Psychics and the Police

Whenever a child goes missing you can be sure that someone will claim to have psychic information about his or whereabouts. So no surprise that this happened in the case of Shannon Matthews.

There isn't much information, but from the various press reports I've read the scenario was something like this. Shannon, aged nine, disappeared on February 19. On March 6 the Daily Mirror reported that a clairvoyant had told her mother she was still alive and that she had been taken 'by somebody who you know'. On the following Sunday March 9 the Mirror's sister paper The People identified the psychic as Joe Power, and said Shannon had been abducted by car, about which he gave some details. 

Shannon was found alive on March 14. She had been taken by the uncle of Shannon's stepfather Craig, a man named Michael Donovan, but also known as Paul Drake, his original name. She was found hidden under a divan bed in his flat in Batley, a mile from her home.

Two days later on the 16th the People revealed that Power had provided three extra items of information, that the abductor was possibly named Michael or Paul, that Shannon had sat on his knee at a family funeral, and that she was currently in Batley. The People confirmed that these details had been provided before Shannon's discovery and passed to the police.

That may be so, but it seems that the information was never acted on. Shannon was found after a woman reported hearing a child's footsteps in the apartment above her, where, to her knowledge, no child was living.

Still, Power is confident that he had the right information in time, and is miffed that the police did not use it. He says:

The main thing is that in Britain it's about time the police recognised real, gifted psychics who can save the police millions of pounds. It should be in the law. They do it in America.

Well perhaps. But there are issues here. It's true that Power came up with some accurate facts before the case was resolved, essential if the claim of psychic knowledge is to carry credibility. But they were not terribly detailed: 'alive not dead', and 'someone you know', each have a 50% chance of being true. It's highly probable that the abductor used a car, so no surprise there either. If you consider that Power was probably only one of several psychics who volunteered information, which police say usually happens in such cases, there is even less reason to get excited - you'd expect that only the one who gets anything right is going to be talking to the press, while the rest are keeping quiet.

It was only after the event that we hear, as Power says, that he had identified the name Paul, someone connected with Craig and the area she was in: "I heard a voice saying she'd been taken to Batley, through one of my guides, crystal clear." But if so, why were these details not published in the original report? Now we only have his word for it, and the word of the reporters. 

Psychics often claim that they help police with their investigations, and imply that they make a useful contribution. Power himself is keen to promote that: his website states that he is 'renowned for his accuracy and his work with the police'. But where is the police testimony for that? The impression one gets from the police themselves is quite different. A couple of years ago 27 UK police forces (out of a total of around 40) responded to a survey about the use of psychics carried out by a sceptics group. The responses were pretty dismissive. For instance Kent police said:

It would be almost inconceivable to have paid a person purporting to have psychic powers for their assistance. In my personal experience as a police officer with 30 years service, in the aftermath of a major crime many people offer information, as witnesses, psychics or experts. All information is evaluated and considered. Personally, I have never found a person claiming to have psychic abilities to have been of benefit to an investigation.

Of course no public organisation would risk associating itself with the paranormal, and it's quite likely that some individual coppers may think some psychic leads worth following up, particularly where an investigation has ground to a halt. It may be, as Power says, that this happens more in the US than Britain. I recall an American TV documentary a few years back in which detectives were full of praise for psychics who had led them to the bodies of missing individuals. There's also a comment on Amazon in the review section of Joe Nickell's Psychic Sleuths complaining that Nickell didn't do his homework when debunking a case in which a psychic named Phil Jordan was involved.

I know because I am the child's mother, and I was never contacted. And I also know for certain that scores of volunteer firemen and policemen were searching for my son unsuccessfully, in the wrong area for hours. The next morning, Phil Jordan arrived, asked me for a personal article of Tommy's, and with Tommy's little sneaker, as well as hand drawn map of the area (an area which Phil Jordan had never seen before), Phil walked directly to my son... Would Tom be alive today if it were not for Phil Jordan's God given ability? Probably not... Because of Phil Jordan, I held my son in my arms again. There is no way that I can ever thank Phil Jordan enough.

But this happy outcome seem to be exceptional. More common are cases where psychics insist they are helping police, but aren't getting results. For instance there's the Florida case of Trenton Duckett, a two year old who disappeared 18 months ago. A psychic named Maggie Giono says she has been talking to Trenton's spirit and that he is trying to lead her to him, also a missing woman named Jennifer Kesse. But police have followed up in both cases quite thoroughly and found nothing. 

So it's hardly fair to blame the police for being cautious about working with psychics. Self-promotional bragging only puts them off and adds to public cynicism about psychism.  It doesn't mean that psychics have nothing to offer; on the contrary, the remarkable results gained by remote viewers associated with the Star Gate program suggest that it's a skill that could be exploited. But as things stand there is no real incentive for the police to pay much attention. What's needed is some breakthrough to give the process credibility and make police open to the possibility that they might get results this way.

It might be an individual success, as the Shannon case could have been if Power had posted all of his data before it was resolved. But in the longer term it might require a more concerted, collective approach. An office might be set up that collates psychics' claims about ongoing investigations and looks to see whether any positive matches occur with actual facts. If, over a period of time, certain individuals start to create a track record, showing genuine insight, the police would be far more likely to make use of them.