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    Official police guidance tells investigators not to rule out 'psychic help' in missing people cases

    Kitkat
    Kitkat

    Official police guidance tells investigators not to rule out 'psychic help' in missing people cases  Empty Official police guidance tells investigators not to rule out 'psychic help' in missing people cases

    Post by Kitkat Thu 03 Sep 2015, 12:00

    The UK College of Policing has released draft police guidance on missing persons for consultation, with a new focus on social media.

    ​The Consultation, which will run until 9 October, will lead to official guidance for police officers – known as Authorised Professional Practice (APP) – to support them in missing persons investigations.


    Extract from the Consultation regarding the guidelines on using psychics in police investigations:
    Psychics

    High-profile missing person investigations nearly always attract the interest of psychics and others, such as witches and clairvoyants, stating that they possess extrasensory perception. Any information received from psychics should be evaluated in the context of the case, and should never become a distraction to the overall investigation and search strategy unless it can be verified. These contacts usually come from well-intentioned people, but the motive of the individual should always be ascertained, especially where financial gain is included. The person’s methods should be asked for, including the circumstances in which they received the information and any accredited successes.
    https://www.app.college.police.uk/consultation/missing-persons-consultation/investigation-consultation/#psychics

    A spokesperson for the COP said, in this context, “accredited success” means previous cases where a psychic has given police information that turns out to be correct.


    The Daily Beast reports:
    In 2006, 28 British forces told the journal Critical Thinking that they did not and have never used psychics.

    Related links on this story:

    http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3216727/Ello-ello-ello-anybody-New-guidelines-say-police-not-rule-tip-offs-psychics-witches-clairvoyants.html

    http://home.bt.com/news/news-extra/official-police-guidance-tells-investigators-not-to-rule-out-psychic-help-in-missing-people-cases-11364000877002

    http://www.patheos.com/blogs/friendlyatheist/2015/08/31/did-a-new-official-uk-report-really-say-that-police-should-consult-psychics/


    PSYCHIC CRIMINOLOGY: A Guide For Using Psychics In Investigations
    By Whitney S. Hibbard, Raymond W. Worring, Richard Brennan
    Kitkat
    Kitkat

    Official police guidance tells investigators not to rule out 'psychic help' in missing people cases  Empty Re: Official police guidance tells investigators not to rule out 'psychic help' in missing people cases

    Post by Kitkat Sun 06 Sep 2015, 17:20

    It seems the skeptics have latched on to this story with their usual fervour.    Official police guidance tells investigators not to rule out 'psychic help' in missing people cases  Seesaw

    http://skeps.freeforums.org/viewtopic.php?f=30&t=2213


    Whoever wrote the draft should have done a little more investigation before writing it.

    Hopefully they will receive useful feedback and fix the glaring problems and omissions in the guidelines.
    Official police guidance tells investigators not to rule out 'psychic help' in missing people cases  Question_


    PSYCHICS
    UK College of Policing allows alarming opportunity to accept psychic assistance
    by idoubtit • August 29, 2015 • 19 Comments

    What in the Sam Hell is this bullshit from the UK College of Policing? Where do they get the foundation? Taxpayers may not be pleased.
    facepalm


    Firstly, shut up Doubtful News. Seriously.

    This is not the College of Policing saying that psychics are real or that psychic insight is a valid form of investigation to be used in missing persons cases. They’re actually just holding a consultation about investigation practices in missing persons cases to make sure they are doing the right things with their resources. It runs until October. As a UK tax payer I am pleased that such consultations happen.

    http://hayleyisaghost.co.uk/police-pscychics-freak-out/
    agree
    Umberto Cocopop
    Umberto Cocopop

    Official police guidance tells investigators not to rule out 'psychic help' in missing people cases  Empty Re: Official police guidance tells investigators not to rule out 'psychic help' in missing people cases

    Post by Umberto Cocopop Mon 07 Sep 2015, 12:52

    If the so-called 'skeptics' had actually read the relevant material (and well done KK on showing them how to locate the relevant source material), I would have thought they'd be quite pleased with it!

