Mike Sutton

Dr Michael "Mike" Sutton is the originator of the Market Reduction Approach (MRA) to theft and co-founder and Chief Editor of the innovative, dual 100 per cent open access, Internet Journal of Criminology. He is a winner of the British Journal of Criminology Prize for virtual ethnographic research into a pan-European hacking group - judged to have "...most significantly contributed to the knowledge and understanding of criminology and criminal justice issues' in 1998/99. He recently published a US Government Department of Justice international COPS Office guide for policing stolen goods markets .

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What is the MRA?

The first 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 in-depth interviews with expert prolific thieves, inexperienced thieves, fences, drug dealers and stolen goods consumers. In 1998, the UK Home Office published Sutton's report proposing a systematic framework for researching and tackling local stolen goods markets. This is the Market Reduction Approach (MRA) for tackling theft.

International Recognition and International Policy Impact

Sutton's MRA is currently recommended good crime reduction and policing practice on websites hosted by the US Government's Depart of Justice ( see here, and here) the British Government's Home Office (see page 9 here) and several examples of his published work are stored in the UK National Archive. His MRA is also recommended by the Australian Government's Institute of Criminology (here), and New Zealand's Ministry of Justice (here and here).

Other work

Mike worked for 14 years as Senior Research Officer (criminology) in the UK Government's Home Office where he conducted research on fines, evaluated the Safer Cities Programme and conducted and published his first research on hi tech crime and stolen goods markets. Mike is currently employed full time in a senior academic position. Disclaimer: Dr Mike Sutton's views and work on Best Thinking - on his website Dysology.org and all associated blog and web sites - are his own and do not reflect those of his employer or his publishing company Flashmouse Publishing and its subsidiary: New University Press.

Sutton has numerous scholarly publications in the field of hate crimes, bias and prejudice, including a mythbusting UK Government report and guide on the best use of media in reducing ‘racial’ prejudice. Wikipedia covers some of his published and peer-to-peer highlights: Here and here. With reference to his earlier mythbusting on spinach, iron and Popeye, click here. However, Mike's very latest work on that topic can be found by clicking here.

In 2010 Sutton engaged in some myth-busting research in the field of nutrition, which led to the discovery of the sociological concept of Braced Myths. In 2012 he identified two criminological Braced Myths regarding beat policing. Mike is keen to learn of any further examples from any field of knowledge.

Mike can be contacted at drmikesutton@hotmail.com

A Notable Alumnus

Sutton is recognised as a notable alumnus of the University of Central Lancashire (UCL). His Alma Mater uses its connection with him as one of its graduates and post-graduates, and his later published work, as a prestige indicator in its overseas promotions (e.g.: here). He was, in 1987, the first person to be awarded a non natural sciences PhD at UCL.

Bragging Rights

1. Mike busted the myth that the RAT notion of ‘opportunity’ (ratortunity) can be a cause of crime.

2. He also busted the Zombie Cop (100 yard) beat patrol myth.

3. He busted the Spinach Popeye Decimal Error Myth, and in doing so discovered the Braced Myths concept.

4. He invented the Market Reduction Approach to theft.

Peer Review Activities

Mike is regularly called upon to perform scholarly review duties. He has peer reviewed papers, articles, research reports and research applications from numerous organisations and journals including: The Economic and Social Research Council, The Rand Co-operation, The US Department of Justice, The AXA Research Fund, the British Home Office, the British Journal of Criminology, The Journal of Crime and Justice, Criminology and Public Policy, and the Security Journal

DETAILED EVIDENCE OF THE INFLUENCE OF SUTTON'S WORK ON POLICY FROM 1990-2011.

By Mike Sutton

Evidence of Policy Impact of my research

I am the originator of the Market Reduction Approach to theft (MRA), and my research in this area has, for more than a decade, influenced government policy advice and policy making in Britain and elsewhere. Several British police forces have sought to reduce theft with the MRA.

