Receiving stolen goods

A great deal of attention has been focused on theft, on preventing theft crimes and on attempting to arrest individuals who commit theft, i.e. the thieves. However, the issue of what happens after the theft and where the stolen goods end up has received very little attention. Most thefts occur because the thief wants to make a profit, not because he or she wants to use the stolen goods personally. Stolen goods are quite simply sold. It is unlikely to be profitable for the thief to sell stolen goods to acquaintances. Stealing on a more or less professional basis often results in large volumes of stolen goods and at times in specific, specialrequest objects. An efficient channel is required for the stolen goods to reach the market. There is one particular group of criminals (receivers) whose work involves handling large volumes of stolen goods and who are able to find the right customers for the various objects. The goods often end up with “normal” companies and consumers.

The purpose of this report on receivers of stolen goods is to launch a supplementary strategy to combat theft crime. By focusing additional efforts on the receivers and the criminal markets for stolen goods, theft crime can be fought from one more perspective. Thieves abound, but the number of receivers is significantly smaller. The aim of a supplementary strategy of this kind is to reduce theft by making it more difficult to dispose of the stolen goods. In order to work to combat the work of receiving and the criminal markets for stolen goods, the receiver’s role in the production and market process that leads from theft to the sale of stolen goods must first be examined more closely. In this way, it becomes possible to identify different points in this process and other processual factors that will facilitate the formulation and implementation of measures to combat and prevent this type of crime. This report describes the production and market process from the perspective of the receiver’s role. The production and market process can be divided into three phases which will be described below. The production phase is focused on “producing” goods for the market. The goods are primarily produced as a result of theft. The next step involves the receiver purchasing stolen goods. Some goods then need to be “refined” – i.e. manipulated – to adapt them to an intended market. The final phase involves the receiver marketing and selling the item to an end-user or consumer.