Estimating the Risk Faced by Missing Persons: A Study of Homicide Victims as an Example of an Outcome-Based Approach

• NCJ Number: 205942
• Journal: International Journal of Police Science and Management Volume: 6 Issue: 1 Dated: Spring 2004 Pages: 27-36
• Author(s): Geoff Newiss
• Editor(s): Ian K. McKenzie
• Date Published: 2004
• Length: 10 pages
• Publication Format: Article
• Publication Type: Report (Study/Research)
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

This article presents findings from research conducted in the United Kingdom that examined the characteristics of and circumstances in which missing people are later found to be the victim of homicide and the implications for developing effective risk assessment procedures for dealing with missing persons.

Abstract

In the United Kingdom, the phenomenon of people going missing is an everyday social problem. In the past, research had focused on how the police can best respond to the problem of missing persons. The focus, of the research was to improve the mechanisms for identifying those missing person reports which require an immediate and often protracted police response. In particular, research was instituted by the Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO) to examine the characteristics of, and circumstances in which, people who go missing are later found to be the victim of homicide. This paper presents the findings of this research. In addition, the paper outlines how estimating the risk faced by different groups of missing persons to different outcomes can improve the police service’s response to missing persons. The sample in this research analysis was based on a sample of homicide cases which first came to the attention of the police as missing person reports. The research illustrated that a broad-brush approach to risk assessment was likely to overlook certain sub-groups of the missing person populations who are vulnerable to specific risk, specifically the relatively high risk faced by adult females of being the victim of homicide. Developing risk assessment procedures for dealing with missing persons is likely to amount to a combination of both clinical and actuarial approaches. In conclusion, the paper demonstrates how similar risk estimations can be made for other potential outcomes of going missing. References