In 1999, the MRA was implemented for the first time when Kent Constabulary sought to use it in itsOperation Radiumto reduce high levels of burglary and other theft in the Medway Towns of Rochester, Chatham, Gillingham, Rainham and Strood, which were given the collective pseudonym South Town (Home Office 2004). This initiative led to the passing of several local Acts of Parliament throughout England to regulate trade in second hand goods, with an aim to reduce Supply by Theft (Sutton 1995) including theKent Acts(2001) and theNottingham City Council Act (2003).

The MRA was mentioned at National Government level, along with my work in Parliamentary debate (Hansard 2000) and the Kent Acts later in Parliamentary Business (Hansard 2004). In 1999, the British Home Office funded the implementation of the MRA in three police forces: Kent, West Mercia and Stockport in Greater Manchester (Home Office 2006), followed by a Government funded evaluation by the University of Kent of the implementation and impact of the MRA in Kent and Greater Manchester (Harris, Hale and Uglow 2003; Hale et al (2004).

Other MRA schemes have been implemented in Britain in Nottinghamshire and Derby City constabularies. In 2011, the MRA was defined as a core policing core practice and as a performance indicator by Nottinghamshire Constabulary and the City’s Crime Reduction Partnership. I continue to publish in the area of tackling stolen goods markets (e.g. Sutton 2010) and advise police at local, national and international levels. I occasionally act as an unpaid ad-hoc informal ‘sceptical friend’ (academic advisor) for various police forces through meetings, email and telephone conversations. In 2011, I addressed a British audience of chief police officers through the Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO National Burglary Reduction Working Group) on the subject of the MRA and the importance of veracity to inform policy in policing and crime reduction (7/9/2011).

Although the MRA has been promoted as ‘good practice’ by the British Government and has been used by several police forces, it has not proved possible to evaluate its impact in reducing crime due to a number of factors, not least the extent of confounding variables that impact upon crime rates at both the local and national level. Despite lack of evidence of its effectiveness in reducing crime, the UK Government, US Government, Australian Government and New Zealand Government (somewhat surprisingly) promote it as good ‘effective’ policing and general crime reduction practice:

• UK Government Website promoting my MRA See page 9 USA Government’s Department of Justice COPS programme international problem-oriented Practitioners policing guide for tackling stolen goods marketsto reduce theft
• US Department of Justice also added my Home Office MRA guide to its website and an influential briefing note.
• My report on tackling stolen goods markets is also recommended reading in US Department of Justice “Mayors’ Guide to effective policing and crime prevention.
• Australian Government’s Institute of Criminology
• New Zealand Ministry of Justice and also here.

Wider Influence of my MRA on Criminology

The MRA has been quite widely cited in the literature on crime reduction by criminologists including Marcus Felson and Ronald Clarke (See Wikipedia 2011; 2011a; 2011b for a reasonably comprehensive list). Here are just a few examples of how the MRA has influenced and/or been cited as important research in other areas beyond the theft of high volume consumer goods:

Wildlife crime and endangered species

• Schneider JL. (2008) ‘Reducing the Illicit Trade in Wildlife: The Market Reduction Approach’. Journal of Contemporary Criminal Justice 24:274–95: And here.

• Trafficking in Ivory: 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. Vol. 49.

Trafficking in people

• Reduce human trafficking: Organisation of Security and Co-operation in Europe Report (e.g. see page 1) Combatting Trafficking in Humans: Organisation of Security and Co-operation in Europe Report (e.g. see page 1)

Art and Cultural artefact crime

• Theft and Trafficking of Art and Cultural Artefacts: Manacorda, S. and Chappell, D. (eds.) (2011) Crime in the Art and Antiques World: Illegal Trafficking in Cultural Property. New York. Springer.

