Police search procedure

[Jo Zebedee]

I know if an adult goes missing, the police don't neccessarily move very quickly on it. But if an eighteen year old woman went missing (albeit under her own steam), and she had a reasonably extensive history of mental illness with the danger of self-harm, would they then search? Even on the first day? And if so, would it be extensive? Anyone have any idea? Thanks in advance.

 

[Venusian Broon]

I can't find any UK sources, but I do believe it's a myth that you have to wait 24 or 48 hours before a missing person can be 'declared'.

Have you looked up the online websites? I found this for my area's police

http://content.met.police.uk/Site/missingpersons

It says, as part of it "Immediate enquiries are undertaken by the Initial Investigating Officer to try to find the missing person as soon as possible" It then goes on to state the things that they'll try first.

If however, as you state there may be a possible emergency and that the person may harm herself, that might make them put more resources into it, perhaps even put feet on the ground (or in the car).

I suppose though they would have to be sensible - and what they would do depends on the exact circumstances. i.e. has she done it before (and returned), what was the situation of her dissappearance (i.e. was she perhaps abducted.), where was she last seen etc...

 

[Ursa major]

I'm sure I've heard radio reports about an adult gong missing a day or two before, where the the word, vulnerable, is used to describe the person's condition. I've always assumed that other action has been taken before the radio station was told.

(Sorry this is only anecdotal, of sorts.)

 

[ibrooks]

It's all down to a judgement call by whoever it's reported to - unfortunately that can mean that cases that should result in a search don't and those where it's un-necessary do. If someone has gone missing and the person it has been reported to believes there is concern for their well-being then something will be done.

If they think it's abduction then it's more likely to be investigation rather than searching (an abductee is unlikely to be held against their will in plain sight and without a warrant or compelling reason to suspect the person is inside they can't go looking inside buildings outbuildings or vehicles etc.). "vulnerable" covers a multitude of possibilities and so does mental illness so it would depend on the individual circumstances.

As for a search - if they had an idea of an area where they might find the person then yes they would search subject to the above. If there isn't any specific area to search then the best will be a broadcast to officers to keep an eye out for xxxxxx. How specific the area would need to be would again depend on the circumstances. If there is evidence that the missing person is in a city then a search is going to be like the proverbial needle in a haystack so not worth starting unless you have a quite specific area to concentrate on but if the person is believed to be lost in an area of moorland then they would be far easier to spot in a large area so a helicopter might be tasked to fly over. Back to the first one though and say a person is thought to be missing in a city but it's 4AM then they would be far easier to spot so a less specific area might be worth a search.

Iain

 

[Bowler1]

UK Missing Persons Bureau :

The above might be useful, I suspect not, but I did try, I really did!

I think it might be a case of anyone actually caring, sounds harsh, but such is life. Lots of people drop off the radar all the time, but if you’re not reported as missing no-one looks for you, or at least not for some time. In the worst case, this could be months. I'm sure the police would take any missing persons report seriously, it would be more a case of urgency and history of the person. I'm guessing here, but a report of a woman missing with the fairies wouldn't go top of the list, but they'd worry for her safety and keep a good eye out while on patrol. I'd be very surprised if resources would be immediately diverted to finding a woman off with the fairies, but I'm guessing is all, so who knows!

 

[Abernovo]

Like so much, it depends. In the case of someone with mental illness, the issues might be how at risk she would be. Is she capable of looking after herself, and is she likely to harm herself, either intentionally or through poor judgement. Vulnerability issues, basically.

A member of my family was in RAF Search & Rescue, and they got called out sometimes for missing person cases if they were last seen wandering into the moors, etc. Especially when it was children or vulnerable adults. Those cases were often considered time sensitive.

I suppose it might depend partly upon who first received the report. A jaded desk sergeant having a bad day might dismiss it* more than an eager young officer, full of enthusiasm to do good.

*Apologies to any jaded police sergeants, having a bad day or otherwise.

 

[Jo Zebedee]

You're guessing right, young Bowler. Thanks for the replies, all. At the moment, I have a scenario where when she first goes missing the family look for her for about six hours, then bring the police in, who interview everyone and ascertain she is at risk and has a mental illness. There is then evidence uncovered which pinpoints her most recent location (this is a very rural part of the world) and the search is focused there with a helicopter and door to door enquiries, alerting the local community and a check on empty premises. There is a plan to step the search up and bring some additional police from the city the next day if she hasn't been found.

Plausible?

 

[Abernovo]

Plausible to my eyes. Door to door searches and checking on empty premises is a costly exercise though, in time and money (wages, fuel). I'm not saying it wouldn't be done, but more than a couple of local bobbies having a look round would have to be signed off, I suspect, by an inspector or higher.

Helicopters, especially if they're already in the air on a routine patrol or training, can often be easily diverted, though. And saving life takes precedent.

If it's rural, is there a local mountain rescue team? They often work on coastlines as well and they're volunteers, used to dropping things to answer a call out.

 

[Jo Zebedee]

I have the coastguard called in the next day, when her location moves to the coast. I hadn't thought about mountain rescue -- it's all small towns and a few hills as opposed to mountain terrain, if that makes sense? I might scale it down a tiny bit.

