The Police and Parental Abduction: An Overview for Police Direction

Prepared by:

John Kiedrowski,M.A.(Crim.)
C.H.S. Jayewardene,Ph.D.
Kiedrowski and Associates

Marlene Dalley, Ph.D.
Missing Children's Registry,
RCMP
1200 Vanier Parkway
Ottawa, Ontario
K1A 0R2 Canada

Executive Summary

The police are on the front lines when handling the parental abduction of a child. They assume the primary responsibility for responding to the parent in the search and recovery process, for conducting the criminal investigation, and in reuniting the child with the searching parent. During the investigation, the police must show compassion and display a willingness to understand the situation. The police have a special role to play in parental abductions. In investigating parental abductions, the police have several statutes to assist them to enforce custody orders and to prosecute parents. The police responsibility involves their exerting awesome criminal law enforcement powers in a situation that they may view as a matter of civil litigation between private citizens.

Often, the police find themselves dealing with situations laden with emotions and characterized by the potential for volatility. The police are also plagued with problems associated with enforcing custody orders. These include determining the validity of a custody order, the number of custody orders issued by the courts, and the custody orders issued by various court district. To enforce criminal laws, the police are involved in situations where there may be some room for doubt concerning the existence of reasonable and probable grounds for the presentation of the facts of the case. These facts range from the existence of a valid, or in some cases, an invalid custody order to allegations of the abducting parent physically and/or sexually abusing the child.

Many searching parents take it upon themselves to find their children and they are succesful. Others, however, rely upon agencies such as the police to locate the children. In there situations, the searching parent's perception of the police varies with the police responsiveness to the parental abduction. These perceptions are based mainly upon how the police have allocated resources to locate the child.

In addition to the role of the police, this report also examines the victims of child abduction. Several studies have focused upon the alleged subjection of the abducted child to both physical and sexual abuse. These studies, however, are controversial as they rely upon the searching parent's interpretation and there is very little empirical research to support these allegations. Studies also reveal that abducted children tend to suffer from short rather than long term psychological trauma. This same finding also applies to the searching parents. However, further research is required in both these areas.

Police cannot underestimate the serious nature of parental abductions. Several suggestions for the police concerning how they respond to parental abductions have been identified. These include: the establishment of "partnerships" whereby the police and the community share a joint interest in developing a set strategy or plan to improve the security of the community and police responsiveness; the development of a national registry for custody orders; working with the courts and lawyers so that the parties understand the legal obligations of custody orders; the development of operational policies on how to respond to parental abductions; and the organization of workshops or special training programs to enhance the police's expertise in parental abduction investigations.