B1601 Procedure - Missing Persons

Number: B 1601
Date Published: 1 July 2026
Version 39 – July 2026

1.0 Summary of Changes

• Section 4.0 - EIA updated
• Section 9.0 - Owners details updated

2.0 What this Procedure is About

This procedure explains how Essex Police will respond to, record, and investigate reports of missing persons. This procedure also explains how Essex Police will respond to, record, and investigate all missing persons subsequently found or who return voluntarily.

Essex Police requires all officers and staff to investigate missing persons in line with APP guidance. This procedure gives further local operational detail and compliance is mandatory.

Missing person enquiries may involve a serious crime, such as murder. All those involved in missing investigations should continually assess the possibility of escalation to a critical incident and, if required, take appropriate action, see D 0401 Procedure - Dealing with Critical Incidents. The purpose of the investigation is to identify the movements of the missing person in order to establish their current whereabouts and/or wellbeing and to identify any actions that will prevent them becoming missing again.

The initial risk assessment, actions and recording of the incident may prove critical in achieving a successful outcome. A comprehensive audit trail is essential to aid the investigation and assist in future missing person investigations.

This procedure should be read in conjunction with the College of Policing Authorised Professional Practice (APP) on:

• Missing Persons;
• National Decision Model (NDM);
• Risk Principles;
• Code of Ethics.

This procedure does not apply to those circumstances where the location of a person is unknown and police involvement is not appropriate i.e., tracing a relative or friend.

For example, a person has not received a Christmas card, when normally they would get one, and there is no other regular contact between all parties. The informant should be directed to the relevant tracing agencies. They will not be dealt with by police as a missing person. If, however, it is suspected that the person may be at risk of harm, such as someone who is drug dependent or at risk of sexual exploitation, abuse or harm, an investigation should be commenced to make the missing person safe.

It is recognised that a person over 18 years with mental capacity may be missing with low risk through their own choice. Their right to privacy must be observed and details of their location not divulged. In addition, it is important not to disclose the whereabouts of persons who are highlighted at risk of Honour Based Abuse (HBA), High Risk Domestic Abuse etc. Consider, especially in the case of a child, they are not to be returned home if they have fled due to 'honour' issues. Where appropriate, Social Care must be involved, making it clear what the HBA concerns are; also, that their records must be kept secure and only available to those directly dealing with the case (B 1406 Procedure - Honour Based Abuse and Forced Marriage).

Officers should ensure they are referring to UKMPU (UK Missing Persons Unit) and NCA (National Crime Agency) Major Crime Investigative Support when appropriate, as detailed in APP (Missing persons | College of Policing).

The Missing People charity is a national, independent charity and offers support to missing people and their families. The charity works closely with police forces across the UK and can offer a range of services to support missing person investigations.

Investigating missing person reports is the responsibility of the police, but those involved in the care of children and vulnerable adults also have a safeguarding duty, which includes working to prevent them going missing and conducting initial and ongoing enquiries in the event of a missing episode. For further information see Adults at risk APP and the SET Missing from Care – Missing Memorandum of Understanding.

Compliance with this procedure and any governing policy is mandatory.

3.0 Procedure

The APP definition of a missing person is:

Anyone whose whereabouts cannot be established will be considered as missing until located and their well-being or otherwise confirmed.

To further assist, the missing person guide is available to all who are involved during any stage of an investigation.

3.1 Initial Reports

If the missing person report relates to someone missing from health care settings, you must initially refer to RCRP – AWOL/Missing from Healthcare procedure. If the person is still deemed a Missing Person, this policy should be referred back to.

Contact Centre will:

• Create a STORM incident for all missing person incidents using call takers question set, there is a specific question set for children missing from care, to establish details;
• Annually review the missing person question set to ensure that it includes only the questions needed to assess the risk;
• If reporting from a partner agency, it must be established if reasonable lines of enquiry have been explored to locate this person prior to calling police as per the Missing for Adult Health Care Framework. Unless there is material or intelligence to indicate a real and immediate risk to life under Article 2, then these enquiries must be carried out and pushed back to the partner agency to facilitate prior to accepting this report. Please see the RCRP AWOL procedure for further guidance.
• Head the incident as ‘missing person not assessed’;
• All incidents should be response graded in line with the THRIVE assessment. Checks will be completed by Contact/Control where possible, however under APP the primary responsibility rests with the attending/investigating officer;
• Notify LPT Inspector.

Control Centre will:

• Make relevant LPT aware via a broadcast to local officers;
• Allocate an officer to attend and complete a risk assessment with the informant as soon as practicable, with due consideration for golden hour principles and the necessity of creating a PNC warning marker as soon as possible;
• Once broadcast, officers with knowledge or relevant details should contact the Control Centre to update STORM;
• High Risk incidents should be treated as a priority in accordance with D 0503 Procedure – Command and Control of Incidents;
• Inform of any subsequent sightings to the appropriate LPA inspector/sergeant/nominated officer dealing. Sighting reports can then be added to the existing COMPACT record.