    It's certainly not an endorsement of psychics or an open invitation to use them; it's much more along the lines of politely saying "don't take psychics too seriously"...

    In the real world, professional bodies can't be seen to be using insulting, belittling, or offensive language so a document such as this one is about as hard-hitting as it's ever going to get.

    It is interesting, though, how people see what they want to see. A piece in a newspaper is enough to get the non-thinkers' knickers in a twist. If psychics aren't being viscously dismissed, then they're being supported, right? Rolling Eyes

    An interesting example of how 'skeptics' are led by their biases just as much as anyone else. Yet they seem to think they are more rational than the rest of us!
    Kitkat
    Kitkat

    Official police guidance tells investigators not to rule out 'psychic help' in missing people cases  Empty Re: Official police guidance tells investigators not to rule out 'psychic help' in missing people cases

    Post by Kitkat Wed 09 Sep 2015, 15:33

    Properly documented evidence of police use of psychics is not too readily available to the public in general - for various reasons.
    According to Charles Hensley, recently retired captain of the Billings, Montana Police Department, many law enforcement agencies across the nation consult clairvoyants whether they admit it or not. "Most do not admit it," he said, because "if the public or press found out, they’d think we were nuts." Until Hensley retired he also refused to talk about the department’s use of mystics. "Everyone says don’t tell anybody we’re using a clairvoyant. They’ll think we’re crazy."

    John Douglas, a retired FBI Criminal Profiler is quoted as saying, "Psychics can, on occasion, be helpful to a criminal investigation. I've seen it work. Some of them have the ability to focus subconsciously on particular subtle details at a scene and draw logical conclusions from them, just as I try to do and train my people to do. But I always advise investigators that a psychic should be a last resort as an investigative tool, and if you're going to use one, don't expose him or her to officers or detectives who know the details of the case. Because good psychics are proficient at picking up small, non-verbal clues, and the psychic could amaze you and establish credibility by giving back to you facts of the case you already know without necessarily having any particular insight into what you don't know but want to find out."

    Scotland Yard confirms they have consulted a psychic in the past to help them with an investigation and the National Crime and Operations Faculty confirms their database has certain individuals registered as available psychics.  

    On Freeview TV (channel 64,66 or 68) there is currently a series of programmes called "Physic Detectives" documenting real cases of murder and missing persons (in America) where psychics have assisted the police.  OK, it's TV - but unlike the 'entertainment' type series we have seen in the past on our TVs, these programmes are based around and constructed on the testimonies and statements of the real individual police officers and departments concerned.

    Over the years law enforcement has developed an arsenal of investigative tools that are used to aid a stalled investigation. But when detectives are out of time and out of luck, they sometimes actually enlist the help of a psychic, who can help fine-tune the gut instinct of a seasoned detective. Psychic Detectives re-visits the true stories of real cases, from the detective's point of view, where psychics have helped solve some of law enforcement's most baffling cases.











    Sherlock Currently trying to locate Part 2
    Umberto Cocopop
    Umberto Cocopop

    Official police guidance tells investigators not to rule out 'psychic help' in missing people cases  Empty Re: Official police guidance tells investigators not to rule out 'psychic help' in missing people cases

    Post by Umberto Cocopop Sat 12 Sep 2015, 14:38

    And governments are in contact with aliens but they keep it secret so as not to frighten us...

    I don't really go for conspiracy theory type thinking. no-no

    From what I've managed to learn over the years, I'd say that the police don't use psychics in an official capacity. Psychics are generally regarded as cranks along with others who try to 'help' by reporting their dreams or confessing to murders etc. This is why psychics need to be 'managed'.

    On the other hand, police officers are just ordinary people like the rest of us so it's inevitable that some of them as individuals will believe in psychics and may use them or not rule them out as a potential source of information. Police officers will not be turned from ordinary people into some kind of super rational thinkers just because they now wear a uniform to work.

