Fixed penalty notices as a means of offender selection

Wellsmith, Melanie and Guille, Hannah (2005) Fixed penalty notices as a means of offender selection. International Journal of Police Science & Management, 7 (1). pp. 36-43. ISSN 1478-1603

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Abstract

This research assesses the capacity of fixed penalty
notice (FPN) infractions to form the basis for
targeted police attention to more serious or chronic
offenders. Offences of this kind were associated
with concurrent criminality, relative to a group
selected from the electoral register. Over half of the
notices issued were not associated with a named
individual, presumably because many vehicles did
not have a current registered keeper. The ‘hit rate’
for concurrent criminality was not significantly
different than for the control group. When repeat
fixed penalty offences were analysed, this produced
a higher hit rate, although it remained
lower than expected from other studies. A number
of problems in carrying out analysis on these
types of data are discussed and it is suggested that
a study in which checks are made at the point of
issuing an FPN might well yield far higher rates
of active criminality, and might provide a more
powerful trigger for offender self-selection. Further
areas for research into self-selection triggers are
also suggested.

Item Type:	Article
Additional Information:	UoA 40 (Social Work and Social Policy and Administration) © Vathek Publishing 2005
Subjects:	H Social Sciences > HN Social history and conditions. Social problems. Social reform H Social Sciences > H Social Sciences (General)
Schools:	School of Human and Health Sciences School of Human and Health Sciences > Applied Criminology Centre
Related URLs:	Author
References:	Chenery, S., Henshaw, C., & Pease, K. (1999). Illegal Parking in Disabled Bays: A Means of Offender Targeting. (Briefing Note 1/99). London: Home Office Policing and Reducing Crime Unit. Home Office (2002). Criminal Statistics England and Wales 2001. London: Home Office. Kelling, G. L., & Coles, C. M. (1997). Fixing Broken Windows. New York: Touchstone. Maple, J., with Mitchell, C. (1999). The Crime Fighter: How You Can Make Your Community Crime Free. New York: Doubleday. Townsley, M., & Pease, K. (2002). How efficiently can we target prolific offenders? International Journal of Police Science & Management, 4, 323–331. Wiles, P., & Costello, A. (2000). The ‘Road to Nowhere’: the evidence for travelling criminals. (Home Office Research Study No. 207). London: Home Office.
Depositing User:	Sara Taylor
Date Deposited:	13 Sep 2007
Last Modified:	28 Aug 2021 23:29
URI:	http://eprints.hud.ac.uk/id/eprint/393

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