STORM

• The STORM incident for Low and Medium risk cases will remain open until recorded on COMPACT and the subsequent NPC reference entered onto the incident. For those cases graded as High Risk the STORM incident will remain open for a minimum of 12 hours to allow for appropriate fast time command and control during initial enquiries. There is no requirement for a STORM incident to be reopened if a Misper is changed from Medium to High on COMPACT.
• In all cases regardless of risk the supervisor closing the incident must ensure the COMPACT NPC reference has been recorded.
• Storm incidents relating to a missing child should remain open until either the child is found, or a missing report is taken. In some cases, applying RCRP may mean police delay the police response to allow a parent/carer to undertaken reasonable actions to locate the child, but the incident log should be delayed, not closed, to ensure a review takes places after an appropriate period.

Officer will:

The initial actions required when dealing missing persons are as follows, where any police officer or staff member receives the report of a missing person they will:

• Create a compact record (The COMPACT system will be used to record all investigations; High Risk cases will also be run on STORM during the beginning phase of enquiries (initial 12 hours))
• Obtain details and circumstances of the disappearance;
• Identify any immediate risk;
• Identify and record a plan of any immediate enquires to be carried out;
• Obtain a photograph or arrange a digital photograph to be e-mailed to either the designated LPT officer or MissingPerson****@*****
• PNC check to ensure missing person isn’t being held in custody;
• Complete relevant intelligence checks on all reported missing persons upon the receipt of the report and update the results of the checks on the STORM incident (STORM, ATHENA, PNC, PND, COMPACT);
• If the missing person is on the system, check warning markers, previous risk assessments and found locations and risk factors- update STORM;
• Set the latest time to review the risk assessment and activity;
• Creating a Compact record will automatically create a PNC circulation and notification to children’s services. The correct local authority must be entered onto the Compact record.

Recording on COMPACT

• It is imperative that quality data is entered onto the COMPACT record, as this data is used for Essex Police purposes, and is shared with partner agencies, and the National Crime Agency. It is the responsibility of the officer to check what has been entered, and if there are any errors or discrepancies these can be addressed by contacting an MPLO. If errors are entered DO NOT LEAVE THEM.
• The information regarding the missing person investigation must be added to COMPACT as follows ideally within three hours of the initial report;
• Compact is the primary record for all missing person investigations and any information on other systems should be reflected on the COMPACT record.

COMPACT Interim Process

• In the event that the email system fails or COMPACT is not communicating with PNC, an interim process has been compiled for the PNC Bureau to follow, to allow missing persons to be placed onto PNC as soon as is practicable.

Any decision to deviate from these principles must be endorsed by a Command Team member or an SIO in the case of transfers of missing investigations from COMPACT to Holmes. The rationale will be recorded on the Supervision / Handover task on COMPACT before being shown as inactive.

LPT Inspector will:

• Determine an initial risk assessment using details on storm, if not enough information is contained with the storm report, the inspector must detail rationale for not risk assessing.
• Re-visit current risk level once attendance has taken place and risk assessment completed;
• Retain ownership of the investigation until handed over.

Officers & staff are required to understand and action APP expectations around roles & responsibilities, legal expectations, the investigation, and truanting.

3.1.1 Single Online Home

Missing reports can now be submitted via Single Online Home (SOH) and have a 1 hour service level agreement for review by LPA/COMPACT. The standard of operating procedure for missing persons reports received via SOH is as follows:

• Once the online form has been completed by the member of the public, the report will deliver into the force inbox (@c*****) and will be assessed by a supervisor (adhering to the 1-hour SLA where applicable).
• The 1-hour SLA forms will be highlighted with a ‘high importance’ coloured tag making it easily identifiable.
• All information within the report will be lifted and placed on STORM or Athena, dependant on THRIVE assessment.
• For Missing person reports, any attached digital media and a copy of the received PDF report will be sent directly to the assessing Inspector on the relevant LPA via email. The Storm incident will be required to reflect that the Inspector has acknowledged receipt of the missing person and any sent media.

3.2 Police Officer Attending

Actions should be prioritised in accordance with the individual incident; see here for suggested actions.

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, any risk they may be exposed to (weapons, drugs, exploitation) 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 Sergeant should then satisfy themselves an appropriate search has been conducted by the attending officer(s).

COMPACT automatically sets the first Command Team review, however once the first review is complete, the Command Team member completing it should set the next review. Further guidance can be found on the Missing Persons connEXion page.

The initial investigating officer should begin the investigation, conduct appropriate searches, and reassess the level of risk. This should take into account all new information and not be a re-iteration of the initial risk assessment. It is the responsibility of the police officer allocated to the incident to ensure these actions are completed.

3.3 Risk Assessment Missing Persons

The College of Policing places all missing persons within a continuum of risk ranging from ‘very low risk’ through to high-risk cases that require immediate, intensive action. Essex Police do not use the very low risk grading.

The College of Policing APP risk assessment and response for missing persons is a guide to an appropriate level of response based on initial and ongoing risk assessment in each case and is shown below:

Very Low Risk

There is a very low risk of harm to either the subject or the public.

Actions to locate the subject and/or gather further information should be agreed with the informant and a latest review time set to reassess the risk.

Essex Police do not use Very Low Risk

Low risk

The risk of harm to the subject or the public is assessed as possible but minimal.

Proportionate enquiries should be carried out to ensure that the individual has not come to harm. If missing person is aged under 18, they cannot be graded as low risk.