 

[Abernovo]

Well, the PSNI have their own dedicated team -- for all rural areas, not only high terrain.

 

[Ursa major]

I have the coastguard called in the next day, when her location moves to the coast.

When it's suspected that she's heading/headed for the coast, I think you mean.

 

[ibrooks]

More likely to be Countryside Ranger than Mountain Rescue then.

Door-to-door would depend on how tight knit the community was and how large i.e. if the local bobbies knew most of the people by sight at least maybe but in a larger town less likely. More likely in a larger town that what beat officers/traffic cars there still are would be asked to concentrate their patrols in a given area and keep an eye out for someone matching her description.

Bringing in additional resources - only if the concern for wellbeing/safety is serious.

Helicopters can also be used as a sort of PA system and can broadcast a message to a large area such as "we are concerned for a young woman last seen in this area wearing whatever, if you have seen her or know where she is please contact" I've seen this done for missing kids.

Iain

 

[Jo Zebedee]

More likely to be Countryside Ranger than Mountain Rescue then.

Door-to-door would depend on how tight knit the community was and how large i.e. if the local bobbies knew most of the people by sight at least maybe but in a larger town less likely. More likely in a larger town that what beat officers/traffic cars there still are would be asked to concentrate their patrols in a given area and keep an eye out for someone matching her description.

Bringing in additional resources - only if the concern for wellbeing/safety is serious.

Helicopters can also be used as a sort of PA system and can broadcast a message to a large area such as "we are concerned for a young woman last seen in this area wearing whatever, if you have seen her or know where she is please contact" I've seen this done for missing kids.

Iain

Looking at your location, landscape-wise, it's not unlike the area around Darwen et all, but a little less populated. (It's the glens of Antrim. Population about 10. ) I would say the concern for her well being is moderately serious.

Aber, thanks for the link. That's the lads they'd call in, I'd say.

 

[Bowler1]

Plausible?

Yes I'd say, the slow build up sounds realistic enough. There might also be some local news involved, how that might develop I don't know but I could see the local newspaper (the one with all the ads and no stories I usually put straight into the re-cycling - is that bad of me?) doing something, especially if the police were doing a large search. Something else to consider, maybe?

 

[Gumboot]

I know if an adult goes missing, the police don't neccessarily move very quickly on it. But if an eighteen year old woman went missing (albeit under her own steam), and she had a reasonably extensive history of mental illness with the danger of self-harm, would they then search? Even on the first day? And if so, would it be extensive? Anyone have any idea? Thanks in advance.

I can only speak for the New Zealand police, but they have no "rules" about searches; it's entirely dependent on context. The more likely that the missing person has had, or could have harm come to them, the sooner and more rigorously they'll begin searching.

Unless it's a child, or the person's last location is pretty certain, the first day or two tends to be low key with general inquiries and an attempt to reconstruct the person's movements. There's zero point doing extensive area sweeps until you've identified a relatively small geographic area to search.

Even where a specific location and likely route has been known from the outset, the search generally starts smaller, and when the person isn't found in the initial search area it will widen, and that's when more resources get pulled in.

Finally, the place that requires searching will obviously also affect the ramping up of resources and how quickly searching begins. If they've gone missing in a city regular police and volunteers can quickly be assembled, but if they've wandered into some caves or not come back from a wilderness adventure that will require specialist teams and equipment that might take days to stage.

 

[EricWard]

I'll put in my American two cents. My mom's worked for 911 emergency services for over 10 years and it's basically higher alert for minors and people believed to be in danger (abducted and that kind of thing). For someone with a history of mental illness, I would imagine that they would move quick, as the young woman could be a threat to herself or others. The "they must be missing for 48 hours to do anything" is absolutely a myth, as stated above.

 

[ralphkern]

Hi Springs

I'm a British Police officer and this is the general procedure when we get a Missing Persons report. (Misper). This is standardised and is used across the country.

1. We gain as much information from the informant as possible, why they think they are missing (as opposed to gone down the shops, on a booty call etc). Is it out of character etc.

2. We visit the location they are missing from, check it top to bottom to see if they are hiding (often the case with young children, they sneak off playing hide and seek and fall asleep in a cupboard), check for notes etc.

3. We assess any risk factors if they are missing, age, mental/physical health, drink/drug dependency, ability to engage with people, have they gone missing before and come home unharmed etc etc.

4. we grade them low medium or high.

Low requires basic checks of hospitals etc and not much more. The sad reality of these is by and large they are adults who are playing away from home and the informant is a spouse.

medium requires active investiation, we will go to known locations where that person is known to frequent. Checking borders, things like that. Much more active and there will be an officer detailed to keep going until theyre found, or we simply exhaust every avenue. then they will move to low risk.

High is someone who has threatened suicide, a young child, someone with severe physical mental disability. These are literally all hands to the pumps. If, for example a child goes missing in a town centre then we will call in extra resoure, get as many people as we can in on it.

The system we use is, depending on the force either called Impact or Compact, but they are both exactly the same.