Police-recorded child abduction and kidnapping 2014/15 · 2016-09-29 · Police‐recorded child abduction or kidnapping is relatively rare. 9.41 offences of child abduction or kidnapping

Police-recorded child abductionand kidnapping 2014/15

Geoff Newiss

England, Wales and Northern Ireland

Action Against

Formerly PACT

AbductionCharity No. 1081904

This report has been produced, and is published, by

Action Against Abduction. For more information, visit

www.actionagainstabduction.org

The report is available on the UK Child Abduction Hub –

www.childabduction.org.uk – a national hub for

information on child abduction, which is operated by

Action Against Abduction.

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Action Against

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© Action Against Abduction 2016

In December 2015 the charity PACT (Parents and Abducted Children Together) changed to

Action Against Abduction. The new name more closely reflects the work we do. Our

campaigning and research have evolved over the years and as we approach our next major

projects, we want to continue to build a strong support base under the right name. Find us

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Acknowledgements

Action Against Abduction is particularly grateful to Craig Collie (a PhD

candidate at the University of Portsmouth and volunteer for Action Against

Abduction) for his excellent work writing to police forces, collecting the data,

and research administration.

Thank you also to each of the police forces that provided data and especially

to those that contributed further time and effort to help understand the

reasons why child abduction and kidnapping offences are increasing.

Contents

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ............................................................................................................. 1

1. INTRODUCTION ................................................................................................................ 2

2. NATIONAL SUMMARY ....................................................................................................... 6

3. REGIONAL AND POLICE FORCE FINDINGS ........................................................................ 9

4. SUMMARY AND DISCUSSION ......................................................................................... 20

REFERENCES ........................................................................................................................... 23

APPENDIX A: TOTAL CHILD ABDUCTION AND KIDNAPPING OFFENCES ................................. 24

APPENDIX B: CALCULATION OF POLICE FORCE, REGIONAL AND NATIONAL RATES PER

100,000 CHILDREN ................................................................................................................. 28

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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

In 2015 Action Against Abduction sent Freedom of Information (FOI) requests to each police force

in the UK. The FOI requests asked police forces to provide the number of parental child abductions,

non‐parental child abductions and child kidnappings recorded in 2014/15. This was compared to

the same data for 2012/13 and 2013/14 published earlier in the year (Newiss and Collie, 2015).

This statistical paper reports the key findings:

● Child abduction offences recorded by police in England, Wales and Northern Ireland increased

by 34 per cent from 2013/14 to 2014/15. 779 offences were recorded in 2014/15, more than

two a day.

● Non‐parental child abductions increased by 47 per cent over the same period, whilst police‐

recorded parental child abductions decreased slightly. Four times as many non‐parental child

abductions were recorded than parental abductions. It is likely that many parental child

abductions are not reported to, or recorded by, police.

● Child kidnappings increased by 18 per cent over the two‐year period, to 371 offences in

2014/15.

● Whilst increases in child abduction and kidnapping are clearly alarming, the explanation for

their increase may – at least in part – lie in changes to police crime‐recording practices. Some

incidents which may previously have gone unrecorded may now be recorded as a crime.

● Police force initiatives to tackle child sexual exploitation may also be having a sizeable effect

on trends in recorded crime, as might efforts to intervene in forced marriage and domestic

abuse. Without further research it is not possible to say whether the underlying incidence of

child abduction and kidnapping is increasing.

● There is enormous variation between regions and police forces in the number, and rate, of

child abduction and kidnapping offences.

● A relatively small number of police forces have recorded a large proportion of the increase in

offences. The Metropolitan Police Service (London), West Midlands Police, Greater

Manchester Police and West Yorkshire Police accounted for nearly 60 per cent of the increase

in non‐parental child abductions and 40 per cent of the increase in kidnappings. Greater

Manchester alone accounted for 30 per cent of the increase in non‐parental child abductions.

● Overall, the large city police forces (London, West Midlands, Greater Manchester and West

Yorkshire) all have higher rates of child abduction and kidnappings offences than the national

average. However, the pattern is not always consistent. For example, the rate of parental child

abduction in West Yorkshire was less than half the national average in 2014/15. Additionally,

some smaller police forces have even larger rates of offences.

● Police‐recorded child abduction or kidnapping is relatively rare. 9.41 offences of child

abduction or kidnapping per 100,000 children were recorded by police in England, Wales and

Northern Ireland in 2013/14. However, many incidents go unreported to, or unrecorded by,

the police.

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1. INTRODUCTION

Background and aims

Government and police statistics on crime in the UK give only a superficial account of the number

and type of child abduction offences recorded1 by police.

From 2012/13 to 2014/15 police‐recorded child abduction and kidnappings (of adults and children)

have increased considerably in England and Wales. The number of child abductions has remained

broadly similar in Northern Ireland and the number of kidnappings has decreased (see Table 1).

Table 1: Government and police statistics on child abduction and kidnapping

Number of offences recorded % change (n=) 2013/14 to 2014/15

2012/13 2013/14 2014/15

ENGLAND AND WALES¹

Child abduction 513 565 822 45 (257)

Kidnappings (adults and children) 1,387 1,727 2,198 27 (471)

NORTHERN IRELAND²

Child abduction 43 40 43 7 (3)

Kidnappings (adults and children) 56 55 45 ‐18 (‐10)

¹Office for National Statistics (2015) ²Police Service of Northern Ireland (2015).

However, these statistics don’t tell us:

● what type of child abductions have been increasing (or decreasing);

● which areas have seen an increase (or decrease) in child abduction;

● how rates of child abduction compare across different parts of the country; or

● how many kidnappings involved child victims rather than adults.

In 2015 Action Against Abduction collected new data from police forces across England, Wales and

Northern Ireland with the aim of providing answers to these questions. This statistical paper

reports the findings.

Scotland

This paper is limited to offences recorded by police in England, Wales and Northern Ireland.

Legislation and offence categories are different in Scotland. Further work is needed to produce a

similar analysis for Scotland.

1 This report presents an analysis of child abductions recorded by police. There is ample evidence that many abductions – both familial and non‐familial – go unreported to the police (see Newiss and Traynor, 2013).

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Child abduction offence categories

The criminal offence of child abduction is defined by the Child Abduction Act, 1984.

Parental child abduction

The Act makes it a criminal offence for anyone ‘connected with’ a child under the age of 16 to

‘take or send’ that child out of the UK without the appropriate consent. ‘Connected with’

includes parents, guardians or a person with a residence order or custody of the child.

‘Appropriate consent’ is the consent of the mother, the father (if he has parental responsibility),

the guardian or anyone with a residence order, parental responsibility or the leave (permission)

of the court.

Non‐parental child abduction

The Child Abduction Act also makes it a criminal offence for ‘other persons’ to ‘take or detain’ a

child under the age of 16 without lawful authority or reasonable excuse. ‘Other persons’ are

people other than the child’s parent, guardian or a person with parental responsibility for the

child.

Kidnapping

Kidnapping exists in England and Wales and Northern Ireland, and is defined at common law as

‘the taking or carrying away of one person by another, by force or fraud, without the consent of

the person taken or carried away and without lawful excuse. It must involve an attack on or loss

of that person’s liberty’ (The Law Commission, 2011). There is a large overlap between

kidnapping and child abduction, both legally (ibid.) and in the types of cases recorded under

each offence (Newiss and Traynor, 2013). An offence of kidnapping (which can be recorded for

children and adults) may be recorded for older child victims (those aged 16 or 17 years old) for

whom the offence of child abduction cannot be recorded.