Medium risk

The risk of harm to the subject or public is assessed as likely but not serious

This category requires an active and measured response by the police and other agencies in order to trace the missing person and support the person reporting. If missing person is aged under 18, local
children’s services must be notified.

High risk

The risk of serious harm to the subject or the public is assessed as very likely.

This category almost always requires the immediate deployment of police resources –action may be delayed in exceptional circumstances, such as searching water or forested areas during hours of darkness. A member of the senior management team must be involved in the examination of initial lines of enquiry and approval of appropriate staffing levels. Such cases should lead to the appointment of an investigating officer (IO) and possibly an SIO and police search advisor (PoLSA) There should be a press/media strategy and/or close contact with outside agencies.

Family support would be put in place where appropriate. The Missing Persons Bureau should be notified of the case without undue delay. Children’s services must also be notified immediately by phone call if the high-risk person is under 18.

Persons under the age of 18 cannot be graded as Low Risk.

Where there are significant concerns that a child or vulnerable adult may be exploited, assaulted, or sexually abused whilst absent, this should attract a high risk grading.

Risk of serious harm has been defined as (Home Office 2002 and OASys 2006):

‘A risk which is life threatening and/or traumatic, and from which recovery, whether physical or psychological, can be expected to be difficult or impossible.’

The LPT Inspector will be responsible for the initial risk assessment and management of the initial missing person enquiries. Any further reviews of risk can be conducted by another officer of at least the rank of Inspector. At the appropriate juncture, in consultation with the Command Team, the incident may be passed to an alternative team who will assume responsibility for the on-going investigation. There is a supervision/handover task on COMPACT that should be utilised.

Consideration should be given to the following:

• The full circumstances leading to a report of the person as missing, previous risk assessments and warning markers;
• Local intelligence and Police National Computer (PNC) check including any warning markers;
• Information held on legacy intelligence systems and Athena;
• PND checks;
• In all circumstances, PNC checks on the informant and witnesses;
• Details held by any other partner agency including Probation, Social Services, Mental Health Team, or Local Safeguarding Boards;
• Using the Holmes fast track for the investigation of High-Risk missing person’s investigations that are considered complex and protracted.
• CSE and CCE factors should be taken into consideration when determining a risk in missing children.
• In the case of a missing Registered Sex Offender (RSO), there is a requirement to engage with a MOSOVO DS immediately.

3.4 Ownership of the Investigation

Responsibility for missing person investigations sits within the Local Policing Area (LPA) in which the person who is missing resides.

A formal handover must take place between the LPT Inspector and the nominated team, should a decision be made to move ownership to another team.

3.5 Cross Border Cases

There must be clear and unambiguous ownership and responsibility for all missing person investigations. In cases where the appropriate ownership is not clear, but it is believed that the investigation needs to be transferred to a different Force, the matter should initially be agreed between Inspectors within each relevant force to determine who should own the investigation. APP states:

When deciding where ownership of the investigation lies, the principal issue is to consider where the majority of the enquiries are and who has the greatest opportunity of locating the missing person. It is probable that the place where the person was last seen would generate the majority of the initial enquiries.

Transferring cases should be done in a timely manner using an auditable process. An investigation should not be closed without clear confirmation that all information and intelligence has been transferred and received, and the receiving force has taken ownership of the case.

An initial report should be made on STORM and COMPACT and then transferred by the OIC or MPLO to the receiving force using the Cross Border Transfer form. The Cross Border Transfer form can be automatically populated by COMPACT and is also found on Force Forms.

COMPACT user forces can import/export current cases to each other, which negates the need to create a new record and will show how the investigation has progressed.

Consideration should be made to escalate to the Insp/FDO for Transfer Disputes of Missing Persons if an agreement cannot be reached between forces as to who should accept ownership.

3.5.1 Enquiry on Behalf of another Force

Where Essex Police is contacted to conduct an enquiry on behalf of another force’s High Risk Missing Person enquiry, the Control Centre will ensure the following is carried out:

• This type of enquiry should be directed through the Force Control E-mail inbox to ensure there is a clear audit of the request, however urgent requests may come via 101/999 telephony routes or Airwave hailing group;
• A STORM incident must be generated using call type “Call on High Risk Misper OOF” and placed on a Priority response grading;
• Duty LPT inspector is to be notified and assume oversight of that task, ensuring a footprint is placed on the incident, and identification of a unit to complete the request;
• Ownership of the Missing Person will remain with the original force unless otherwise agreed but this task should be considered with the same priority, we would expect for our own High Risk Missing Person;

3.6 Ongoing Investigations

3.6.1 LPT Inspector Responsibilities

The LPT Duty Inspector is responsible for the management of all investigations concerning missing persons within their LPA, unless the Command Team have agreed otherwise.

It is the responsibility of the LPT Inspector to contact the next of kin for reassurance.

On commencement of their duty, they will review all High-Risk COMPACT reports including the risk assessment and all outstanding actions.

The LPA where the person is missing from should retain the investigation however on the occasion where a proportion of enquiries exist within another LPA, liaison between LPAs should occur and allocated most appropriately. In some circumstances another LPA may have had significant dealings with the Misper in the hours before and be able to offer intelligence re possible locations.

