Self-Selection Policing

"This is an important introductory book for what the authors hope will be an exciting new tool in the police investigator armoury. They are right. The potential for self-selection policing to make a significant difference to the identification and arrest of serious offenders has hardly begun. A must for the professional police officer with an interest in evidence." (Professor Gloria Laycock OBE, Jill Dando Institute of Security and Crime Science, University College London) "Paradigms of modern, austerity-led policing would suggest that we focus on high harm offences and offenders. Both are hard to argue with - but Roach and Pease do, and persuasively. Police officers know that burglars burgle and car thieves steal cars. Proactive crime teams are built on this basis - shop lifters are left at the bottom of the pile - Roach and Pease challenge these presumptions, persuasively. They romp through criminological theory making it accessible to those of us who most need it (police officers). Some of the best researchers are quoted, as well as Jesus himself. They use data to back up assertions, they highlight weaknesses and challenge the practitioner to go out and try to find out what works. The writing is excellent, sometimes bordering sarcastic. It is a rare book in that it is applied, interesting, confounding, full of stories and one that you will want to finish. It will also change how you think and do policing." (Alex Murray, Chief Superintendent West Midlands Police and Deputy Chair for the Society of Evidence- Based Policing)

Self-Selection Policing introduces and explores an approach for crime control which seeks to identify active, serious offenders by attending to the minor offences they commit.Self-Selection Policing introduces and explores an approach for crime control which seeks to identify active, serious offenders by attending to the minor offences they commit. A foundation of theory and evidence is first supplied for the assertion that ‘those who do big bad things also do little bad things’. Original research presented in the book includes a study of offending by visitors to a prison, and the concurrent criminality of those committing common driving offences and failure to produce driving documents as required. It illustrates how self-selection can complement other police methods of identifying active, serious criminals by focusing on what offenders do rather than who they are and what they have done in the past. Concentrating on the ‘usual suspects’ in the conventional way is often criticised as harassment and self-selection policing largely bypasses the issue of fairness this raises. 
The book concludes with a call for the consideration, development and wider adoption of the self-selection approach, and particularly the identification of other common minor offences which flag concurrent active criminality. The authors make important suggestions for the progression of SSP research and practice, including the identification of barriers to the implementation of the approach in wider police thinking, practice and policy. Practical guidance is also provided for those thinking of developing, testing and implementing the approach. In doing so, the book will be of particular interest for policing practitioners, as well as students and scholars of policing and crime control.