Method

Freedom of Information (FOI) requests were sent to each of the 39 territorial police forces in

England, four in Wales and the single police force in Northern Ireland1F

2. The FOI asked each police

force to provide a count of:

● child abductions by a parent (Home Office classification 13/1 2F

3),

● child abductions by other persons (Home Office classification 13/2), and

● kidnappings (Home Office classification 36) when the victim was aged under 18 at the time of

the offence

for the year 1st April 2014 to 31st March 2015. Returns were collated and analysed together with

mid‐2013 population statistics from the Office for National Statistics (ONS, 2014) – see Appendix B

for details. The method is identical to that used for collecting offences recorded in 2012/13 and

2013/14 (see Newiss and Collie, 2015), allowing analysis of the three‐year period.

2 ‘Territorial’ police forces are police forces that cover a particular police area. The list excludes non‐geographic police forces such as the British Transport Police, as well as ports, parks and defence police, and national police agencies. Details of the territorial police forces are given in Tables 3 to 5, and in Appendix A. 3 The Home Office classifications are contained within the Home Office Counting Rules (Home Office, 2015) which provide the framework for the classification and recording of different crimes.

4

This year, another stage to the research was added in an attempt to identify some of the reasons

why child abduction and kidnapping have increased. Follow‐up letters were sent to police forces

which recorded a 50 per cent increase or more in any one offence category (parental child

abduction, non‐parental child abduction or kidnapping) where the increase amounted to more

than five offences. In total 18 police forces were sent a follow‐up letter referring to one or more

offence category. Responses were received from 15 police forces (Chapter 3 provides further

details). The letter asked police forces to identify any known reasons for increases in offences and,

if possible, evidence to substantiate the reasons given.

Returns from police forces

Of the 44 police forces invited to provide data:

● 40 disclosed all data requested (up from 36 police forces last year);

● Three gave a partial disclosure (one combined data on parental and non‐parental child

abductions; one did not give a specific count of child abductions (only that they were ‘under

5’); and one police force combined data on child abductions and declined to provide the

number of kidnapping offences4);

● One declined to provide any data (engaging ‘Law Enforcement’ exemptions under section 31

of the Freedom of Information Act, 2000 4F

5);

Limitations

There are some important limitations to this study:

● The findings are only based upon police‐recorded crime. Many incidents of child abduction go

unreported to the police (Newiss and Traynor, 2013).

● Only information on crimes was collected from police. Other incidents may have been reported

to police but may not have gone on to be recorded as a crime.

● Some incidents of child abduction may have been recorded as other offences (e.g. rape)5F

6.

Comparisons between police forces and regions should be undertaken with caution because:

● Police forces use different IT and administrative systems for recording crime.

● Recording practices change. Recent increases in violence and sexual offences are likely, in part,

to be attributable to changes in the propensity of police to record a crime (Office for National

Statistics, 2015a). These recording practices are very likely to differ between police forces.

4 The explanation given by police forces for making a partial disclosure was that they did not want individual cases to be identifiable, thus preventing offenders from establishing whether their offences had been reported to, or recorded by, the police. This applied to areas where the number of offences recorded was relatively low. 5 The police force indicated that disclosing information on the number of child abductions and kidnappings could impact on the actions of offenders or compromise ongoing investigations. 6 See Newiss and Traynor (2013) for more information on the potential effect of the ‘Principal Crime Rule’.

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Structure of the report

Chapter 2 provides a summary of child abduction and kidnapping offences for the whole of

England, Wales and Northern Ireland. Chapter 3 gives regional and police force data. Chapter 4

offers a brief summary and discussion of the findings.

Data on all child abduction (parental and non‐parental combined) and all child abduction and

kidnapping offences – for each police force and region – can be found in Appendix A. Appendix B

offers a description of how the rates of child abduction and kidnapping per 100,000 children have

been calculated.

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2. NATIONAL SUMMARY

From the FOI responses collected in this study, the number of all child abduction offences

recorded by police forces in England, Wales and Northern Ireland increased by 34 per cent from

2013/14 to 2014/15 (see Table 2). This compares to an increase of 45 per cent for the same time

period reported in the ONS crime statistics for England and Wales (Office for National Statistics,

2015; see page 2). These increases are likely to be different because:

● FOI responses for all child abductions were not received from two police forces (although this

study does include Northern Ireland unlike the ONS statistics),

● FOI responses were administered at a different time to the ONS data collection. Both rely on

‘snapshots’ of police force crime recording systems which are ‘live’ (i.e. some crimes may be

added and some may be removed).

The actual number of child abductions increased from 571 in 2013/14 to 779 in 2014/15. ONS crime

statistics showed an increase from 565 to 822 over the same time period (ibid.).

Table 2: Summary of child abduction and kidnapping offences recorded by police

Number of police forces¹

2012/13 (n=)

2013/14 (n=)

2014/15(n=)

+/‐ (last year) (n=)²

Adjusted +/‐ (last year) (n=)³

Adjusted %

change⁴ Rate per 100,000⁵

Parental child abduction

40⁶ 149 158 154 ‐4 ‐13 ‐8 1.30

Non‐parental child abduction

40⁶ 352 399 618 219 187 47 5.22

All child abduction offences ⁷

42⁸ 516 571 779 208 193 34 6.37

Child kidnapping

42⁹ 270 309 371 62 56 18 3.02

All child abduction and kidnapping offences¹⁰

41¹¹ 780 870 1,141 271 250 29 9.41

¹Number of police forces (in England, Wales and Northern Ireland) supplying data in 2014/15. This has changed since 2013/14 necessitating adjustments to the later columns to allow fair comparisons. ²The difference between the number of offences recorded in 2014/15 compared to 2013/14. The total offences in 2014/15 are taken from more police forces than the previous year, hence the need for the adjusted figures in the next columns. ³The difference between the number of offences recorded in 2014/15 compared to 2013/14 when only those police forces which returned data in 2013/14 are included in the 2014/15 count. ⁴The percentage change between 2013/14 and 2014/15 when including only those police forces which returned data in both years (i.e. excluding the police forces which only returned data in 2014/15). ⁵Rate per 100,000 calculations based on 2014/15 figures and mid‐2013 population estimates for 0 to 17‐year‐olds in each police force area (see Appendices for more details). ⁶The row excludes Merseyside and Dyfed Powys (both combined parental and non‐parental child abductions); Northamptonshire (did not give a specific number of offences); and Humberside (no data provided). ⁷ The figures for all child abduction offences are not the sum of the figures for parental child abductions and non‐parental child abductions. This is because data from 42 police forces were available to produce the figures for all child abductions. Only 40 police forces separated out their child abductions into parental or non‐parental offences. In effect, each row ‘stands alone’. ⁸The row excludes Northamptonshire (did not give a specific number of offences) and Humberside (no data provided).

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⁹The row excludes Dyfed Powys (did not provide kidnapping data) and Humberside (no data provided). ¹⁰The figures for all child abduction and kidnapping offences are not the sum of the previous rows. Each row ‘stands alone’. See note 7, above. ¹¹The row excludes Northamptonshire (did not give a specific number of child abduction offences); Dyfed Powys (did not provided kidnapping data) and Humberside (no data provided). Note: There are a number of minor discrepancies between the 2012/13 and 2013/14 data reported here and that shown in the same table in Newiss and Collie (2015). These reflect small changes made to previous data returns in three police forces. In addition, North Yorkshire Police reduced the number of kidnappings recorded in 2013/14 by 10 offences, because of an error in the previous return. The returns from each police force are shown in Tables 3 to 5 and in Appendix A.