Medium Risk COMPACT records will be reviewed at least once every 24 hours by an LPT Inspector and consideration should be given to a DI review after 48 hours. Low risk at least once every 72 hours by an LPT Inspector. This does not supersede the need to react to any new information that comes to police attention between these periods.

They must ensure the COMPACT Supervision/Handover task is regularly updated providing a comprehensive audit trail as well as an informative and effective handover.

In addition, they will be responsible for the following:

• Where the incident is High Risk contact POLSA where necessary and appropriate with regard to an on-going search strategy;
• Endorse the risk assessment made by the officer completing COMPACT, ensuring that all relevant system checks (PNC, PND, COMPACT and ATHENA) have been conducted;
• Document all lines of enquiry and ensure appropriate tasks are created;
• Ensure sufficient resources are available to undertake actions and tasks;
• Consider passing to a local Detective Inspector for review and/or advice using the Detective Review process.

3.6.2 LPT Sergeant Responsibilities

The LPT Sergeant should designate an officer to deal with each missing person investigation to ensure continuity, management of the family and the continued updating of tasks and actions on COMPACT. Details of the designated officer must be documented on the missing report on COMPACT.

In all cases the Duty Sergeant will ensure the following is complied with:

• Ensure COMPACT has been checked for previous missing reports, warning markers, risk assessments and previously found locations;
• Ensure a COMPACT log has been created and the actions documented;
• Provide sufficient resources to manage the initial stage of the investigation;
• Ensure initial searches have been completed and fully documented;
• Upon commencement of their duty, they will review all live COMPACT reports for their area of responsibility including the risk assessment and all outstanding actions;
• Ensure that the informant is provided with contact details and receives regular updates.

Consider advice and assistance from specialists, i.e. POLSA, the dog section and air support.

3.7 Command Team Reviews

All High-Risk missing person incidents must be reviewed within 12hrs of report by a member of LPA Command Team or if out of hours, FDO. All other missing person incidents should be reviewed within 72hrs of report.

• Review should be documented on COMPACT.
• Review content should include:
  a) Referral to the national decision-making model;
  b) Confirmation of information reviewed and who has been consulted;
  c) The key areas of risk;
  d) Any additional LOEs.
• Further reviews are to be completed as appropriate to the individual investigation and the risk that has been identified.
• Compact will automatically set the first review and the Command Team member completing should then set the next review. For high-risk missing persons these should be set manually for every 12 hours.

Assistance with reviews of cases that are not straightforward can be requested, as early as felt necessary, from the Criminal Investigation Department CID or Serious Crime Directorate (SCD). These requests should usually go via the Duty Inspector.

The National Crime Agency (NCA) will assist with reviews in relation to any missing person incidents if required. The NCA have an individual single point of contact (SPOC) to look at intelligence and help with high-risk reviews in regard to missing persons in Essex. This can be requested through an MPLO.

3.7.1 Gold Oversight of Missing Person Investigation

• All high-risk missing persons will be brought to the attend of force gold each day through either C&PP or LPA representative on morning call.
• A command structure should be put in place as directed by gold to ensure actions are owned and tracked appropriately.
• Gold should immediately be informed if a critical incident is declared in relation to a missing person.
• At the discretion of gold, a separate gold group may be held (based on circumstances and risk). Consideration should be given to inclusion of the following representation for the gold group: LPA, MPLO, specialist depts (e.g., POLSA), Media, IAGs and community representation (when public confidence is affected).
• All gold strategy and decisions must be documented on the COMPACT record along with any gold group actions. This provides clarity of who is in charge of areas of activity at any given time.
• Gold should consider all available expertise in order to deliver the best possible service.
• Gold should consider updating elected representatives where appropriate (via CC/DCC office).

3.8 Change in Circumstances

There are limited circumstances when a missing person incident can be reclassified as a concern for welfare; one of those circumstances being that the incident must be graded as G1 or G2. For further information see the Procedure D 0801 Right Care Right Person Concern for Welfare policy. In circumstances where a person is identified as not missing, the incident can be amended to ‘good intent’. An officer of at least the rank of Inspector must give authorisation for this change. In cases involving children the incident should be brought to the attention of a Command team member or the
Command Duty Officer for the relevant LPA, or the Force Duty Officer. The reasons for reclassifying an incident are:

• The call was made in error;
• The incident was classified in error by the call taker;
• The missing person was not in fact missing but had got lost or lost their phone and is not considered vulnerable due to the circumstances documented.

An Athena/COMPACT check should be completed before changing the call-card to concern. It should be ascertained if this person has been missing before or if there is any relevant intelligence that may add to the concern or highlight vulnerability or show a pattern of behaviour (for example CSE, gang concerns, mental health etc.).

If a child has been missing for only a short period, this is not a reason to re-classify the incident to concern.

If the person has been missing previously, but this cannot be confirmed as a further missing episode, and can be fully justified and documented by the LPA Inspector or above the following should happen:

• A Police Information Report (PIR) is to be created on Athena detailing the circumstances of the concern, this PIR reference or incident number should also be signposted on the warning markers on COMPACT;
• This can only be authorised by an Inspector or above and the rationale clearly recorded on the incident by the Inspector before closing;
• A PP57 (Southend and Thurrock) or online portal referral (Essex) for Children’s Services must be considered as a matter of course. A SETSAF referral to Adult Social Care must also be considered as a matter of course.

