National Centre for Missing Persons & Unidentified Remains Centre national pour les personnes disparus et restes non identifiés Themes for the session: Advancing Partnerships Between Law Enforcement and Subject Matter Experts and Developing a Strategic Research Agenda 1

Canadian Police Centre for Missing and Exploited Children/Behavioural Science Branch National Child Exploitation Coordination Centre Truth Verification Behavioural Sciences Branch National Centre for Missing Persons and Unidentified Remains (NCMPUR) Strategic and Operational Support Services Program Research and Develop Unit supports all program areas

NCMPUR 2010 Federal Budget - funding for development of national centre (Missing Children Registry since 1988) Established in 2011: incorporates National Missing Children Operations, National Missing Persons, Unidentified Remains 2018 – National Missing Person DNA Program Provides law enforcement, medical examiners, and chief coroners with specialized investigative services in support of missing persons and unidentified remains investigations

NCMPUR Mandate Provide specialized services to missing persons and unidentified remains investigators (i.e.: national public website – profiles and allows public to submit tips) Enhance effectiveness and intelligence building (i.e.: MC/PUR police DB, enhanced comparative analysis) Develop training for police (i.e.: best practices in investigations of MP/UR) Assist in investigative comparisons

Program Research and Development Unit To engage in operationally-relevant research to support investigations; importance of academic partnerships Primary Objectives: Identify operationally-relevant research needs Evaluate programs, services and approaches Establish network of experts Disseminate knowledge to the local level Encourage youth engagement

NCMPUR Research Agenda Pockets of research across Canada and internationally Collaboration across law enforcement and/or academic partners unknown Need for more research continually noted by police and academics Assessment of current state of knowledge was required

Developing NCMPUR Research Agenda Extensive literature review (“environmental scan”) of current state of Missing Persons research Canadian and international perspectives Focus areas of e-scan included: Definitions Prevalence Demographic trends and characteristics Strategies, techniques and issues in investigations

Objectives of the Environmental Scan Provide an overview of current state of research Identify areas of research that are/should be linked to investigative practice Recognize opportunities wherein law enforcement and subject matter expert collaboration would be beneficial and possible

Research Gap: Missing Persons Study Canada: Samples that meet specific criteria (e.g., uncleared cases only); Overuse of police data Globally: Large-scale studies focus mostly on youth; Limited number of variables examined in studies involving adults (data availability) Obtain large sample of case files from agencies directly - Code files: behaviour prior to missing, substance abuse, mental health problems

Investigative Decision Support Guide - Many Canadian police services use informal “risk assessment” – unclear if based on empirical findings Structure and content of assessments vary per agency No Canadian research has systematically examined the risk of different outcomes (e.g., death) on the basis of case information Focuses on “missing” group as a whole - Perhaps risk profiles differ for different groups? Heterogeneity of sample could be hiding important risk differences (youth vs. adults?)

Multi-Discipline, Multi-Agency Missing Person Investigative Initiative Two sessions thus far Identification of Subject-matter experts: open call Objectives: (1) development of innovative, evidence-based approaches or practices for missing persons and unidentified remains (MP/UR) investigations; (2) support the standardization of the investigative response to MP/UR across Canada; and, (3) identify knowledge or expertise gaps Development of resource document

Canada’s Missing website

Tips Public able to print posters from the website which include the contact options The NCMPUR manages the national email box

Ongoing Priorities 1) National Research Agenda Continually evaluate progress in MP/UR research Different focus areas as they emerge as priorities 2) Translating research into investigative practice Most effective method for disseminating research 3) Communication/Access – researchers, services, SMEs Facilitate ease with which research findings/techniques can be identified, implication for practice assessed, and applied to policing Facilitate formation of useful and timely collaborations

Contact Information Insp. Roland Gosselin, Officer in Charge, NCMPUR Roland.Gosselin@rcmp-grc.gc.ca Dr. Roberta Sinclair, Manager, PRDU Roberta.sinclair@rcmp-grc.gc.ca