Government sets up Missing Persons Taskforce

I was told this was happening a few weeks ago but hadn’t heard anything “publicly” until today.

The BBC has the following report;

A taskforce is being set up to examine how the police, councils and other agencies can improve their response when people are reported missing.

The group will look at areas like data collection and the extension of measures nationwide. [Read more here...]

This is long overdue, and a chance to improve the response to missing person incidents.

I will, of course, keep you all informed of any information as I get it!

December 10, 2009 ¡ Robert Bradley ¡ 5 Comments
Tags: , , , ,  Âˇ Posted in: Search News, Search Thoughts

5 Responses

  1. Robert Bradley - December 10, 2009

    Here is the link to the Missing People’s news item on the launch;

    http://www.missingpeople.org.uk/news-and-events/news/detail.asp?dsid=2774

  2. Simon Jeffs - December 11, 2009

    i wonder if ALSAR is one of the 25 agencies?

  3. Robert Bradley - December 11, 2009

    A few more links;

    The Home Office Press Release;
    http://press.homeoffice.gov.uk/press-releases/new-missing-persons-taskforce

    And some pictures;
    http://www.flickr.com/photos/downingstreet/4174594976/in/photostream/

  4. Chris Curry - December 12, 2009

    The new Taskforce to improve services for missing persons and their families represents an opportunity for groups such as ALSAR to contribute to the debate. Whether or not they are invited or offer their services is another matter.

    The thrust of this Taskforce is to understand how agencies such as the police and local authorities respond to the issue of missing people, how they work together and how this can be improved. Looking at the terms of reference, it will focus on legislative powers or statutory duties, collection of consistent information and measures already in place. As voluntary organisations, SAR groups have no statutory duties but may become involved should police and local authorities responsibilities become tightened and are certainly one of the resources already in place in parts, but not all of the country. SAR organisations may benefit from improved information gathering if it is made available and if it can be turned into useful intelligence.

    Any taskforce will need to start with a definition of the term ‘missing person’ and it is widely recognised that this is problematic. Definitions range form the broad (ACPO, 2005: 8) to the complex (Malcolm Payne, 1995) but the concept of a continuum is generally accepted (Biehal, Mitchell and Wade in Lost From View 2003). The issue for SAR groups is where their solution fits into that continuum and I’m not sure I fully understand this at the moment and hopefullt will be part of the debate.

    People go missing for a variety of reasons including debt or family problems, drug and alcohol abuse or mental health problems, quite apart those forced to ‘go missing’ by abduction or trafficking. Moreover they go missing for different periods. Organisations such as Missing People focus on longer term absences, which might be termed a chronic absence, whereas SAR groups tend to react to the immediate emergency, perhaps acute absence. Of course where one ends and the other ends is part of that continuum. I suspect SAR groups tend to be deployed at the top of the definitions given by Payne viz.

    • ‘Runaways’ (missing people)
    • ‘Throwaways’ (rejected missing people)
    • ‘Pushaways’ (people forced to go missing)
    • ‘Fallaways’ (people who have lost contact)
    • ‘Takeaways’ (people forced out of contact)

    There has been a lot of debate about “improving ALSAR” Perhaps a measure of its maturity and standing will be the contribution it brings to this debate. But it had better get organsied. Whilst the Taskforce will make recommendations to the Prime Minister and Home Secretary next year, the first meeting, chaired by Home Office minister Alan Campbell has already taken place.

  5. Ken Thompson - December 31, 2009

    I hope this review includes the structures; processes, and legislation associated with children who have been abducted internationally, including the Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child abduction as well as cooperation between the various international jurisdictions.

    Here in Australia more than 300 children are abducted by a parent to other countries each year. Despite this alarming figure, it is not a criminal offence in this country. The figure in the UK is much higher.

    Anyone whose child has been a victim of International Parental Child Abduction (IPCA) knows how ineffective & how inefficient the various government agencies are when these events happen.

    Left behind parents are told more about what can’t be done than about what can be done.

    Ken Thompson
    Sydney, Australia
    http://www.findandrew.com
    Founder, Coalition of Parents of Abducted Children (COPAC)

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