# Police Psychics **URL:** \ **Category:** Cecil's Columns/Staff Reports\ **Created:** [January 15, 2010, 12:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/police-psychics/525060 "2010-01-15T12:14:28Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 5\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Ebee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8491ac/32.png) [@Ebee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ebee)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2010, 12:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/police-psychics/525060/1 "2010-01-15T12:14:28Z")
Following on from an article about physics who assist the police, if the physics are so capable, how come non of them have found Madeline McCann. I was so angry to have bought a magazine where a physic claimed to have advised the McCanns about their daughter and the article contained nothing. It literally said that the phsycic had tried to contact the McCanns. It gave no other information about Madelines disappearance, whether she is thought to be dead or alive, etc. etc. If physics are so good at helping to solve crimes, why can’t they find missing people?😕 ---
**Author:** ![Walker\_in\_Eternity](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/46a35a/32.png) [@Walker\_in\_Eternity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walker_in_Eternity)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2010, 12:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/police-psychics/525060/2 "2010-01-15T12:23:43Z")
Physics and other sciences are very good at helping the police solve crimes, psychics are next to useless. Perhaps you need to ask a mod to change the title of the thread. ---
**Author:** ![C\_K\_Dexter\_Haven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b2d939/32.png) [@C\_K\_Dexter\_Haven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/C_K_Dexter_Haven)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2010, 1:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/police-psychics/525060/3 "2010-01-15T13:28:12Z")
Welcome to the Straight Dope Message Boards, **Ebee** , we’re glad to have you with us. When starting a thread, it’s helpful to other readers to provide a link to the column you’re discussing: saves search time and helps keep us all on the same page. In this case, I assume: [If psychics are frauds, why do police keep asking them for help? - The Straight Dope](http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/1739/if-psychics-are-frauds-why-do-police-keep-asking-them-for-help) No biggie, you’ll know for next time. And, as I say, welcome. I have changed the title of the thread from “physics” to “psychics” ---
**Author:** ![SCSimmons](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e495f1/32.png) [@SCSimmons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SCSimmons)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2010, 2:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/police-psychics/525060/4 "2010-01-15T14:51:22Z")
One thing I didn’t see mentioned in that article is that psychics quite commonly claim to have been asked to assist in cases that the police deny they ever asked for psychic assistance with. That these claims still get published sometimes is yet another case of credulous journalists taking a psychic’s word for something without properly checking the facts. Personally, if a so-called psychic told me the sun rises in the east, I’d be out at dawn with a map and a compass to double-check. ---
**Author:** ![Washoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/ecae2f/32.png) [@Washoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Washoe)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2010, 5:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/police-psychics/525060/5 "2010-01-15T17:23:40Z")
I started a thread on this subject a couple of years ago. Although I didn’t get quite the concrete answer that I was looking for, there was a lot of good information presented there: > **[Do the police employ psychics?](https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=450709)** > > Do they or don’t they? There’s gotta be a straight answer to this question out there somewhere. On the one hand I hear “psychics” such as Allison DuBois claim that they have been called upon to solve crimes. I’ve heard other “psychics” make similar...