Introduction
Child abduction can be defined as the unauthorized removal of a child below 18 years from the custody of parents or legal guardians. Parental kidnapping may be done one parent in case of divorce or separation (King, 2018). Abduction by strangers may be associated with extortion where criminals ask for ransoms, illegal adoption or human trafficking. Moreover, sometimes children decide to run away from home due to physical, psychological or sexual abuse. When a child is reported missing in a police station, they ask the reporter to make a statement explaining where the child was and who was taking care of him. The police may also if the reporter suspects anyone in the neighborhood who may have taken the child. To do this an officer will ask you a number of questions to find out exactly what happened. To identify the kidnappers, police adopt a process called Beam of suspects which is a systematic process of eliminating suspects (King, 2018).
The police may decide to detain the parent as they continue with further investigation if they suspect that they may also have taken part in the kidnapping. However, this mostly depends on how the kidnapping happened. For instance, a child may be kidnapped on her way from school or a late night invasion. In this case, the police may fail to detain the parents since there is no connection between them and the crime. In this case, the police have no reason to detain them but instead ask them for their help to locate the kidnapper.
The police may detain nearby neighbor who sees her being dropped from school every day since they may have seen or planned the kidnapping. In this situation, one or several people may be arrested to tell what they know about the incident. Sometimes the kidnappers notify the parents that they have their child and ask for ransom. When a child goes missing, parents will do anything to get him/her back. The kidnappers prey on their desperate sense of urgency and hence police asks are greatly involved in such cases as they try to trace the kidnappers. When the police notice that there are other criminals involved with the incidents, they eliminate the neighbors and family members from the list of suspects. The police may also ask for a CCTV footage which was captured during the day of kidnapping to access the faces, sizes and other features of the kidnappers. The police may then public their pictures in televisions and newspaper and request the public to help locate them Berk, R. (2017).
The beam of suspicion method of eliminating criminals is fair and just technique because it does not convict an innocent individual. The method ensures that the right procedures are followed to identify the real culprit. The technique does not involve force since the police know that they may be dealing with a wrong suspect. The police may carry out forensic science or other equipment used to identify criminals. Sometimes they may publish the images of the suspects on television, magazines or newspapers (Smith, 2016).
Conclusion
In conclusion, the beam of suspicion is a technique where criminals are eliminated based on how connected they are to criminals. The method is just as it ensures the identification of the real kidnappers through interrogation or the use of machines to detect criminal voices. However, the process may be a form of torture to people who may have no connection with the incident.
References
King, S. (2018). Three reasons kidnapping children is a US tradition. Green Left Weekly, (1185), 14.
Smith, D. (2016). Suspect charged with the murder of kidnaped Lindbergh son. Retrieved from https://www.upi.com/Archives/1934/09/21/Suspect-charged-with-murder-of-kidnaped-Lindbergh-son/4414788311073/#ixzz5dhH3k3Lj
Berk, R. (2017). Fairness In The Criminal Justice System. Retrieved From Https://Omnia.Sas.Upenn.Edu/Story/Fairness-Criminal-Justice-System
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