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Missing Persons: Practitioner Research to National Practice SIPR Annual Conference 2010 Dr Penny S. Woolnough CPsychol FRSA. Open any newspaper in any country on any day of the week. What is a missing person?. Someone who doesn’t come home? - PowerPoint PPT Presentation
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Missing Persons: Missing Persons: Practitioner Research to Practitioner Research to
National PracticeNational Practice
SIPR Annual Conference 2010
Dr Penny S. Woolnough CPsychol FRSA
Missing Persons: Missing Persons: Practitioner Research to Practitioner Research to
National PracticeNational Practice
SIPR Annual Conference 2010
Dr Penny S. Woolnough CPsychol FRSA
Open any newspaper in any country
on any day of the week....
What is a missing person? Someone who doesn’t come home? Someone who doesn’t turn up at an expected
time / location?
Do they themselves know they are missing? In whose mind are they missing?
Lost vs. MissingEncompasses a wide variety of circumstances
What happens to them - outcomes?
Majority - Located or turn up safe
Minority - Accident
Abduction
Homicide
Attempted Suicide
Completed Suicide
What is the extent of the problem?
How many people are reported missing?
UK ‘Missing People’ Charity estimates 300,000+
Average of 822 per day
16 per police force each day
34 every hour
Need for an intelligence-led approach:
Little information / guidance for front line officers Supervisors have minimal guidance on how to
risk assess Resource management can be unfocused and
directionless Need specialist training for PolSA’s An absence of general intelligence prevents
some incidents being declared critical at an early stage
Senior officers lack a solid evidence-base against which to defend decisions
But, how do we know if we are dealing with a ‘normal’ missing person….
....or something more serious?
Risk Assessment Clinical Risk Assessment:
Expert decision making / Often unreliable / used by police at present / dependent on experience / knowledge.
Actuarial Risk Assessment:
Uses data to look at the probability of risk / but draws on historical data - there is always the exception which does not fit data!
Programme of Research
Content analysis of 2200 closed missing person cases from across the UK over a seven year period
Content analysis of approx 300 suicide / undetermined deaths
Introduction of detailed cancellation procedure (ongoing SIPR funded)
2 databases (general missing persons & suicides)
0
20
40
60
80
100
120
140
160
180
200
1 4 7 10 13 16 19 22 25 28 31 34 37 40 43 46 49 52 55 58 61 64 67 70 73 76 79 82 85 88 91
Age of missing person
Num
ber
of c
ases
Age range of full databaseAge range of full database
3 Key Factors
TIME
DISTANCELOCATION
1.20k (90%)
1.00k (80%)
0.60k (70%)
0.40k (50%)
0.16k (30%)
Place Missing From
Missing 1–4 year olds
Missing 8 year old girl1804 hrs mother reported her daughter
had not come home from School. It was dark, very cold and snowing
heavily.
Home
School
The data suggest 8 year old girls missing from schoolwill be found within 1km kilometre of the schoolwalking in the street!
1000 mCircle
Place Missing From - School
PlaceFound
850 m
Priority Curve
Missing boys aged 9 – 13 years
Child reported missing – 3pm
Time
Priority Curve
Missing boys aged 9 – 13 years
2hrs. 40min (50% - 17:40)into the missing episode
Priority Curve
Missing boys aged 9 – 13 years
6hrs. 40min (70% - 21:40) into the missing episode
Priority Curve
Missing boys aged 9 – 13 years
21hrs. 40min. into the missing episode
90%
If the missing person is not found at the ‘probable’ places it can quickly be concluded that the case is certainly out of the ordinary........
..........suicide...abduction...murder?
Suspicious missing persons...
No body…..
Accident
Suicide
Homicide?
Benefits of an Actuarial Approach - Operational
Helps quickly identify cases out of the ordinary
Facilitates early warning and involvement of Detective officers
Allows us to use appropriate investigative techniques
Facilitate decision making re. Child Rescue Alert
Benefits of an Actuarial Approach – Politics
Informs policy log
Provides an evidence base
More defensible actions / decisions
Human CostThe rapid location of a missing person may significantly
minimise their risk of harm as well as the associated stress
to family members and friends
Financial Cost£ Saving just 60minutes of a police officers time (@£25 per hour
for each of the 300,000 annual missing person cases would save the UK Police Service £7,500,000 every year
£ Many missing person enquiries cost in excess of £20,000 case,Some incur costs amounting to millions of pounds.
A collaborative research process - research with and for the police
Joint working of academics and practitioners yields a better product
Draw on the experiences and perspectives of practitioners with the benefit of academic robustness
Strongly rooted in the pressing concerns of day-to-day practice (particularly important in current economic environment)
Can complement larger scale projects or explore issues not touched on by more traditional research
Benefits for practitioners
Acquire research skills and tools Increased confidence Increased respect from colleagues A regenerated interest in their own profession /
greater interest in professional development Enjoyable experience despite extra work / effort
Dr Penny Woolnough CPsychol FRSA
Senior Research Officer Grampian Police
Police HeadquartersQueen Street
AberdeenAB10 1ZA
United Kingdom+44 1224 305136