    This issue is all about an "Appeal to Authority" argument.

    Are police officers really a relevant authority when it comes to assessing psychics' abilities?

    Why are psychics attracted to the police's high profile (i.e. media attention) cases rather than tax avoidance or traffic violation offences?

    If a murder squad somewhere in the UK was found to have consulted psychics during a case, would it endorse psychics as a valid method of gaining information or prove their ability?

    An analogy to help think that one through might be the NHS's use of homeopathy. Does the fact that some doctors will prescribe homeopathic remedies mean that homeopathy works?
    Kitkat
    Kitkat

    Official police guidance tells investigators not to rule out 'psychic help' in missing people cases  Empty Re: Official police guidance tells investigators not to rule out 'psychic help' in missing people cases

    Post by Kitkat Sun 13 Sep 2015, 15:41

    Umberto Cocopop wrote:
    Are police officers really a relevant authority when it comes to assessing psychics' abilities?
    Only in as much as their relevance in assessing the motives and methods of anyone who can offer a possible lead, wherever it comes from, when all their existing enquiries have failed - which is often the occasion when they make the decision to look at the psychic's information.

    Why are psychics attracted to the police's high profile (i.e. media attention) cases rather than tax avoidance or traffic violation offences?
    The high profile/media attention cases are the ones we hear about - simply because they are in the media.  Also, the information offered by psychics (or more specifically - psychic mediums) is purported to be the passing on of information from a third person, i.e. the person who is deceased (hence missing persons and murder cases).  Tax avoidance / traffic violation doesn't involve someone who has passed over.

    If a murder squad somewhere in the UK was found to have consulted psychics during a case, would it endorse psychics as a valid method of gaining information or prove their ability?
    No.  But if an individual 'psychic' can be shown to have provided relevant information not already known to the investigators in a case and that information turns out to be fruitful, and they (the psychic) have a record of doing the same involving other, totally unrelated cases, then they (the police) may feel it's worth keeping that person on their files and at least looking at what they have to offer in future events.

    An analogy to help think that one through might be the NHS's use of homeopathy. Does the fact that some doctors will prescribe homeopathic remedies mean that homeopathy works?
    No, of course not - but equating the workings of psychics with homeopathy is irrelevant here; two very different topics altogether.  As suggested above, each case should be considered on its own merit - just as the individual 'psychic' person should be assessed and judged individually.  It shouldn't - and doesn't - endorse all who profess to be psychic.
    Umberto Cocopop
    Umberto Cocopop

    Official police guidance tells investigators not to rule out 'psychic help' in missing people cases  Empty Re: Official police guidance tells investigators not to rule out 'psychic help' in missing people cases

    Post by Umberto Cocopop Sat 19 Sep 2015, 08:37

    Kitkat wrote:The high profile/media attention cases are the ones we hear about - simply because they are in the media.  Also, the information offered by psychics (or more specifically - psychic mediums) is purported to be the passing on of information from a third person, i.e. the person who is deceased (hence missing persons and murder cases).  Tax avoidance / traffic violation doesn't involve someone who has passed over.

    Missing persons cases don't necessarily involve dead people either!

    And judging by some of the high-profile blunders 'mediums' have made they don't seem to be able to tell whether a missing person is dead or alive...

    Remember, 'psychic' is just an umbrella term for all sorts of claimed paranormal abilities. Mediumship is just another claimed psychic ability.

    Kitkat wrote:No.  But if an individual 'psychic' can be shown to have provided relevant information...

    The thing is - if the police are just ordinary people who are operating under normal working conditions (i.e. not a properly controlled experiment) how can we be sure that any claim of theirs that a psychic really did help in a case isn't just down to the same sort of errors that fool other people when it comes to psychics?

    This 'appeal to authority' that psychics' claims are all about fails to hold water when you realize that police officers are not really qualified to assess the claimed abilities of psychics.

    Kitkat wrote: but equating the workings of psychics with homeopathy is irrelevant here

    It was an analogy. A thinking tool.

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