If we, as a force do not adhere to the above procedure then the incident becomes lost within STORM and vital information gets lost.

When a COMPACT record is completed, both the missing and found circumstances are automatically sent directly from COMPACT to Social Care (for under 18’s only).

In the event that an incident is incorrectly input onto storm initially as a missing person but is actually someone missing from healthcare with no qualifying circumstances (as per RCRP AWOL procedure), the call should be re classified to “RCRP AWOL” (or concern for welfare).

3.9 Immediate Return of Missing Person

Should a missing person return during the initial recording process, the officer will complete a missing and found report, obtain a photograph, or email a digital photo to the OIC or MissingPersonL****@****

When a missing report is added to COMPACT an automatic notification is sent to PNC for a missing report to be created. In cases of immediate return, the officer should commence the entry in the ‘Full Circumstances’ field with the wording “No PNC required, subject already found”.

The officer must follow this with a found report. The entry within the ‘Full Debrief’ field should commence with words “Subject not circulated on PNC”.

3.10 Areas of Responsibility

3.10.1 Searches

All searches will be the responsibility of and managed by the LPT Inspector. They will be responsible for consulting the Police Search Adviser (PolSA) duty officer regarding High-Risk incidents and in all cases within 24 hours if the person has not been located.

It will be the decision of PolSA to use, call out, and liaise with volunteer search and rescue organisations.

The Essex County Fire and Rescue Service (ECFRS) can support the search for High Risk missing persons when the request is made through Tactical (Silver) (with POLSA advice). Tactical (Silver) will then have a discussion with ECFRS duty Interagency Liaison Officer (ILO), with additional assets sent from ECFRS. This may also include the use of specialist units such as Urban Search and Rescue teams (USAR), drones and enhanced thermal imaging devices.

The Duty Inspector may also consider seeking advice from PolSA in other cases.

Thermal Imaging Cameras (TIC) are now held in a number of locations within Essex Police. LPT Inspectors are to consider the use of these in consultation with POLSA.

These cameras can aid Missing Person searches; looking to clear open areas of land.

All searches should be documented on COMPACT and include thorough search of mispers room and all rooms in premises including loft/cellars/outbuildings/garages and record on COMPACT. Consider keys missing and their use, signs of preparation to go missing, any items that are not normally left behind.

3.10.2 Social Media Release for Missing Persons

Any request to utilise social media in enquiries must go via the Press Office as any form of social media form should be from a Force social media account.

• High risk cases should be notified to the Press Office (day or night) by the Inspector who has ownership of the investigation at that time;
• Medium risk cases must have specific exacerbating risk factors, a concrete belief that a media role will assist and all other means of tracing the individual have been tried without success. Discussion by the Inspector should take place with the press office.
• Particular care should be taken in relation to media engagement for looked-after children. Some addresses will be confidential and there will be times when birth parents do not know where their child is living. Development of the media strategy must be carried out in partnership with the local authority and all risk factors explored.
• Any attempt to make contact with the missing person via social media must be monitored so that any subsequent contact by the missing person is responded to appropriately in case of an Article 2 or 3 ECHR issue.
• In addition to using local media contacts, the charity Missing People has extensive local and national opportunities to assist forces with publicity. Even if it has not been involved in the publicity, many people contact the charity with important and relevant information, particularly where there is widespread media coverage.
• Duty Press Officer must be notified in the event that a critical incident relating to a Missing Person is declared.

Considerations prior to contacting the press office and Out of Office Hours Requests are detailed to support the decision making process.

During office hours the Press Office must be notified immediately if a missing person has been found in order for the social media post to be removed.

Outside of office hours, the LPA will have to take responsibility for updating the on-call press officer by text message, detailing that the person has been found. There has to be caution around what content is included, especially if the person is found deceased or has been a subject of crime. An email should also be sent to the press office so that it can be removed as soon as appropriate.

All publicity for missing people MUST be made via the Press Office and individual officers should not post on social media.

Once a missing person appeal has been made in the media and on social media then it cannot simply be deleted or withdrawn if the missing person is found deceased – it must be updated to reflect the change in circumstances, that a body has been found and that a search has been called off. If the body has not been formally identified, then care must be taken to avoid language that suggests the body is definitely the person being looked for.

News of a death is likely to travel fast with members of the public posting on the Essex Police Facebook page or ‘X’ (formerly known as Twitter) information about a death, asking us for confirmation and mainstream media are likely to quickly pick this up. For this reason, we must respond quickly on our own channels.

However, NO update should be provided on any public communication channel until the next of kin have been advised of the death, the need to update the media and social media has been explained to them and they have been given a chance to comment on any proposed media statement.

A draft statement will be prepared by the press office and sent to the officer in charge of the missing person enquiry. It is their responsibility to ensure the above steps are carried out and to notify the press office that the statement has been approved for release.

3.10.3 BTP Liaison

Clearly, it is not necessary or appropriate for BTP to be routinely advised of all investigations, but BTP should be notified if the answer is yes for any of the following:

• Is there specific information that the missing person is on or is going to visit or use the railway system?
• Is there a risk of real significant harm to the missing person, or a threat to life AND they are on, going to visit or are near to the railway system?
• Has BTP placed a suicide related information marker on the missing persons PNC record?
• Is your enquiry around a PolSA operation on BTP jurisdiction?
• Are you seeking CCTV review assistance for a missing person who is currently on the railway system?

