Further evidence on the extent and time course of repeat missing incidents involving children: A research note
| Author | Clara Galiano López,Jane Hunter,Toby Davies,Aiden Sidebottom |
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1177/0032258X211052900 |
| Published date | 01 March 2023 |
| Date | 01 March 2023 |
| Subject Matter | Articles |
Article
The Police Journal:
Theory, Practice and Principles
2023, Vol. 96(1) 117–127
© The Author(s) 2021
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DOI: 10.1177/0032258X211052900
journals.sagepub.com/home/pjx
Further evidence on the extent
and time course of repeat
missing incidents involving
children: A research note
Clara Galiano López
University College London, London, UK
Jane Hunter
Missing People, London, UK
Toby Davies and Aiden Sidebottom
University College London, London, UK
Abstract
This study examines the extent and time course of repeat missing incidents involving
children. Using data from one UK police force (n = 2,251), we find (1) that the majority
(65%) of missing incidents are repeats, (2) that a small group of repeatedly missing
children (n = 43; 6%) account for a sizable proportion of all missing incidents (n=739,
33%) and (3) that the likelihood of a child going missing repeatedly is elevated in the weeks
immediately following a previous missing incident. The implications of our findings for
future research and for the prevention of missing incidents are discussed.
Keywords
Children, missing, police, repeat
Introduction
Someone is reported missing on average every 2 minutes in England and Wales (National
Crime Agency, 2021). Latest figures show that in 2019/20, there were 325,171 police
recorded missing person incidents, an increase of 34% from 2015/16 (National Crime
Corresponding author:
Aiden Sidebottom, University College London, 35 Tavistock Square, London WC1E 6BT, UK.
Email: a.sidebottom@ucl.ac.uk
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