Table 2 shows that all of the increase in child abduction offences resulted from a greater number of non‐parental child abductions being recorded. From 2013/14 to 2014/15 non‐parental child abductions increased by 47 per cent. Action Against Abduction’s previous research indicates that the majority of non‐parental child abductions are perpetrated by strangers (many being attempted abductions) or by offenders who are known but not related to children they are sexually exploiting. See Newiss and Traynor (2013) for a detailed review of the type of child abduction offences recorded by the police. In contrast, parental child abductions decreased by 8 per cent (Table 2). Of course, these are just offences recorded by police, and may not reflect the trend in parental child abductions that go unreported or unrecorded.

371 child kidnappings were recorded by police forces in England, Wales and Northern Ireland in

2013/14 (although this excludes two police forces, see footnote 9, Table 2, above ). This compares

to 2,243 offences of kidnappings (adults and children) reported in the ONS (England and Wales)

statistics and the Police Service of Northern Ireland figures (see Table 1, page 2). Allowing for some

additional kidnappings from the two missing police forces, it would appear that approximately one

fifth of all kidnappings recorded in the national statistical series involve child victims. Action

Against Abduction’s previous research (Newiss and Traynor, 2013) suggests that the vast majority

of child kidnappings are perpetrated by strangers or people known but not related to the victims,

motivated by exploitation, financial gain or revenge.

When taken together, the number of all child abduction and child kidnapping offences recorded

by police increased by 29 per cent from 2013/14 to 2014/15.

Whilst the increases in child abduction and child kidnapping offences have been relatively high, the

actual incidence of these offences is still relatively rare. Parental child abductions were recorded

at a rate of 1.30 per 100,000 children, rising to 5.22 per 100,000 children for non‐parental

abductions. Including child kidnappings, 9.41 offences of child abduction or kidnapping were

recorded per 100,000 children by police in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. More

information on each of these offence categories is given in the next chapter.

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Key Q&A

Q: What’s been driving the increase in police‐recorded child abductions?

A: Parental child abduction decreased slightly in the last year, and has remained broadly the same

since 2012/13. In contrast, non‐parental child abductions increased by nearly 50 per cent over the

last year alone. Child kidnappings, which share many of the same offence characteristics of non‐

parental child abductions, have also increased by nearly one‐fifth.

Q: How many offences of kidnapping involve child victims?

A: It is estimated that approximately one fifth of all kidnappings recorded by police involve child

victims.

Q: How likely is it that a child will be abducted?

A: Police recorded child abduction or kidnapping is relatively rare. 9.41 offences of child

abduction or kidnapping per 100,000 children were recorded by police in England, Wales and

Northern Ireland in 2013/14. However, many incidents go unreported to, or unrecorded by, the

police.

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3. REGIONAL AND POLICE FORCE FINDINGS

This chapter is divided into three sections:

● parental child abduction,

● non‐parental child abduction, and

● child kidnapping.

Tables 3, 4 and 5 provide data on the number of offences (in each of the categories above) recorded

in the last three years and the rate of offences per 100,000 children for each police force and

region7.

Information on the combined number of parental and non‐parental child abductions (all child abductions) is available in Appendix A. So too is the data for all child abduction and child kidnappings offences combined.

Parental child abduction recorded by police

The number of police‐recorded parental child abductions decreased by four offences from 2013/14

to 2014/15, despite four additional police forces providing data in 2014/15. When adjusted to

include only those police forces which provided data in both years the number of offences

decreased by 13 (8 per cent).

1.30 offences of parental child abduction per 100,000 children were recorded in 2014/15. This

compares to 1.40 per 100,000 in the previous year (Newiss and Collie, 2015).

20 per cent of all child abductions recorded by police were perpetrated by a parent. This proportion

has fallen slightly from the 24 per cent found in a similar analysis of child abduction offences

recorded by police in 2011/12 (Newiss and Traynor, 2013).

Despite a decrease of five offences London (Metropolitan Police Service) still has a rate of parental

child abduction (2.60 per 100,000) that is twice the national average (for all police forces and

regions see Table 3 below). The North West region recorded a rate of 1.54 per 100,000 – almost

entirely the result of the increase recorded in Greater Manchester from 7 to 13 offences in

2014/15. Sussex Police recorded nine parental child abductions in 2014/15 compared to just two

in 2013/14 (producing a 350 per cent increase, and a rate of 2.79 per 100,000 children).

Other police forces with noticeably higher rates of parental child abduction than the average were

Lincolnshire (4.97, 7 offences); Cumbria (3.19, albeit just 3 offences); Cambridgeshire (2.84, 5

offences); and South Yorkshire (2.10, 6 offences).

On the whole, substantial percentage increases and decreases are the result of changes in low

numbers. Some police forces have seen quite dramatic decreases, e.g. Northumbria (from 13 in

2013/14 to 3 in 2014/15); Avon and Somerset (from 6 to 0) and Devon and Cornwall (from 6 to 1).

7 English police forces are grouped into nine regions. The four Welsh police forces have been grouped together to form a Wales region. The Northern Ireland region draws on data from the Police Service of Northern Ireland.

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Table 3: Parental child abduction, by region and police force

