Fencing

Market Supply Created by Theft

Most crimes require convergence in space and time of likely offenders, suitable targets, and the absence of [Page 689]capable guardians against crime (Cohen and Felson 1979). Stolen goods markets motivate thieves, because most thieves steal to sell goods and thus obtain cash. Market demand for particular items has an essential role in creating two of the three preconditions of theft incidents outlined by Cohen and Felson's model: “likely offenders” and “suitable targets.”

Simple linear explanations of demand and supply do not really fit the dynamics of stolen goods markets. Knowingly buying or selling stolen goods (handling) clearly creates a demand for more of the same stuff—therefore fueling theft. In addition to providing motivation for theft, however, handling stolen goods is a crime that is committed as a simple downstream consequence of stealing. This is because the prolific thieves themselves regularly groom business owners in order to open new markets (Sutton 1998).

A sizable section of the public is not particularly capable as guardians of law and order when it comes to the opportunity to resist an illegitimate bargain. Nationally representative research in the United Kingdom (Sutton 1998) found that 11 percent of the population of England and Wales admitted buying stolen goods in the past five years and that a staggering 70 percent thought that some of their neighbors had stolen goods such as VCRs and TVs in their homes. This should not be too surprising, because social commentators, lawyers, and criminologists have been raising this issue since the time of Patrick Colquhoun (1796). Later writers (see Hall 1952; Walsh 1977; Henry 1978; Cromwell et al.) also have classified buyers of stolen goods according to their degree of guilty knowledge or recklessness. In addition to these works, there are two classic ethnographic studies that follow the business of individual professional fences (Klockars 1974; Steffensmeier 1986).

The Handling Study (Sutton 1998) identified five main types of market for stolen goods:

• 1.
  Commercial fence supplies. Stolen goods are sold by thieves to commercial fences (e.g., jewelers, pawnbrokers, secondhand dealers) operating out of shops.
• 2.
  Residential fence supplies. Stolen goods (particularly electrical goods) are sold by thieves to fences, usually at the home of a fence.
• 3.
  Network sales. Stolen goods are passed on and each participant adds a little to the price until a consumer is found; this may involve a residential fence, and the buyer may be the final consumer or may sell the goods on again through friendship networks.
• 4.
  Commercial sales. Stolen goods are sold by commercial fences for a profit, either directly to the (innocent) consumer or to another distributor who thinks the goods can be sold again for additional profit. More rarely, such sales are made to another distributor.
• 5.
  Hawking. Thieves sell directly to consumers in places such as bars and clubs, or door-to-door (e.g., shoplifters selling clothes or food).

Probing the dynamics of stolen goods markets, the U.K. Home Office “Handling Study” (Sutton 1998) conducted in-depth interviews with thieves, fences, and consumers of stolen goods. These interviews revealed the key role that stolen goods markets play in motivating people to steal. They also revealed that inexperienced thieves tend to rely on existing markets, usually a single residential fence who is either a relative or neighbor. Experienced and prolific thieves, however—particularly frequent drug users—are more proactive in finding new buyers, and, therefore, sell to a variety of people. They are able to sell quickly and quite closely to where the theft was committed, even if they are not in close proximity to their usual buyers. This minimizes risk of arrest, because thieves need only transport stolen goods short distances and store them for brief periods.

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