Some Examples of the Impact of My Other Work on Crime Reduction and Bias and Prejudice Reduction Policy Guidance and Policy Making

Within England

• Publication of Sutton, M. Perry, B. Parke J. and John-Baptiste, C. (2007) Getting the Message Across: Using media to reduce ‘racial’ prejudice. Department of Communities and Local Government. London. (Peer reviewed national government research report). Led to speaking engagement with National and local government representatives and members of anti-racism organisations: where I was Keynote speaker at a forum held in Scotland and funded by the Glasgow Anti-Racist Alliance (GARA). Subsequently, the Getting the Message Across report also used in a Coalition for Racial Equality and Rights submission to the Council of Europe Advisory Committee on the Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities.

• Newcastle City Council relied upon the Getting the Message Across report to shape its policy making .

Within Scotland

On 26 August 2011, The Coalition for Racial Equality and Rights (formerly known as the Glasgow Anti Racist Alliance) sent a written submission to the Scottish Parliament’s Justice Committee regarding the Offensive Behaviour at Football and Threatening Communications (Scotland). Bill. The submission informed Parliament of the dangers of implementing uninformed racism reductions measures that are likely to backfire and make the problem worse. The submission cited the myth busting research contained within the ‘Getting the Message Across’ report (Sutton et al 2007). Policy making advice within the ‘Getting the Message Across’ report inspired the Glasgow Anti Racist Alliance (Now Coalition for Racial Equality and Human Rights - CREHR) to successfully apply for funding to test its recommendations. They wrote:

"The project was funded by the Equality and Human Rights Commission and used recommendations from the Communities and Local Government report “Getting the message across: using media to reduce racial prejudice and discrimination” (Sutton et al., 2007) as impetus to undertake a local research project.”

US Government Office of Justice

Click on ‘evidence base’ and ‘additional references’ at the end of the section in the report link given below to see how work I conducted in 1996 is used to construct a current US Office of Justice effective solutions guide . These sources were used in the development of the program profile, which lists: (1) Ekblom, P., Law, H. and Sutton, M. with assistance from Paul Crisp and Richard Wiggins. (1996). Safer Cities and Domestic Burglary. Home Office Research Study 164. London, England: Home Office; and (2) Sutton, M. (1996). Implementing Crime Prevention Schemes in a Multiagency Setting: Aspects of Process in the Safer Cities Programme. London, England: Home Office.

The US Government Office of Justice currently publishes a series of abstracts on my work. E.g.:

1. Crime Surveys in the 21st Century

2. Internet Crime

My Research Reports in the UK National Archive

Several of my policy oriented research reports have been placed in the UK Government’s National Archive Collection. These include:

1.The Unit Fines Experiments

2. Safer Cities Evaluation

3. Handling Stolen Goods and the MRA

References

Hansard (2000). 1803-2005. 17th May. Kent County Council Bill (Lords) Commons Sitting – orders of the day. Vol. 350 cc.388-418. See also an extended debate in the House of Commons.

Hansard (2004) Written Answers. Bound Volume. Parliamentary Business. May 13, 2004. Column 573W—continued: Stolen Goods.

Harris, C. Hale, C and Uglow, S. (2003) Implementing a Market Reduction Approach to Property Crime. In: Tilley, N. and Bullock, K., (eds). Crime Reduction and Problem Oriented Policing. Devon, Willan.

Hale, C. Harris, C. Uglow, S. Gilling. L and Netten, A. (2004). Targeting the markets for stolen goods: two targeted policing initiative projects. Home Office Development and Practice Report 17.

Home Office (2004) Secure Design. Targeting the Markets for Stolen Goods: Two targeted policing initiative projects.

The National Archive: Home Office (2006) Tackling Burglary: Market Reduction Approach. Crime Reduction. The National Archive.

National Deviancy Conference (2011) Sutton, M, Hamilton, P., and Hodgson, P. The Problem of Zombie Cops in Voodoo Criminology. National Deviancy Conference York. July/Aug.

Nottingham City Council Act (2003) Sutton, M. (1995) Supply by Theft: does the market for second-hand goods play a role in keeping crime figures high? British Journal of Criminology, Vol. 38, No 3, Summer.

Sutton, M. (2010) Stolen Goods Markets. Problem Oriented Policing Guide No. 57. U.S.A. Department of Justice COPS Programme. (Peer reviewed international policing guide.