2012/13 2013/14 2014/15

Change in last year per 100000

(2014/15) ¹ n= %

EAST MIDLANDS

Derbyshire Constabulary 2 2 0 ‐2 ‐100 0.00

Leicestershire Police 2 3 0 ‐3 ‐100 0.00

Lincolnshire Police 1 6 7 1 17 4.97

Northamptonshire Police ‐ ‐ ‐ ‐ ‐ ‐

Nottinghamshire Police 0 0 1 1 ‐ 0.44

REGION 5 11 8 ‐3 ‐27 1.00

EASTERN

Bedfordshire Police 0 0 1 1 ‐ 0.67

Cambridgeshire Constabulary 2 2 5 3 150 2.84

Essex Police 3 3 2 ‐1 ‐33 0.53

Hertfordshire Constabulary ‐ ‐ 4 ‐ ‐ 1.55

Norfolk Constabulary ‐ ‐ 3 ‐ ‐ 1.80

Suffolk Constabulary 2 1 1 0 0 0.66

REGION 7 6 16 * * 1.25

LONDON

City of London Police ‐ ‐ 0 ‐ ‐ 0.00

Metropolitan Police Service 63 54 49 ‐5 ‐9 2.60

REGION 63 54 49 * * 2.60

NORTH EAST

Cleveland Constabulary 0 0 2 2 ‐ 1.64

Durham Constabulary 1 0 0 0 ‐ 0.00

Northumbria Police 4 13 3 ‐10 ‐77 1.07

REGION 5 13 5 ‐8 ‐62 0.95

NORTH WEST

Cheshire Constabulary 0 2 1 ‐1 ‐50 0.47

Cumbria Constabulary 1 0 3 3 ‐ 3.19

Greater Manchester Police 6 7 13 6 86 2.13

Lancashire Constabulary 1 0 2 2 ‐ 0.64

Merseyside Police ‐ ‐ ‐ ‐ ‐

REGION 8 9 19 10 111 1.54

SOUTH EAST

Hampshire Constabulary 4 6 3 ‐3 ‐50 0.75

Kent Police 0 6 3 ‐3 ‐50 0.77

Surrey Police 0 5 1 ‐4 ‐80 0.40

Sussex Police 4 2 9 7 350 2.79

Thames Valley Police 7 7 4 ‐3 ‐43 0.76

REGION 15 26 20 ‐6 ‐23 1.06

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2012/13 2013/14 2014/15


(2014/15) ¹ n= %

SOUTH WEST

Avon and Somerset Constabulary 4 6 0 ‐6 ‐100 0.00

Devon and Cornwall Police 8 6 1 ‐5 ‐83 0.31

Dorset Police ‐ ‐ 2 ‐ ‐ 1.43

Gloucestershire Constabulary 2 1 0 ‐1 ‐100 0.00

Wiltshire Police 3 4 2 ‐2 ‐50 1.32

REGION 17 17 5 * * 0.47

WEST MIDLANDS

Staffordshire Police 0 0 2 2 ‐ 0.89

Warwickshire Police 2 1 1 0 0 0.89

West Mercia Police 1 0 3 3 ‐ 1.20

West Midlands Police 10 10 9 ‐1 ‐10 1.36

REGION 13 11 15 4 36 1.20

YORKSHIRE & HUMBER

Humberside Police ‐ ‐ ‐ ‐ ‐ ‐

North Yorkshire Police 0 1 1 0 0 0.65

South Yorkshire Police 1 2 6 4 200 2.10

West Yorkshire Police 3 0 3 3 ‐ 0.59

REGION 4 3 10 7 233 1.05

ENGLAND TOTAL (adjusted²) 137 150 147 (138) ‐3 (‐12) ‐2 (‐8) 1.35

WALES

Dyfed Powys Police ‐ ‐ ‐ ‐ ‐ ‐

Gwent Police 0 0 0 0 ‐ 0.00

North Wales Police 1 0 0 0 ‐ 0.00

South Wales Police 2 3 1 ‐2 ‐67 0.38

WALES TOTAL 3 3 1 ‐2 ‐67 0.19

Police Service of Northern Ireland 9 5 6 1 20 1.39

E, W & N.I. TOTAL (adjusted²) 149 158 154 (145) ‐4 (‐13) ‐3 (‐8) 1.30

¹The rate of abduction per 100,000 of the child population (17 or under) in each area (see Appendices for details). ²The adjusted total shows the difference between the number of offences recorded in 2014/15 compared to 2013/14 when only those police forces which returned data in both years are included. ‘‐’ indicates no data available, or that percentages could not be calculated (because 0 offences were recorded in 2013/14). ‘*’ indicates those regions for which numerical and percentage change could not be calculated because a different number of police forces contributed data in 2014/15 compared to previous years.

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Non‐parental child abduction recorded by police

The number of non‐parental child abductions recorded by police increased by 47 per cent (187

offences) in 2014/15 when adjusted to include only those police forces that returned data in both

years. The total number of 618 offences recorded by 40 police forces in England, Wales and

Northern Ireland is equivalent to 5.22 offences per 100,000 children, four times the rate of parental

child abductions. This compares to a rate of 3.56 offences of non‐parental child abduction per

100,000 in the previous year (Newiss and Collie, 2015).

Table 4 shows that this increase in the number of offences recorded is largely explained by changes

in just a small number of regions and police forces. Changes in the North West have been

particularly significant, with the region now recording twice the rate of abductions compared to all

regions (12.60 per 100,000 children). Greater Manchester Police recorded 69 more offences in

2014/15 than 2013/14 (108 compared to 39), equivalent to a rate of 17.66 offences per 100,000

children, more than three times the national average. Offences in Lancashire remain at a rate twice

the national average (10.91).

Non‐parental child abductions in the West Midlands region doubled from 45 to 93 in 2014/15.

West Midlands Police recorded an increase from 29 to 55 offences (a 90 per cent increase). The

number of offences recorded in Staffordshire increased from one to 19. Both police forces

recorded a rate of non‐parental child abduction over 8 per 100,000 children.

Yorkshire and the Humber also saw notable increases. The number of offences recorded across the

region as a whole increased by 44 per cent (to 62 offences in 2014/15), equivalent to a rate of 6.53

per 100,000 children. North Yorkshire, South Yorkshire and West Yorkshire each recorded

increases, although in only the latter was the rate over the national average.

Two other police forces recorded a rate of non‐parental child abduction more than 50 per cent

over the national average. In Cleveland (9.86 per 100,000) offences quadrupled to 12. In Northern

Ireland (8.56 per 100,000) offences increased by two.

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Why has non‐parental child abduction increased?

15 police forces were asked to provide further information about why non‐parental child

abductions had increased in their area. Responses were received from 13 (many offering more

than one reason).

● 11 indicated that improvements in the response to Child Sexual Exploitation (CSE) had

contributed to the increase. Greater awareness and training was reported to have led to more

offences been reported and to police being more likely to record an offence. Some police

forces suggested that a greater use of Child Abduction Warning Notices may have led to an

increase in offences recorded.

● Five police forces provided data on the proportion of non‐parental child abductions which involved CSE in 2014/15: four ranged from 65 to 78 per cent; one was 42 per cent. Two police

forces provided comparable data for the previous year. One police force reported that the

proportion of CSE cases had increased from 37 per cent in 2013/14 to 67 per cent in 2014/15

(albeit with relatively low numbers). The other police force reported an increase from 54 per

cent in 2013/14 to 65 per cent in 2014/15 (with much larger numbers).

● Eight police forces suggested improvements in crime recording and greater adherence to the

National Crime Recording Standard guidelines had impacted on the number of offences

recorded. Many police forces stressed that, as a result, the number of offences better reflects

the true scale of the problem. Two police forces suggested that stricter crime recording

processes may have ensured that incidents which would previously have not met an

‘evidential’ threshold to be recorded were now been recorded as a crime.

● Two police forces indicated that a recent focus on intervening in cases of forced marriage

may have increased the number of non‐parental child abductions recorded, although neither

offered any quantitative analysis.