Notification should be done by contacting BTP via a telephone call to ***** / 0207 ******

3.10.4 Missing Person Liaison Officer (MPLO)

The main purpose of the role is:

• To maintain a comprehensive overview of missing persons within a defined area in order to identify those who are at risk of significant harm;
• To coordinate the response from internal departments and partners in order to reduce the likelihood of harm occurring to vulnerable people;
• MPLOs will review risk levels of all current recorded missing persons each day and will note and raise any concerns via the daily Command call.

The main responsibilities of the MPLOs are listed in the attached MPLO Job Description.

3.10.5 Family Liaison

It is usually better for the family if one family member is used as a contact point from which to feedback updates to the rest of the family; and, as much as is practicable, one officer or staff member should provide these updates to maintain consistency. It is recognised that due to shift patterns this will not always be possible; but professionalism, the Victims’ Code of Practice and our own Code of Ethics should be uppermost in minds when dealing with the family of a Missing Person.

The frequency of contact will depend on several factors including level of risk and whether the investigation is live or not, guidance is on the Compact task. When investigations are no longer live, the MPLOs can be tasked with ongoing contact where suitable. Ensure you provide the family with expectations about ongoing contact and ask them how/when they would like to be contacted.

3.10.6 Operation Firefly

Operation Firefly has been set up within the serious violence unit to bridge the gap between missing person cases managed by the LPA and the investigative work, enforcement and safeguarding around county lines, drugs and gangs completed within the serious violence unit.

Individuals, normally recurrent mispers, thought to be involved in county lines, who have a known mobile phone number are referred into the SVU intel team where they are triaged for links to county lines. Any links to drug lines are investigated by Op Orochi / Raptor with a view to enforce on the line in order to put proper safeguarding in place for the vulnerable missing person and bring the offenders to justice.

Referral details and further information can be obtained by contacting SVU intel or Op Orochi. Missing Person Liaison Officers can also be contacted for information and advice on referrals.

Op Firefly requires OPTICA applications to be submitted. Without these an application will not be able to be progressed.

3.10.7 Vulnerable Persons

There are different protocols in place to aid in the search of missing people with certain characteristics.

For people with dementia there is the Herbert Protocol and for veterans there is the Forcer Protocol.

Further information on the protocols can be found by clicking on the links above.

3.11 Found Missing Persons

Once a missing person has been located or returned, officers should seek to properly establish their whereabouts by actually visiting and seeing the missing person where possible. The attending officer must also ensure an Athena PIR is submitted where appropriate. This is mandatory for all high-risk missing persons and all children under 18. For medium and low risks, if there is information/intelligence of note to be disseminated then this must also be recorded. The PIR should include:

• COMPACT Person Identification (PID);
• COMPACT Report Identification (RID) and circumstances of the Missing/Found.

The resulting ATHENA PIR/non-crime reference number will be placed on the appropriate COMPACT record as soon as practicable. This is the responsibility of the Officer attending the report of the found missing person.

Understanding the reasons why an individual went missing may help to prevent future harm to those individuals. The officers in charge of local areas should have clear plans on how they intend to reduce the number of people who go missing in their area. These plans may include education about the dangers that young people face when they run away (probably delivered through the personal, social, health and economic Education curriculum in schools) and targeted work with those thought to be at greater risk of going missing. This can be achieved by working with our partner agencies to assist in the education delivery and through the use of the Return Home Interviews.

3.11.1 Vulnerability Interview (VI)/Found report

Once the missing person is located all details must be uploaded to the COMPACT record (found report) and the ATHENA PIR/non crime report immediately. The LPA officer should conduct a vulnerability interview with the missing person in a timely fashion (ideally within 72hrs).

Alternatively an independent professional (e.g. a social worker, teacher, health professional or police officer), who does not usually work with the child, is not involved in their care and who is trained to carry out these interview and in the right circumstances, so as to maximise the opportunities to support the child, gather relevant information, prevent further missing episodes and reduce the risk.

Considerations for under 18s VIs are shown in the SET Child Protection Procedures; (see part B section 20.5.14-15). In addition there is a list of actions to be recorded during vulnerability interview.

If a missing person refuses to answer questions during a vulnerability interview, it is important that their demeanour and appearance are recorded, particular attention should be paid to the AWARE contextual safeguarding principles, with Appearance, Words, Activity, Relationships/dynamics, and Environment being noted.

The officer must note any observations that may indicate ‘hidden harms’, or potential vulnerabilities. ‘Refused to answer’ added to a COMPACT found report is not acceptable.

In cases that have been assessed as Medium, Low Risk, or very low risk, a PCSO may conduct the VI with the approval of an officer of the rank of sergeant or above. Details of the VI are to be shared with Social Care where appropriate.

Whenever possible, consider the use of specialist staff, including MPLOs and CYP Officers to conduct vulnerability interviews with frequent missing children. In these cases, additional emphasis is to be placed on the need to conduct interviews not only in a timely fashion, but also by appropriately trained specialist staff, in the right circumstances, so as to maximise the opportunities to support the child, gather relevant information, prevent further missing episodes, and reduce the risk.

