'51%' investigating missing person did not read guidelines
Just over half of the police responsible for assessing risk in missing persons cases have never read the national guidelines on how to handle them, research has shown.
Sergeants should be given 'ownership' of missing cases
Police sergeants in charge of the initial stages of a missing persons inquiry should be given "ownership" of the case, said a report into the police tactics used after a person has vanished.
The report, which found 51% of police officers responsible for the early stages of the case had not read the guidelines on missing persons' inquiries, recommended:
- "Ownership" should be given in the first 48 hours with officers passing the case onto other duty inspectors between shifts.
- This would allow for a genuinely critical risk assessment at handovers.
- The report argues for police officers to adhere to a formal framework, such as the National Decision Model, when calculating risk.
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