14

Table 4: Non‐parental child abduction, by region and police force

2012/13 2013/14 2014/15


(2014/15)¹ n= %

EAST MIDLANDS

Derbyshire Constabulary 11 9 15 6 67 7.05

Leicestershire Police 9 4 13 9 225 5.86

Lincolnshire Police 6 9 2 ‐7 ‐78 1.42

Northamptonshire Police ‐ ‐ ‐ ‐ ‐ ‐

Nottinghamshire Police 6 4 1 ‐3 ‐75 0.44

REGION 32 26 31 5 19 3.87

EASTERN

Bedfordshire Police 1 2 4 2 100 2.69

Cambridgeshire Constabulary 4 4 4 0 0 2.27

Essex Police 10 10 6 ‐4 ‐40 1.60

Hertfordshire Constabulary ‐ ‐ 14 ‐ ‐ 5.42


Suffolk Constabulary 1 1 4 3 300 2.65

REGION 16 17 44 * * 3.45

LONDON


Metropolitan Police Service 49 54 74 20 37 3.92

REGION 49 54 74 * * 3.92

NORTH EAST

Cleveland Constabulary 5 3 12 9 300 9.86

Durham Constabulary 10 8 8 0 0 6.51


REGION 17 17 22 5 29 4.19

NORTH WEST

Cheshire Constabulary 3 3 9 6 200 4.22



Lancashire Constabulary 18 33 34 1 3 10.91

Merseyside Police ‐ ‐ ‐ ‐ ‐ ‐

REGION 63 75 155 80 107 12.60

SOUTH EAST

Hampshire Constabulary 10 18 19 1 6 4.77

Kent Police 1 3 5 2 67 1.29

Surrey Police 2 6 8 2 33 3.17

Sussex Police 9 9 18 9 100 5.57

Thames Valley Police 11 17 9 ‐8 ‐47 1.70

REGION 33 53 59 6 11 3.12

15

Action Against

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2012/13 2013/14 2014/15


(2014/15) ¹ n= %

SOUTH WEST

Avon and Somerset Constabulary 7 7 6 ‐1 ‐14 1.80

Devon and Cornwall Police 9 9 11 2 22 3.41

Dorset Police ‐ ‐ 6 ‐ ‐ 4.28


Wiltshire Police 0 0 2 2 ‐ 1.32

REGION 25 22 30 * * 2.81

WEST MIDLANDS

Staffordshire Police 2 1 19 18 1800 8.43


West Mercia Police 8 12 14 2 17 5.60

West Midlands Police 25 29 55 26 90 8.29

REGION 37 45 93 48 107 7.43

YORKSHIRE & HUMBER


North Yorkshire Police 0 2 7 5 250 4.53

South Yorkshire Police 12 9 13 4 44 4.56

West Yorkshire Police 23 32 42 10 31 8.25

REGION 35 43 62 19 44 6.53

ENGLAND TOTAL (adjusted²) 307 352 570 (538) 218 (186) 62 (53) 5.24

WALES


Gwent Police 6 8 6 ‐2 ‐25 4.84

North Wales Police 0 2 3 1 50 2.14

South Wales Police 5 2 2 0 0 0.75

WALES TOTAL 11 12 11 ‐1 ‐8 2.08

Police Service of Northern Ireland 34 35 37 2 6 8.56

E, W & N.I. TOTAL (adjusted²) 352 399 618 (586) 219 (187) 55 (47) 5.22


16

Child kidnapping recorded by police

The number of child kidnapping offences recorded by police increased by 18 per cent (56 offences)

in 2014/15 when adjusted to include only those police forces that returned data in both years. The

total number of 371 offences recorded by 42 police forces in England, Wales and Northern Ireland

is equivalent to 3.02 offences per 100,000 children, up from 2.65 the previous year (Newiss and

Collie, 2015).

Two regions recorded notably higher rates of child kidnapping than the national average. In London

offences increased by over one‐third to 105 in 2014/15, producing a rate of 5.57 per 100,000. In

the West Midlands (region) offences increased by nearly half to 66 in 2014/15; a rate of 5.28 per

100,000. Each police force across the region (Staffordshire, Warwickshire, West Mercia and West

Midlands Police) recorded an increase of between three and seven child kidnapping offences, and

each had a rate higher than the national average.

Likewise, each police force in the South East region (Hampshire, Kent, Surrey, Sussex and Thames

Valley) increased the number of child kidnappings recorded from between four and nine offences.

However, only Kent recorded a rate substantially higher than the national average (5.41 per

100,000).

In the north of England, only West Yorkshire (5.50, 28 offences in 2014/15) and Greater

Manchester (3.93 per 100,000; 24 offences) recorded higher than average rates of child

kidnapping. In the North East region, Cleveland Constabulary, Durham Constabulary and

Northumbria Police did not record a single offence.

Why has child kidnapping increased?

Six police forces were asked to provide further information about why child kidnappings had

increased in their area. Responses were received from four.

● The Home Office offence category of ‘kidnapping’ is made up of several sub‐category

offences, including kidnapping, hijacking, hostage‐taking, acts against aircrafts, false

imprisonment and forced marriage (see Home Office, 2015).

● Two police forces indicated that the overall increase in kidnappings had largely been the result of an increase in false imprisonments. In both police forces false imprisonments are now the

largest single offence within the ‘kidnapping’ category. In another police force this was not

the case, with kidnapping offences accounting for two‐thirds of the overall category.

● One police force described how changes in crime recording may have affected the number of

false imprisonments. Whereas previously a matter brought to the attention of police may

have been recorded as a child protection incident (not a crime) new standards have seen

these recorded as a crime of false imprisonment.

● Another police force described how a recent focus on responding to domestic abuse may

have resulted in more crimes of false imprisonment being recorded. In 2014/15 six domestic

abuse related false imprisonments were recorded compared to two in the previous year.

● The same police force reported that a small number of historical offences had contributed to

the number of false imprisonment offences recorded in 2014/15; compared to none in the

previous year.

17

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Table 5: Child kidnappings, by region and police force

2012/13 2013/14 2014/15


(2014/15) ¹ n= %

EAST MIDLANDS

Derbyshire Constabulary 2 6 4 ‐2 ‐33 1.88

Leicestershire Police 5 0 1 1 ‐ 0.45

Lincolnshire Police 8 11 2 ‐9 ‐82 1.42

Northamptonshire Police 5 5 3 ‐2 ‐40 1.88

Nottinghamshire Police 6 5 4 ‐1 ‐20 1.77

REGION 26 27 14 ‐13 ‐48 1.46

EASTERN

Bedfordshire Police 4 2 3 1 50 2.02

Cambridgeshire Constabulary 0 4 1 ‐3 ‐75 0.57

Essex Police 5 11 6 ‐5 ‐45 1.60

Hertfordshire Constabulary 9 16 4 ‐12 ‐75 1.55


Suffolk Constabulary 1 3 2 ‐1 ‐33 1.32

REGION 19 36 22 * * 1.72

LONDON


Metropolitan Police Service 64 76 105 29 38 5.57

REGION 64 76 105 * * 5.57

NORTH EAST

Cleveland Constabulary 3 1 0 ‐1 ‐100 0.00

Durham Constabulary 1 0 0 0 ‐ 0.00


REGION 4 2 0 ‐2 ‐100 0.00

NORTH WEST

Cheshire Constabulary 7 2 2 0 0 0.94



Lancashire Constabulary 1 7 6 ‐1 ‐14 1.93

Merseyside Police 3 3 3 0 0 1.07

REGION 23 32 36 4 13 2.38

SOUTH EAST

Hampshire Constabulary 5 2 9 7 350 2.26

Kent Police 6 12 21 9 75 5.41

Surrey Police 4 3 7 4 133 2.77

Sussex Police 4 2 10 8 400 3.10

Thames Valley Police 9 7 12 5 71 2.27

REGION 28 26 59 33 127 3.12

18

2012/13 2013/14 2014/15


(2014/15) ¹ n= %

SOUTH WEST

Avon and Somerset Constabulary 3 4 5 1 25 1.50

Devon and Cornwall Police 1 3 8 5 167 2.48

Dorset Police 0 2 0 ‐2 ‐100 0.00


Wiltshire Police 5 3 8 5 167 5.28

REGION 13 14 22 8 57 2.06

WEST MIDLANDS

Staffordshire Police 4 5 11 6 120 4.88


West Mercia Police 4 3 10 7 233 4.00

West Midlands Police 33 33 38 5 15 5.73

REGION 43 45 66 21 47 5.28

YORKSHIRE & HUMBER


North Yorkshire Police 4 5 4 ‐1 ‐20 2.59

South Yorkshire Police 3 4 2 ‐2 ‐50 0.70

West Yorkshire Police 23 23 28 5 22 5.50

REGION 30 32 34 2 6 3.58

ENGLAND TOTAL (adjusted²) 250 290 358 (352) 68 (62) 23 (21) 3.16

WALES


Gwent Police 2 7 4 ‐3 ‐43 3.22

North Wales Police 4 1 0 ‐1 ‐100 0.00

South Wales Police 2 1 1 0 0 0.38

WALES TOTAL 8 9 5 ‐4 ‐44 0.94

Police Service of Northern Ireland 12 10 8 ‐2 ‐20 1.85

E, W & N.I. TOTAL (adjusted²) 270 309 371 (365) 62 (56) 20 (18) 3.02


19

Action Against

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Key Q&A

Q: Doesn’t most child abduction and kidnapping happen in the large city police forces?

