Skip to main content
Palgrave Macmillan
Book cover

Self-Selection Policing

Theory, Research and Practice

  • Book
  • © 2016

Overview

  • Offers a necessary and timely introduction to both the theory and practice of the Self-Selection Policing method
  • Draws upon over fifteen years of research into the field and suggests further areas of research for the development of the method
  • Proposes practical guidelines for those interested in developing, testing, and implementing SSP

Part of the book series: Crime Prevention and Security Management (CPSM)

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this book

eBook USD 39.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Hardcover Book USD 54.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Other ways to access

Licence this eBook for your library

Institutional subscriptions

Table of contents (7 chapters)

Keywords

About this book

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.





        
   
   

Reviews

“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 theorymaking 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)

Authors and Affiliations

  • University of Huddersfield, Huddersfield, United Kingdom

    Jason Roach

  • University College London, London, United Kingdom

    Ken Pease

About the authors

Jason Roach is a Chartered Psychologist and Reader in Psychology, Crime and Policing at the University of Huddersfield, UK. His books include Evolution and Crime (with Ken Pease) and Evolutionary Psychology and Terrorism (with Max Taylor and Ken Pease). 


Ken Pease OBE is a Chartered Forensic Psychologist and Visiting Professor at the Jill Dando Institute, University College London and Loughborough University, UK.




        
          
   

Bibliographic Information

Publish with us