghamshire Constabulary, and Greater Manchester Police. It is recommended crime reduction practice by the UK United States, and Australian governments. The New Zealand Ministry of Justice conducted a review of research focused on the MRA and identified eight areas of good practice in using it to tackle property crime.New Zealand Ministry of Justice (2005). 6 Property Focused Initiatives. http://www.justice.govt.nz/publications/global-publications/r/research-on-the-effectiveness-of-police-practice-in-reducing-residential-burglary-november-2005-report-10.-overview-research-on-the-effectiveness-of-police-practice-in-reducing-residential-burglary/6-property-focused-interventions

In 2008, the MRA has been applied to research focused upon tackling markets for endangered species.

The MRA and problem oriented policing

Introducing a sixth market type, e-fencing, the MRA is used by the US Department of Justice, Office of Community Oriented Policing Services, to combat crime with the problem-oriented approach to policing.

References

References

1. Colquhoun, P. (a Magistrate) (1796) A Treatise on The Police of the Metropolis. Third edition. London. C. Dilly
2. Hall, J. (1952) Theft, Law and Society. Second Edition. Indianapolis. Bobbs-Merrill Co
3. Klockars, C. (1974) The Professional Fence. New York. Free Press
4. Henry, S. (1976) Fencing With Accounts: The Language of Moral Bridging. British Journal of Law and Society. 3: 91–100
5. Steffensmeier, D. J. (1986) The Fence: In the Shadow of Two Worlds. New Jersey: Rowman and Littlefield
6. "SUPPLY BY THEFT: Does the Market for Second-hand Goods Play a Role in Keeping Crime Figures High? – SUTTON 35 (3): 400 – British Journal of Criminology". Bjc.oxfordjournals.org.
7. "Archived copy".
8. "Center for Problem-Oriented Policing | Biographies". Popcenter.org.
9. Schneider, J. L. (2005) Stolen Goods Markets: Methods of Disposal. British Journal of Criminology. 45 (2) 129–140
10. Felson, M. (1998)Crime and Everyday Life. Second Edition. Thousand Oakes. Pine Forge Press.(see page 38).
11. Felson, M. Crime and Everyday Life. Vol 4. Thousand Oakes. Sage (see Page 88)
12. Maguire, M. Morgan, R, Reiner, R. (2007) Oxford Handbook of Criminology. Oxford. Oxford University Press. (See: page 357)
13. Mackenzie, S. (2007) Dealing in cultural objects: a new criminal law for the UK. Amicus Curiae. Issue 71.
14. Schneider JL. (2008) ‘Reducing the Illicit Trade in Wildlife: The Market Reduction Approach’. Journal of Contemporary Criminal Justice 24:274–95
15. Lemieux, A. M. and Clarke, R. V. (2009)The International Ban on Ivory Sales and its Effects on Elephant Poaching in Africa British Journal of Criminology July 1, 2009 49: 451–471
16. Sutton, M., Schneider, J.L. and Hetherington, (2001) Tackling theft with the market reduction approach. Home Office Crime Reduction Research Series Paper 8. (Peer reviewed national government research report) http://www.popcenter.org/problems/bicycle_theft/PDFs/Sutton_etal_2001.pdf
17. (2003). "Implementing a Market Reduction Approach to Property Crime – Kent Academic Repository". Kar.kent.ac.uk.
18. "Archived copy".
19. "Archived copy".
20. (2002-08-02). "£2.4M boost for war on street crime | Salford Advertiser". menmedia.co.uk.
21. "Archived copy".
22. "Crime Analysis for Problem Solvers in 60 Small Steps". Popcenter.org.
23. Australian Institute of Criminology. (2009-06-26). "Australian Institute of Criminology – The market reduction approach to reducing property crime". Aic.gov.au.
24. Jacqueline L. Schneider. (2008-05-22). "Reducing the Illicit Trade in Endangered Wildlife". Ccj.sagepub.com.
25. (2010-01-01). "Stolen Goods Markets".