Will the police be downgrading missing person calls?

Following on from my posts on the effects of police cuts on missing person search and Geoff Newiss’s post on police cuts I felt the need to do more research. Sometimes I wish I didn’t bother…

Here is a quote from a Home Office Report from last year that I had missed until now …

Front line officers believe there is a need to apply a more proportionate and risk based approach to handling and recording missing person enquiries. An early assessment of why the report is being made and whether there is fear for the safety and/or welfare of the person will be important.

Dependent on the circumstance, it may not be proportionate or necessary to record full details of the missing person on the first call. Equally, circumstances might dictate it is necessary. The level of information/detail/investigation required and the most appropriate way of collating it needs to be continually reviewed. It is also important that where information has been taken previously it is reused rather than duplicated.

Having reviewed the ACPO definition of missing person, alongside those from other jurisdictions. I recommend that the ACPO definition is amended to include “fear for the safety and/or welfare of the person”

I have some quite serious concerns regarding this definition. Whilst I am very sure that the police’s role in missing person incidents should be reserved for those that are in danger and that “every day” missing persons – whilst obviously distressing for all involved – should be dealt with by different agencies, there is a very real possiblility that by “downgrading” the definition police officers may be tempted to think that missing persons are not “real” policing (even more than they do already!)

This would mean that potentially fatal and serious incidents, including abduction and murder as well as “our” everyday vulnerable mispers, could be ignored or sat upon until too late.

We have known for a long time that the police were moving away from their present risk averse management of incidents to a more measured approach. However, in order to do this police officers require the training and experience to be able to judge whether there is a risk to the misper. But where are they going to get this training from?

May 9, 2011 · Robert Bradley · No Comments
Tags: ACPO, Jan Berry, Missing Person, Police Cuts, Reducing Bureaucracy in Policing · Posted in: Search News, Search Research, Search Thoughts

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This month's feature is the Missing Rights Campaign being run by Missing People.

If your house is burgled you are automatically offered emotional, practical and legal support. If your child goes missing you may get nothing.

Missing People. are calling on the Government to give families of missing people the same basic rights as victims of crime.

Over 250,000 people go missing in the UK every year. While most of us will have read or heard about a disappearance, little is understood about the emotional, legal and financial burdens it can bring to those closest to the missing person. Families left behind face their homes being seized, jobs being lost, divorce, social stigma and suicidal thoughts.

Here are the detailed aims and objectives of the Missing Rights Campaign. Without your support, though, they will not be able to bring about change for families of missing people.

Aim #1:
Families of missing people should know everything possible is being done to find their missing loved one.

Objectives:
•Every region to have a local missing persons coordinator who will hold local services to account
•Every family to have a named single point of contact in the police force dealing with their missing loved one
•All unidentified bodies to be cross matched with missing person reports

Aim #2:
Families affected by a disappearance should have access to support.

Objectives:
•Every family of a missing person to be signposted to Missing People’s free emotional, practical and legal support services by the police
•A network of specially trained counsellors to be developed to support the unique needs of families of missing people

Aim #3:
Families left behind should be spared the pain of unnecessary financial and legal bureaucracy.

Objectives:
•All banks to introduce standard mortgage arrangements for families of missing people
•All insurance companies to enable families to freeze or take over their missing relative’s policy payments.
•Presumption of Death Act to be introduced in England of Wales

Robert Bradley's Re-Search Website

The bloke that knows sh!t loads of dead cool stuff about search…

Will the police be downgrading missing person calls?

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