In cases of found persons from Mental Health units, refer to section 24 of the Multi agency response for adults missing from health and care: framework - GOV.UK

3.11.2 Independent Return Interviews (IRI)

In addition to VIs, all missing children will be offered an independent return Interview (IRI) by the local authority in which they live, in order that indications of exploitation or harm can be further assessed. (See SET Child Protection Procedures; (part B section 20.5.4). A synopsis of the interview will then be sent to the Missing person liaison officers, and they will update the COMPACT record.

3.11.3 Indicators of Exploitation or Harm

COMPACT Risk Flags will be used as a tool to assist current and future risk assessments by maintaining up to date risk flags on nominal records within COMPACT assessments.

The COMPACT system has the ability to ‘Flag’ persons form the following list of COMPACT Risk Flags.

Appropriate risk flags will be attached to relevant COMPACT nominals if risks are identified around the above categories by:

• The Missing Person Liaison Officers (MPLO);
• Crime & Public Protection Command Operations Centre (C&PPC OC Triage Team).

In addition to the above flags, those nominals identified as being at risk of CSE/CCE, or in the case of domestic abuse (DA), members of the acute victim’s cohort will also have warning flags attached.

All children who, during the found process, are identified as being at risk of exploitation, radicalisation or otherwise harmed will have appropriate COMPACT risk flags attached to their COMPACT nominal following the process laid out in section 4.19. The College of policing APP provides further guidance around risk management:

• Indicators of concern for a child;
• Risk identification;
• Action in urgent or serious cases;
• Child Sexual Exploitation:
• Forced Marriage and Honour Based Violence.

Indications of exploitation and harm should be explored thoroughly during interviews with found and returning children. If a child makes a disclosure of crime direct to an officer or police staff member, or they disclose the crime to their parent/carer/professional third party, who in turn reports to Essex Police, the crime must be recorded in line with NCRS/HOCR Principals – click here for further guidance
Crime recording rules for-frontline officers and staff march 2024

If a missing person has a County Lines flag on PND or there is any report on intelligence systems to suggest that the Misper has a link to County lines, the Missing Person Referral Form should be completed and sent to the Serious Violence Unit Intel Team.

3.11.4 People Who Do Not Want Their Whereabouts Disclosed

Where a person, aged 18 years or over, who has mental capacity, does not wish their whereabouts to be revealed, the person making the original report will only be told that the missing person has been traced and does not want their whereabouts disclosed.

3.11.5 Found Children (under 18 Years)

If the officer considers the child to be at risk they should follow the procedure detailed within B 1206 Procedure - Police Protection Powers.

Where a person with parental responsibility is making arrangements for the collection of the child, the child may remain temporarily at the found location with the agreement of the parent, legal guardian, or social worker whilst arrangements are made, provided there is no identified risk to the child. Police officers should not become involved in the return of a missing person unless the officer believes it necessary to prevent further significant harm.

Further guidance is available within the SET Child Protection procedures concerning the return of children in care.

3.11.6 Unidentified Persons Found Alive

Where a person is found and their full details cannot be established, full descriptive details of the found person must be entered on to the COMPACT system as a MISSING report as soon as practicable, including a photograph. The word ‘UNIDENTIFIED’ should be placed in the surname field. The officer’s primary consideration must be to establish the identity of the individual through local enquiries.

In addition, the officer should consider the following:

• Using a QUEST search via PNC to search for identifying characteristics;
• Running the photo of missing person through PND;
• Request a search of the National Crime Agency (NCA) ‘Comes to Notice’ Hermes Database by contacting the UK Missing Persons Unit at the NCA, used to assist with the identification of known attention seekers who use alias names;
• Obtaining their fingerprints with consent utilising the voluntary sample kits and following the instructions for submission;
• Obtain a DNA sample with consent utilising the voluntary sample kits and following the instructions for submission;
• Full consideration should be given to their status as potential victims of modern slavery or human trafficking and that a referral to the National Referral Mechanism is made in appropriate circumstances.
• There is a requirement to record a crime if Police make a referral to the NRM or if a Notification of Potential Victim of Modern Slavery (NRM/Duty to Notify Referral) is sent to the competent authority. If there is any other notifiable crime associated with the victim, then this should be subject of a separate Athena record.

Details of unidentified persons should be reported to the UK Missing Persons Unit (UKMPU), within 48 hours of being located. Complete the Force Form UKMPU for unidentified person’s cases. Complete the form with as many details as possible and return to the NCA email address detailed at the bottom of the form, the NCA will add the case to their Hermes database and provide you with the Hermes reference number. Cancellation of such reports must be submitted to UKMPU within 24 hours of an identification being made.

Once the person is identified, the COMPACT entry will be updated with the correct details and the circumstances under which they were found. The officer should review any COMPACT or STORM entry to ensure any out of force enquiries are identified and cancelled.

3.11.7 Found - Deceased

Where a current missing person is found deceased, the officer should treat the death as suspicious until confirmed otherwise. B 0615 Procedure – Investigation of Death should be followed in all cases.

Once the deceased is identified, the officer must ensure COMPACT is updated with a found report and any out of force enquiries are cancelled within an hour.

Consideration should be made as to whether PSD or IOPC referral for Death/Serious Injury following police contact is required. Tactical (Silver) should consider if a PIP accredited officer is required in those circumstances.

