RESEARCH BLOG.

The field of missing persons contains many myths. Why, you may ask? First, missing person cases are often discussed in the context of serial murders, vanishings, mystery, and crime in the public sphere. This has been the result of, and has led to the creation of, many podcasts , web sleuths, and true crime shows. One can imagine that these do not always involve credible and verified information. Yet, these sources are some of the most consumed forms of content in Canada and

As part of new research into missing persons in Australia, I have been asking people who return after disappearing what they needed or wanted. Mary, who has gone missing four times in the last few years, responded, I just wanted someone to ask if I was OK when I came back. Voices like Mary’s are not often heard, nor are their problems understood, when we talk about the mystery and intrigue of missing persons cases. Every hour in Australia, 100 police reports are generated abo

I am writing this blog in follow up to Lorna Ferguson’s insightful post from January 26, 2021: “We Need Usable National Data on Missing Persons, Now” . As an investigator, I lose sleep over missing persons. Having shared a small part of the story of hundreds of families, I feel the pain associated with each one and feel helpless when there is nothing I can do to resolve it. Even though I have been fortunate enough not to have personally experienced this type of ambiguous loss

In Sweden, the search for high-risk missing persons is a police task based on the Act of Civil Protection — the law which states the responsibilities the municipalities and the Crown have for protection, risk reduction, and rescue from accidents and imminent danger to people, property, and the environment. However, the police’s task does not include the rescue of the found, former missing person, as this is typically a task for the fire department or the ambulance. Every year

In the wake of sustained protests and calls to defund police forces, cities across North America have been busily engaging in police reform. While this is a development some might applaud, it’s imperative to remember that much of this activity is occurring in a complete vacuum of evidence and policy. There’s little research to suggest that many of the social programs likely to be funded in place of police forces will do much to reduce the social problems that have become poli

What comes to mind when I say the phrase specialized police unit? Police dogs? Homicide detectives? The gang unit? Perhaps foot patrol or officers on horseback? All of these are common specialized police units—and there are many others besides. But what makes a unit a specialty unit? What differentiates them from general patrol? Overall, specialized police units fall into one of three categories: Units specializing in a particular patrol method . Most common among these types