Police Voices on Prevention Interviews in Managing Missing People in England and Wales

“Although missing persons cases represent a significant demand on police resources, research is still in its infancy. In this ground-breaking book, Michael Harris offers unique insights into how police officers understand their interactions with returned missing people and, crucially, how they might prevent a repeat episode. This book is essential reading for policy makers, practitioners, and researchers.” – Professor Nick Fyfe, Vice Principal for Research and Community Engagement, Robert Gordon University, UK. “While an increasing body of work relating to missing persons has emerged in the past 10 years, police perceptions and responses have been neglected. This exciting new book fills this gap with the findings of a substantial project on the importance of prevention interviews - it is essential reading for anyone working with missing persons.” – Dr Penny Woolnough, Reader in Forensic Psychology, Abertay University, UK. “This book shines a light on an under-researched but frequently occurring and crucial safeguarding practice within policing. It provides an evidence-base for the power of prevention interviews to support and protect missing people, as well as the challenges officers face conducting them. It makes recommendations to improve the police’s response to missing cases.” – Dr Freya O’Brien, Senior Lecturer in Policing, Liverpool John Moores, UK. This book rigorously examines police voices when people are reported missing, through empirical research. It explores the international literature in this emerging research field of missing people and presents research of nearly 2,000 Constables from England and Wales, using quantitative and open qualitative questions. It explores the attitudes of police officers to Prevention Interviews (PI) of adults and children and examines whether the PI should be the responsibility of the police. It makes recommendations about best practice for the missing person process, advocating a more consistent, multi-agency approach to improve interventions. Michael Harris is Senior Lecturer in Criminology at the University of the West of England, UK.