A: Overall, London, West Midlands Police, Greater Manchester and West Yorkshire all have

higher rates of child abduction and kidnappings offences than the national average. However,

the pattern is not always consistent. For example, the rate of parental child abduction in West

Yorkshire was less than half the national average in 2014/15. The rate of non‐parental child

abduction recorded in the London (Metropolitan Police Service) was three‐quarters the national

average. Additionally, some smaller police forces have even larger rates of offences.

Q: Has the increase in child abduction and kidnapping offences been seen across all

police forces?

A: No. A relatively small number of police forces have recorded a large proportion of the increase

in offences. London, West Midlands Police, Greater Manchester and West Yorkshire accounted

for nearly 60 per cent of the (gross) increase in non‐parental child abduction and 40 per cent of

the increase in kidnappings. Greater Manchester alone accounted for 30 per cent of the increase

in non‐parental child abductions. Whilst parental child abduction increased in 14 police forces,

it fell in 16 police forces and remained the same in six. Non‐parental child abduction increased

in 25 police forces, yet decreased in eight police forces and remained the same in three. Child

kidnapping increased in 18 police forces, decreased in the same number, and remained the same

in four.

Q: Why have offences increased so much?

A: Improvements in crime recording are likely to be impacting on the number of abduction and

kidnapping offences recorded. Some incidents which may previously have gone unrecorded may

now be recorded as a crime. Police force initiatives to tackle child sexual exploitation may also

be having a sizeable effect on trends in recorded crime, as might efforts to intervene in forced

marriage and domestic abuse. Without further research it is not possible to say whether the

underlying incidence of child abduction and kidnapping is increasing.

20

4. SUMMARY AND DISCUSSION

Increases in child abduction and kidnapping offences

On the whole, increases in the number of offences recorded by police from 2013/14 to 2014/15

are the result of changes in relatively few police forces.

Taking all abduction and kidnapping offences together, 26 police forces recorded an increase in

offences (a gross total of 315 offences8). However, the large city police forces (Metropolitan Police

Service, Greater Manchester, West Midlands and West Yorkshire) accounted for 54 per cent of

these offences (171). Greater Manchester alone accounted for one quarter (79 offences) of the

overall increase. Just two other police forces, Sussex and Staffordshire, together accounted for a

further 16 per cent (50 offences) of the overall increase.

A similar pattern exists with non‐parental abductions and child kidnappings separately. The

Metropolitan Police Service, Greater Manchester, West Midlands and West Yorkshire together

accounted for 58 per cent of the gross increase in non‐parental child abductions (125 of 217

offences9). Greater Manchester alone accounted for over 30 per cent (69 offences) of the increase.

Increases in Staffordshire (18), Cleveland (9), Leicestershire (9) and Sussex (9) accounted for a

further 21 per cent of the overall (gross) increase.

The large city police forces (Metropolitan Police Service, Greater Manchester, West Midlands and

West Yorkshire) accounted for 40 per cent of the increase in child kidnappings10. A further 30 per

cent of the overall (gross) increase was the result of increase in just four police forces: Kent (9),

Sussex (8), Hampshire (7) and West Mercia (7). Whilst 18 police forces recorded increases in child

kidnapping offences the same number of police forces recorded decreases (albeit by fewer

offences).

Rates of child abduction

Despite large increases, the rate of child abduction offences recorded by police is still relatively

low. Police forces across England, Wales and Northern Ireland recorded 9.41 offences of child

abduction or kidnapping per 100,000 children.

On the whole, the large city police forces recorded high rate of offences, although not always in

every offence category. Greater Manchester recorded more than three times the rate of the

national average of non‐parental child abduction (17.66 per 100,000 compared to 5.22), and

comparatively high rates of parental abduction and child kidnapping. West Midlands Police

recorded a rate of kidnapping nearly 90 per cent higher than the national average (5.73 per 100,000

compared to 3.02), a rate of non‐parental child abduction nearly 60 per cent higher than the

national average, and a rate of parental abduction level with the national average.

8 315 is the gross increase. This was offset by nine police forces in which the number of offences decreased (by a total of 65 offences), giving a net increase of 250 offences (see Table 2 and Appendix A). 9 217 is the gross increase in non‐parental child abductions, the sum of increases in 25 police forces. This was offset by decreases in eight police forces (totalling 30 offences), giving a net increase of 187 offences (see Table 4). 10 There was a gross increase in child kidnappings of 106 offences, the sum of increases in 18 police forces. This was offset by decreases in 18 police forces (totalling 50 offences), giving a net increase of 56 offences (see Table 5).

21

Action Against

Formerly PACT

Abduction

In the Metropolitan Police area (London) the rate of parental child abduction was twice the

national average (2.60 compared to 1.30), and the rate of child kidnapping was 85 per cent higher.

However, the rate of non‐parental abduction was lower than the national average. West Yorkshire

Police recorded a rate of child kidnapping 82 per cent higher than the national average (5.50 per

100,000) and a rate of non‐parental child abduction nearly 60 per cent higher. However, the rate

of parental child abduction (0.59) was less than half the national average.

In each offence category a small number of other police forces have recorded rates to rival the

large city police forces. Four smaller police forces recorded the highest rates of parental child

abduction: Lincolnshire (4.97 per 100,000 – more than three and a half times the national average);

Cumbria (3.19); Cambridgeshire (2.84) and Sussex (2.79). Whilst Greater Manchester recorded by

far the largest rate of non‐parental child abductions, Lancashire (10.91 – nearly twice the national

average), Cleveland (9.86) and Staffordshire (8.43) each recorded higher rates than the other large

city police forces. Warwickshire (6.25 – more than twice the national average) recorded the highest

rate of child kidnapping of any police force.

Why are offences increasing?

Follow‐up correspondence with police forces recording relatively large increases from 2013/14 to

2014/15 revealed a number of explanations for the increase in (non‐parental child abduction and

kidnapping) offences:

● It seems likely that continued improvement in crime recording processes is playing a large part

in the increases recorded by some police forces. Offences which may previously have been

logged only as an incident may, in the past year, have been more likely to have resulted in a

crime being recorded. In this respect increases in crime should be welcomed for providing a

better picture of the scale of the problem. Further research with police forces is needed to

quantify the extent to which recording processes are affecting changes in the number of

abductions and kidnappings recorded.

● There is some evidence that a greater proportion of non‐parental child abductions involve

cases of child sexual exploitation (CSE). Responses from police forces indicate that greater

training and awareness (of both police and other professionals) about CSE may have led to

more offences being recognised and interventions made, culminating in more crimes being

recorded.

● Child abduction and kidnapping cover a very broad range of offence scenarios (see Newiss and

Traynor, 2013). Police force initiatives to tackle high profile or sensitive issues – such as forced

marriage, domestic abuse and historical offences – may be having a knock‐on effect on the

number of crimes recorded.

● The data collected in this study are insufficient to determine whether there has been a ‘real’

increase in the actual number of child abductions and kidnappings being committed (as

opposed to simply more being reported to, or recorded by, police). Further research is needed

to examine the effect of crime recording processes and initiatives to tackle high profile or

sensitive issues on the rate of crime recording. New survey data, on young people’s self‐

reported experience of (different types of) abduction, would provide an invaluable measure of

real trends in these offences.

