Recommendation - Essex Police, May 2020
On 8 March 2019 a man called 999 to report to Essex Police a concern that his mother had not returned home. The acting inspector stated he would assign it as a missing person incident within an hour and half, as he wanted to confirm she had not returned home. After this time, it was then assigned as a missing person investigation and two officers attended the house, met with the son, and undertook a brief search (but did not look in all the rooms or garage). Ms A was found two days later in the garage, where she was unconscious with hypthothermia. She was in hospital for a number of weeks but has since recovered.
IOPC reference
Recommendations
The IOPC recommends that Essex Police review its relevant policies and procedures (including the Missing Persons Procedures) to ensure that there is a process for the duty sergeant to be notified when officers have been tasked to undertake actions on a missing person report.
Officers attended the property of the missing person to conduct a house search. They searched the bedroom of the property, and did not search the rest of the house. When the search was completed, the officers noted in police records that the house was searched, without further detail on what rooms were searched. The officers were tasked directly by the Force Control Room (FCR) to conduct the search, without the duty sergeant’s knowledge or oversight, who is responsible for ensuring that the search was completed and documented fully.
Do you accept the recommendation?
Yes
Accepted action:
Following review by the force lead on Missing Persons, the below amendment has now been added to the relevant force procedure governing missing persons and communicated to those responsible for responding to such matters.
3.2 Police Officer Attending
Actions should be prioritised in accordance with the individual incident; suggested actions [link]. This is not a definitive list.
A key action is to search the missing person’s home address to establish they are not present on the premises; this will include loft spaces, outbuildings within the curtilage of the property and the gardens.
A more detailed search of any room likely to contain evidence of their whereabouts or information concerning their disappearance is important and must not be left to friends, family or carers to complete;
The attending officer must record on COMPACT details of areas searched / not searched with the rationale and details of the persons present. The Duty LPT Sgt should then satisfy themselves an appropriate search has been conducted by the attending officer(s).
It is the responsibility of the officer adding the missing report to create the Command Team Review. Further guidance can be found on the Missing Persons connEXion page. [link]
The recommendation will also be raised at the forces quarterly Learning the Lessons Board, chaired by the Deputy Chief Constable, in order that the Board can consider whether any further action is necessary in support of the overall recommendation.