ABSTRACT
The suspect population is constructed on the basis of a complex interaction of rules and principles. But they are police – rather than legal – rules and principles. The construction of official suspect populations is very much a product of broad societal gender divisions, with women generally denied access to the 'public' domain, thus having reduced opportunities to participate in those crimes upon which police attention has been historically directed. The civilian role is more usually to transmit information to the police. When civilians believe that a particular person committed an offence, they are as influenced by stereotypical cues as are police officers. Although the police begin investigation with many actual offenders and many who have behaved 'suspiciously', the raw material with which the police work is a police construct. The policing literature has documented in great detail how domestic cases are treated as 'rubbish' work by police, who therefore avoid arresting assaultative partners.