22

Under reporting or recording of offences

There is no doubt that the number of offences recorded by police are just a fraction of all abduction

incidents that children experience. In part this is explained by crimes simply not being reported to

the police. Gallagher et. al. (2008) found that only a minority of stranger attempted abductions

were reported to the police. More recently the Children’s Commissioner (2015), The Children’s

Society (Pona and Baillie, 2015) and researchers at the University of Bedfordshire in partnership

with Victim Support (Beckett and Warrington, 2014) have all highlighted the considerable under‐

reporting of offences against children involving abuse and exploitation.

However, whilst recent increases in child abduction and kidnapping may in part be explained by

improvements in crime recording, the possibility that more incidents are still not being recorded

as a crime cannot be discounted. A recent inspection of crime data integrity by Her Majesty’s

Inspectorate of Constabulary (HMIC, 2014) found substantial rates of under‐recording, particularly

for sexual offences and crimes involving violence.

Whilst attention may inevitably be drawn to police forces and regions with relatively high rates of

abduction and kidnapping offences, scrutiny should also be given to areas with low offence rates.

Whilst charities and government bodies record approximately 500 international parental child

abductions a year in the UK (see www.childabduction.org.uk), some police forces with large,

diverse cities record few, or even no, offences of parental child abduction. Likewise, there is

enormous variation in the rates of non‐parental child abduction and child kidnapping recorded by

police forces across the UK, with some police forces – and indeed one whole region – recording

zero offences. Further research might compare HMIC reports on individual police forces’ crime

data integrity with the child abduction and kidnapping data given in this report.

23

Action Against

Formerly PACT

Abduction

REFERENCES

Beckett, H. and Warrington, C. (2014) Suffering in silence: Children and unreported crime.

University of Bedfordshire and Victim Support.

Children’s Commissioner (2015) Protecting children from harm: a critical assessment of child

sexual abuse in the family network in England and priorities for action. London: Children’s

Commissioner for England.

Gallagher, B., Bradford, M. and Pease, K. (2008) ‘Attempted and completed incidents of stranger‐

perpetrated child sexual abuse and abduction.’ Child Abuse and Neglect. 32: 517‐528.

Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary (2014) Crime‐recording: making the victim count. The

final report of an inspection of crime data integrity in police forces in England and Wales. London:

Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary.

Home Office (2015) Home Office counting rules for recorded crime (online). Available at:

www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/299318/count‐

violence‐april‐2014.pdf (accessed 30 December 2015).

Newiss, G. and Collie, C. (2015) Police‐recorded child abduction and kidnapping 2012/13 to

2013/14 England, Wales and Northern Ireland. London: Parents and Abducted Children Together.

Newiss, G. and Traynor, M. (2013) Taken: A study of child abduction in the UK. London: Parents

and Abducted Children Together and the Child Exploitation and Online Protection Centre.

Office for National Statistics (2014) Population Estimates for UK, England and Wales, Scotland

and Northern Ireland, Mid‐2013 (online). Available at: www.ons.gov.uk/ons/publications/re‐

reference‐tables.html?edition=tcm%3A77‐322718 (accessed 3 February 2015).

Office for National Statistics (2014a) Crime in England and Wales, year ending March 2014 – CSP

tables (online). Available at: www.ons.gov.uk/ons/rel/crime‐stats/crime‐statistics/period‐ending‐

march‐2014/rft‐table‐10.xls (accessed 3 February 2015).

Office for National Statistics (2015) Crime in England and Wales, year ending March 2015

(Appendix tables) (online). Available at: www.ons.gov.uk/ons/rel/crime‐stats/crime‐

statistics/year‐ending‐march‐2015/index.html (accessed 30 December 2015).

Office for National Statistics (2015a) A stocktake of crime statistics in England and Wales Part of

Crime Statistics, year ending September 2014 (online). Available at:

www.ons.gov.uk/ons/rel/crime‐stats/crime‐statistics/year‐ending‐september‐2014/sty‐stock‐

take‐of‐crime‐statistics.html (accessed 3 February 2015).

Police Service Northern Ireland (2015) Trends in Police Recorded Crime in Northern Ireland

1998/99 to 2014/15. Belfast: Police Service Northern Ireland.

Pona, I. and Baillie, D. (2015) Old enough to know better? Why sexually exploited older teenagers

are being overlooked. London: The Children’s Society.

The Law Commission (2011) Simplification of Criminal Law: Kidnapping. Consultation Paper

No.200. The Law Commission: London.

24

APPENDIX A: TOTAL CHILD ABDUCTION AND KIDNAPPING OFFENCES

Under 18 population¹

Total child abduction offences Total child abduction and kidnapping offences

2012/13 201314 2014/15

Change in last year per 100,000

(2014/15) ² 2012/13 201314 2014/15


(2014/15) ² n= % n= %

EAST MIDLANDS

Derbyshire Constabulary 212,634 13 11 15 4 36 7.05 15 17 19 2 12 8.94

Leicestershire Police 221,912 11 7 13 6 86 5.86 16 7 14 7 100 6.31

Lincolnshire Police 140,725 7 15 9 ‐6 ‐40 6.40 15 26 11 ‐15 ‐58 7.82

Northamptonshire Police ‐ ‐ ‐ ‐ ‐ ‐ ‐ ‐ ‐ ‐ ‐ ‐ ‐

Nottinghamshire Police 226,494 6 4 2 ‐2 ‐50 0.88 12 9 6 ‐3 ‐33 2.65

REGION 801,765 37 37 39 2 5 4.86 58 59 50 ‐9 ‐15 6.24

EASTERN

Bedfordshire Police 148,444 1 2 5 3 150 3.37 5 4 8 4 100 5.39

Cambridgeshire Constabulary 175,855 6 6 9 3 50 5.12 6 10 10 0 0 5.69

Essex Police 375,522 13 13 8 ‐5 ‐38 2.13 18 24 14 ‐10 ‐42 3.73

Hertfordshire Constabulary 258,414 3 5 18 13 260 6.97 12 21 22 1 5 8.51

Norfolk Constabulary 166,507 ‐ ‐ 15 ‐ ‐ 9.01 ‐ ‐ 21 ‐ ‐ 12.61

Suffolk Constabulary 151,146 3 2 5 3 150 3.31 4 5 7 2 40 4.63

REGION 1,275,888 26 28 60 * * 4.70 45 64 82 * * 6.43

LONDON

City of London Police 829 ‐ ‐ 0 ‐ ‐ 0.00 ‐ ‐ 0 ‐ ‐ 0.00

Metropolitan Police Service 1,885,956 112 108 123 15 14 6.52 176 184 228 44 24 12.09

