Phase 1: Findings From the National Survey
Methodology
All law enforcement agencies and prosecutors
serving a nationally representative
sample of 400 counties were surveyed
about their handling of parental abduction
incidents occurring in 1992. In all, 400
prosecutors' offices, 405 county law enforcement
agencies, and 3,625 municipal
law enforcement agencies were surveyed.
Two questionnaires, one to be filled out by
law enforcement agencies and the other
by prosecutors, were mailed to the offices
of sheriffs, police, and prosecutors in the
selected jurisdictions.
Because of a series of followup mailings and other reminders to survey participants, the response rate was excellent for a mail survey. Overall, 76.6 percent of the law enforcement agencies completed the survey, 4.7 percent were found to be ineligible because the agencies did not have jurisdiction to conduct criminal investigations of parental abductions, and only 0.5 percent directly refused. Three-quarters (75 percent) of sampled prosecutors completed the survey, with 2.5 percent declining to participate and 22.5 percent not responding at all.
National Estimates of Reports, Arrests, and Prosecutor Actions
Law enforcement agencies and prosecutors reported the following for 1992:
- An estimated 30,500 parental abduction
cases were reported to law enforcement
agencies. In 82 percent of these
cases, a parent was responsible for the
abduction; in 12 percent, a family member
other than a parent was the abductor;
and in 6 percent, nonfamily members
were the perpetrators.
- Approximately 4,500 cases of parental
abduction—only 15 percent of all
reported cases—resulted in arrest.
- A higher number of cases were referred
to prosecutors than the 4,500
resulting in arrest. Law enforcement
agencies referred about 9,200 parental
abduction cases (30 percent of all
reported cases) to prosecutors.
- An estimated 15,000 parental abduction
cases were formally opened by
prosecutors. This number is substantially
higher than the number of referrals
to prosecutors' offices by law enforcement
agencies (9,200), implying
that many parental abduction cases
reach these offices by other referral
routes, such as through the courts or
directly from the aggrieved custodial
parent.
- Criminal charges were filed in only an
estimated 3,500 (23 percent) of the
15,000 cases opened by prosecutors.
Of the cases in which charges were
filed, 31 percent were dismissed and
49 percent resulted in convictions.
- Only 17 of the 400 counties surveyed reported that their prosecutors' offices filed more than 15 criminal complaints in 1992. Only 8 of these 17 counties were outside of California.
Relation to NISMART Estimates
The most comprehensive study of the extent of parental abduction is the National Incidence Studies on Missing, Abducted, Runaway, and Thrownaway Children in America (NISMART)2 (Finkelhor, Hotaling, and Sedlak, 1990). Conducted in 1988, this nationwide telephone household survey produced estimates of the number of family abductions (to both domestic and international destinations) nationwide. Cases identified in NISMART are categorized as either "broad scope" or "policy focal":
- Broad-scope cases. These are cases in
which a family member either (1) took
a child in violation of a custody agreement
or decree or (2) failed to return
or give over a child at the end of a
legal or agreed-upon visit (in violation
of a custody agreement or decree) and
the child was away at least overnight.
NISMART researchers estimated that
354,100 children experienced an abduction
under this definition. This category
included most cases that would
be considered abduction under even
the broadest statutes and also many in
which law enforcement agencies and
prosecutors would not be involved
(either because of more stringent legal
definitions or by discretion).
- Policy-focal cases. These are cases that fit the broad-scope definition but also have at least one of the following characteristics: (1) an attempt was made to conceal the taking or whereabouts of the child and prevent contact with the child, (2) the child was transported out of State, or (3) evidence existed that the abductor intended to keep the child indefinitely or to permanently affect custodial privileges. About 46 percent (163,200) of the broad-scope cases fell within this narrower definition (Finkelhor, Hotaling, and Sedlak, 1990).
The national estimates of reports of parental abduction to law enforcement agencies in the present study include only cases for which law enforcement officially took a report (30,500) or for which prosecutors' offices officially opened a case (15,000). These figures are substantially lower than the estimated number of family abduction cases reported in the 1990 NISMART study. Figures from both studies appear equally valid in their own right. Possible explanations for the discrepancy between the two studies include:
- Classification of the crime within the
system not readily identifiable. For
example, a violation of a custody order
may not be distinguishable in the system
from a violation of any other court
order.
- Failure to report parental abductions
that occur in concert with other crimes.
For example, police may record other
crimes, such as assault and battery or
breaking and entering, and only mention
the parental abduction in the narrative
of the report.
- Lack of jurisdiction by some law enforcement
agencies to conduct criminal
investigations on parental abductions.
- Informal handling of cases by both police and civil attorneys to return the child to the custodial parent.
Case Characteristics Influencing Law Enforcement and Prosecutor Processing
The following three factors were most frequently cited by law enforcement agencies as influencing their decision to take a report of an alleged parental abduction:
- The existence of a custody order
(60.1 percent).
- The endangerment of a child
(52.1 percent).
- Joint custody (50.3 percent).3
Two of these factors—endangerment of the child and existence of a custody order—were also among three of the most commonly cited factors determining investigative priority (70.9 and 51.9 percent, respectively). The other most frequently reported factor was the child's disability status, cited by 65.7 percent of agencies.
The most common factors influencing whether a prosecutor's office opened a case were the existence of a custody order (70.6 percent), joint custody (62.8 percent), and endangerment of a child (62.2 percent). Regarding whether a case was actually prosecuted (i.e., filing of a criminal complaint), the three most common factors influencing this decision were the existence of a custody order (77.0 percent), the length of time the child had been gone (68.0 percent), and joint custody (66.9 percent).
Agency Characteristics and Resources
The majority of law enforcement agencies reported that they did not have written policies and procedures governing parental abduction cases (69 percent), that they did not receive formal training on the handling of parental abduction cases (63 percent), and that they were not aided by a computerized MIS in providing information on the number of parental abduction cases reported to their agencies (69 percent). Only 10 percent of the law enforcement agencies indicated that they had specialized programs designed to address parental abduction in their jurisdictions.
The survey of prosecutors produced similar findings. The vast majority stated that they had not been aided by a computerized MIS in providing survey information (85 percent), that they did not have policies or written guidelines on the handling of parental abduction cases (86 percent), and that staff did not receive formal training on parental abduction (86 percent). Seventy-nine percent of the prosecutors' offices indicated that they did not have specialized parental abduction programs.
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