Sutton, M. Perry, B. Parke J. and John-Baptiste, C. (2007) Getting the Message Across: Using media to reduce ‘racial’ prejudice. Department of Communities and Local Government. London. (Peer reviewed national government research report). http://www.communities.gov.uk/documents/communities/pdf/611667.pdf

The Kent Acts (2001). A Case for National Legislation: Report to the Secretary of State in compliance with section 20 (1) of the Kent County Council Act 2001 and section 20 (1) of the Medway Council Act 2001

Wikipedia (2011) The Market Reduction Approach.

Wikipedia (2011a) Criminology.

Wikipedia (2011b) Mike Sutton (criminologist)

Personal Narrative Statement on My Research

My work on stolen goods markets and the Market Reduction Approach (MRA) to theft is internationally recognised. The MRA continues to have an impact on policy making, policy advice and policing. I remain active in this area having recently completed a US Department of Justice policing guide on the subject. The MRA is based upon a combination of quantitative research (National Crime Survey – question design and analysis) and qualitative (in-depth semi-structured interviews with prolific thieves).

Dr Mike SuttonAttribution

Definition of Braced Myths

I became interested in the impact of fallacies, myths and bad data on policy making after discovering the extent to which crime and prejudice reduction media campaigns ignore psychological research knowledge on attitude change (Sutton et al 2007). Subsequently, when fact checking a famous example of the impact of bad data on policy making, I discovered a social phenomenon that I named a braced myth (Sutton 2010; 2010a).

A myth is braced when orthodox experts, with unintended irony, use it unwittingly to seek to debunk another myth.

During a review of the literature on policing I discovered a braced myth that is being used to help underpin what appears to be a criminological knowledge consensus that foot patrol beat policing is ineffective at preventing crime and detecting offenders. In effect, this myth (the Police Patrol 100 Yard Myth) is being deployed to debunk the myth that foot patrol beat policing is the most effective way to deal with crime. My presented a paper on this subject at the National Deviancy Conference (2011) and we have written a jointly auhtored academic paper on the subject for peer review.

Most recently, unless a logical refutation can be made, I believe, that I have busted another criminological myth. Namely the widely believed notion that opportunity is a cause of crime. This is a criminological myth because the criminological notion of opportunity (unlike the commonly accepted dictionary definitions) is based on a truism and five fallacies (Sutton 2012). Publication of this work will appear in the scholarly peer reviewed literature in the near future.

My work in this area has led me now to the position where I wish to focus some degree of my future research towards developing knowledge in the wider area of general scholarly and policy-oriented bias, myths and fallacies. Stakeholders for this research will include the criminological academic community, relevant government bodies, the police, statutory local authorities, charitable bodies, different academic disciplines, multi-disciplinary areas and the wider general public.

References for some selected publications in this area

Sutton, M. (2010) Spinach, Iron and Popeye: Ironic lessons from biochemistry and history on the importance of healthy eating, healthy scepticism and adequate citation. IJC Primary Research Paper. http://www.internetjournalofcriminology.com/Sutton_Spinach_Iron_and_Popeye_March_2010.pdf

Sutton, M. (2010a) The Spinach, Popeye, Iron, Decimal Error Myth is Finally Busted. Best Thinking. http://www.bestthinking.com/articles/science/chemistry/biochemistry/the-spinach-popeye-iron-decimal-error-myth-is-finally-busted

Sutton, M. Perry, B. Parke J. and John-Baptiste, C. (2007) Getting the Message Across: Using media to reduce ‘racial’ prejudice. Department of Communities and Local Government. London. (Peer reviewed national government research report). http://www.communities.gov.uk/documents/communities/pdf/611667.pdf

Sutton, M (2012) Opportunity Does Not Make the Theif: Busting the myth that opportunity is a cause of crime. Best Thinking: http://www.bestthinking.com/articles/science/social_sciences/sociology/opportunity-does-not-make-the-thief-busting-the-myth-that-opportunity-is-a-cause-of-crime