RESEARCH
MISSING PERSONS: EVIDENCE GAPS EXPOSED
Authored by the University of Liverpool’s Stavros Chatzisymeonidis,
Dr Susan Giles, Dr Sara Waring and Prof. Louise Almond, this study reviews global police practice in missing persons investigations and exposes urgent gaps in evidence
application of Evidence- Based Policing principles and makes it difficult for policymakers and police decision-makers to draw on empirical evidence to inform strategic and operational planning in this area. To address this fragmented evidence base, researchers from the University of Liverpool – Stavros Chatzisymeonidis, Dr Susan Giles, Dr Sara Waring and Professor Louise Almond – conducted a scoping review of the literature examining police practices, tools and policies used in missing person investigations. Drawing on the findings of that review, this article outlines where the focus of current evidence lies regarding these approaches and what further work is needed to support future practice in this field.
At a time of global austerity, the scale and complexity of responding to missing persons incidents have placed considerable operational demand and financial pressure on the police. In response, various police forces have developed or adopted numerous approaches aimed at balancing effective safeguarding with finite resources.
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Nonetheless, the empirical knowledge on what works for police officers, under
HOW WAS THE AVAILABLE EVIDENCE REVIEWED?
“There is a notable shift toward including
tech-based interventions, including social media platforms, unmanned aerial vehicles, and advanced DNA methods.”
what conditions, in what ways, at what costs and why has been fragmented in the literature. This gap limits the practical
Applying predefined eligibility criteria, the review identified 33 relevant papers published between January 2005 and May 2024 from the UK (23), Canada (4), Europe (4), Australia (1) and China
(1). The evidence base was assessed using the EMMIE model, which looks at Effects, Mechanisms (how approaches
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