REGION 1,886,785 112 108 123 * * 6.52 176 184 228 * * 12.08

25

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2012/13 201314 2014/15


(2014/15) ² 2012/13 201314 2014/15


(2014/15) ² n= % n= %

NORTH EAST

Cleveland Constabulary 121,656 5 3 14 11 367 11.51 8 4 14 10 250 11.51

Durham Constabulary 122,976 11 8 8 0 0 6.51 12 8 8 0 0 6.51

Northumbria Police 280,414 6 19 5 ‐14 ‐74 1.78 6 20 5 ‐15 ‐75 1.78

REGION 525,046 22 30 27 ‐3 ‐10 5.14 26 32 27 ‐5 ‐16 5.14

NORTH WEST

Cheshire Constabulary 213,504 3 5 10 5 100 4.68 10 7 12 5 71 5.62

Cumbria Constabulary 94,005 3 0 7 7 ‐ 7.45 3 0 8 8 ‐ 8.51

Greater Manchester Police 611,399 46 46 121 75 163 19.79 58 66 145 79 120 23.72

Lancashire Constabulary 311,541 19 33 36 3 9 11.56 20 40 42 2 5 13.48

Merseyside Police 279,072 4 1 1 0 0 0.36 7 4 4 0 0 1.43

REGION 1,509,521 75 85 175 90 106 11.59 98 117 211 94 80 13.98

SOUTH EAST

Hampshire Constabulary 397,915 14 24 22 ‐2 ‐8 5.53 19 26 31 5 19 7.79

Kent Police 387,877 1 9 8 ‐1 ‐11 2.06 7 21 29 8 38 7.48

Surrey Police 252,270 2 11 9 ‐2 ‐18 3.57 6 14 16 2 14 6.34

Sussex Police 323,081 13 11 27 16 145 8.36 17 13 37 24 185 11.45

Thames Valley Police 529,031 18 24 13 ‐11 ‐46 2.46 27 31 25 ‐6 ‐19 4.73

REGION 1,890,174 48 79 79 0 0 4.18 76 105 138 33 31 7.30

26



2012/13 201314 2014/15


(2014/15) ² 2012/13 201314 2014/15


(2014/15) ² n= % n= %

SOUTH WEST

Avon and Somerset Constabulary 332,650 11 13 6 ‐7 ‐54 1.80 14 17 11 ‐6 ‐35 3.31

Devon and Cornwall Police 322,356 17 15 12 ‐3 ‐20 3.72 18 18 20 2 11 6.20

Dorset Police 140,285 7 3 8 5 167 5.70 7 5 8 3 60 5.70

Gloucestershire Constabulary 122,734 11 7 5 ‐2 ‐29 4.07 15 9 6 ‐3 ‐33 4.89

Wiltshire Police 151,409 3 4 4 0 0 2.64 8 7 12 5 71 7.93

REGION 1,069,434 49 42 35 ‐7 ‐17 3.27 62 56 57 1 2 5.33

WEST MIDLANDS

Staffordshire Police 225,306 2 1 21 20 2000 9.32 6 6 32 26 433 14.20

Warwickshire Police 111,929 4 4 6 2 50 5.36 6 8 13 5 63 11.61

West Mercia Police 249,992 9 12 17 5 42 6.80 13 15 27 12 80 10.80

West Midlands Police 663,719 35 39 64 25 64 9.64 68 72 102 30 42 15.37

REGION 1,250,946 50 56 108 52 93 8.63 93 101 174 73 72 13.91

YORKSHIRE & HUMBER

Humberside Police ‐ ‐ ‐ ‐ ‐ ‐ ‐ ‐ ‐ ‐ ‐ ‐ ‐

North Yorkshire Police 154,648 0 3 8 5 167 5.17 4 8 12 4 50 7.76

South Yorkshire Police 285,191 13 11 19 8 73 6.66 16 15 21 6 40 7.36

West Yorkshire Police 509,391 26 32 45 13 41 8.83 49 55 73 18 33 14.33

REGION 949,230 39 46 72 26 57 7.59 69 78 106 28 36 11.17

ENGLAND TOTAL 11,158,789 458 511 718 207 41 6.43 703 796 1,073 277 35 9.62

ENGLAND TOTAL adjusted³ 703 192 38 1,052 256 32

27

Action Against

Formerly PACT

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2012/13 201314 2014/15


(2014/15) ² 2012/13 201314 2014/15


(2014/15) ² n= % n= %

WALES

Dyfed Powys Police 100,268 1 5 6 1 20 5.98 ‐ ‐ ‐ ‐ ‐ ‐

Gwent Police 124,059 6 8 6 ‐2 ‐25 4.84 8 15 10 ‐5 ‐33 8.06

North Wales Police 139,979 1 2 3 1 50 2.14 5 3 3 0 0 2.14

South Wales Police 265,905 7 5 3 ‐2 ‐40 1.13 9 6 4 ‐2 ‐33 1.50

WALES TOTAL 630,211 15 20 18 ‐2 ‐10 2.86 22 24 17 ‐7 ‐29 3.21⁴

Police Service of Northern Ireland 432,015 43 40 43 3 8 9.95 55 50 51 1 2 11.81

E, W & N.I. TOTAL 12,221,015 516 571 779 208 36 6.37 780 870 1,141 271 31 9.41⁵

E, W & N.I. TOTAL adjusted³ 764 193 34 1,120 250 29

¹Police force population figures have been excluded from the regional totals when no offence data was provided: Northamptonshire (did not give a specific number of child abduction offences, making it impossible to calculate the total number of abduction and kidnapping offences); Humberside (no data provided); and Dyfed Powys (did not provided kidnapping data, making it impossible to calculate the total number of abduction and kidnapping offences). ²The rate of abduction per 100,000 of the child population (17 or under) in each area (see Appendix B for details of these have been calculated). ³ The adjusted total shows the difference between the number of offences recorded in 2014/15 compared to 2013/14 when only those police forces which returned data in both years are included. ⁴The rate of child kidnappings for the Welsh police forces excludes population data from Dyfed Powys (which did not provide kidnapping data). The calculation is: (17 / 529,953) x 100,000; where 529,953 = total population (630,211) – Dyfed Powys population (100,268). ⁵The rate of total child abduction and kidnapping offences (England, Wales and Northern Ireland) excludes population data from Dyfed Powys (which did not provide kidnapping data). The calculation is: (1,141 / 12,120,747) x 100,000; where 12,120,747 = total population (12,221,015) – Dyfed Powys population (100,268). ‘‐’ indicates no data available, or that percentages could not be calculated (because 0 offences were recorded in 2013/14). ‘*’ indicates those regions for which numerical and percentage change could not be calculated because a different number of police forces contributed data in 2014/15 compared to previous years.

28

APPENDIX B: CALCULATION OF POLICE FORCE, REGIONAL

AND NATIONAL RATES PER 100,000 CHILDREN

Tables 2 to 5 and Appendix A provide information on the rates of child abduction and kidnapping

offences per 100,000 children for individual police forces, regions and for England, Wales and

Northern Ireland as a whole. This Appendix explains how these have been calculated.

Police force calculations

The child population of each police force area was derived from ONS mid‐2013 population

estimates for England, Wales and Northern Ireland (Office for National Statistics, 2014). ONS mid‐

2013 population estimates are available for local authority areas and regions. The under‐18

populations of each local authority were compiled into their respective police force areas using

ONS Community Safety Partnership tables (Office for National Statistics, 2014a). The actual child

population estimates for each police force area are shown in Appendix A.

The rates for each offence category (parental child abduction, non‐parental child abduction, child

kidnapping, and all child abduction and kidnapping) were calculated as follows:

Number of offences x 100,000

Police force child population

Regional calculations

Regional rates were calculated using the same formula. However, population data from police

forces not providing data, or providing unusable data, were excluded from the regional population

totals. In some cases, this has resulted in the regional population figures changing according to the

offence category for which rates have been produced.

For example, in the East Midlands population data for Northamptonshire has been excluded from

the regional population total when producing rates per 100,000 for parental child abduction and

non‐parental child abduction. Because Northamptonshire provided usable child kidnapping data,

the police forces population figures have been included in the regional child population total when

calculating rates of child kidnapping per 100,000.

England, Wales and Northern Ireland calculations

The same approach to calculating regional rates was used for the England, Wales and Northern

Ireland total rates. The calculations only include the police force/regional population data that has

usable offence data. This has sometimes produced different national totals for the parental/non‐

parental child abduction, child kidnapping and all child abduction and kidnapping categories.

Documents

Police-recorded child abduction and kidnapping 2014/15 · 2016-09-29 · Police‐recorded child abduction or kidnapping is relatively rare. 9.41 offences of child abduction or kidnapping