3.11.8 Reviews - Missing Persons found Deceased

When a missing person is discovered deceased, a review of the missing person investigation will be requested by the LPA that owned the missing person investigation.

The review will be requested via the morning Strategic (Gold) Call; so that one of the other two LPAs will be assigned to conduct the review and consideration can be given to capacity to do so.

For example:

• Deceased missing person North LPA – West LPA will review;
• Deceased missing person West LPA – South LPA will review;
• Deceased missing person South LPA – North LPA will review.

The initial review will be conducted by a Detective Inspector with assistance from those with specialist knowledge (e.g., POLSA). Initial findings should be reported to the requesting command team within 24 hours.

If a more in-depth review is required, or more time is needed due to workload, then timescale will be determined through conversation between the requesting and reviewing LPAs.

If the deceased missing person is high profile or something suspicious has occurred, the requesting LPA will consider approaching the Serious Crime Directorate Review Team to conduct the review.

The objective of these reviews is to:

• Constructively evaluate the action taken to locate the missing person;
• To identify any lessons to be learnt;
• To independently assess the adequacy of the response applied in the circumstances;
• To examine the application of the Force Missing Persons Procedure;
• To identify any training needs;
• To identify good practice;
• To identify if there are any PSD issues that need to be reviewed, i.e., was there death following police contact?

Once completed the review will be sent to the Command Team who had responsibility for the missing person investigation. The Command Team will review if there are any referrals to be made to the Professional Standards Department in respect of misconduct or C 3013 Procedure Death and Serious Injury following police contact.

The review will also be sent to the Crime and Public Protection Strategic Vulnerability Centre so that any force wide learning, best practice, reoccurring issues or changes to procedure can be reviewed and actioned.

The review will be shared with the officer responsible for completing the coroner’s report and should be included in that report. It will be this officer’s responsibility to inform the deceased missing person’s next of kin of the review process.

3.11.9 Unidentified Found Remains/People

Where a body or remains are found, the circumstances should be treated as suspicious until enquires determine otherwise. Early engagement with the coroner is required, and the principles of an effective murder investigation should be adhered to until the case has been established to be non-suspicious. The coroner will then take primary responsibility for establishing the identity of the individual, with the
police assisting enquiries. When the deceased person has been identified their details should be circulated on the PNC. This PNC entry will enable police forces to relate any subsequent missing person report back to the deceased and inform the reporting person. B 0615 Procedure – Investigation of Death should be adhered to.

In addition, the following actions should be completed:

• First responder/initial investigator will complete a COMPACT search;
• A Missing report should be entered on COMPACT using ‘unidentified’ in the surname field, along with full descriptive details;
• Once on COMPACT the entry should be shown as inactive until an identification has been made;
• The UK Missing Persons Unit (MPU), must be notified within 48 hrs using the Force Form UKMPU mentioned in Section 3.14.6;
• Fingerprint identification should be attempted, if possible, using Mobile Biometrics.

Photographs, dental records, and any other information should be forwarded to the UK Missing Persons Unit (UKMPU) as soon as possible along with any additional information that becomes known. A sample of DNA should be taken and checked against the UKMPU Database, and a note made on PNC and COMPACT.

If no identification is made in the UK, consideration should be given to circulating the details abroad via the Central Intelligence Bureau.

Further guidance on handling and investigating found remains can be found in the APP guidance on Missing persons (specific investigations Section 4 Found Remains).

3.12 Conclusion of the Investigation - Inactive Reports

Where all current lines of enquiry have been concluded, and provided there are no suspicious circumstances, the command team reviewing officer (trained SIO/Chief Inspector or above) may show the record ‘inactive’ on COMPACT pending re-activation as a result of new information that may be given.

For more information on circumstances where showing a record as inactive is appropriate, see APP Missing person investigations | College of Policing The designated MPLOs are responsible for monitoring the Inactive Missing Persons on COMPACT and will ensure the relevant Command Teams are aware of an impending review to be completed. The reviews are on-going and are to be completed within every 12-month period.

The escalation process for the annual reviews is as follows:

• MPLOs will diarise the review dates for 4-6 weeks before they are due;
• The MPLO will contact the CH/INSP to remind them of the review date and commence the checks;
• Once checks are complete MPLOs will advise the CH/INSP of this. It will then be for the CH/INSP to complete the review within the timeframe;
• If the inactive person is not reviewed prior to the review date and the review is showing red, the MPLO will contact the MPPT Sergeant;
• The MPPT Sergeant will send a reminder to the CH/INSP.

If the review is not completed within a further 14 days, then the MPPT Sergeant with escalate to the DI.

3.13 Closing Incidents For Persons Not Seen

In incidents where the missing person has been located or their whereabouts are known, but it is impractical or impossible to see them, the investigation can be closed with the authority of a Chief Inspector.

This includes persons who are deliberately avoiding police or who have gone abroad and there is no evidence to suggest a crime has occurred or that anything untoward has happened to them.

The investigation is closed by adding a found report on COMPACT with the details included in the ‘de-brief’ section.

Details of missing people believed to be illegal immigrants/over stayers who are deliberately avoiding police should be passed to the Border Agency and the police investigation can then be closed. Under 18s will remain as police missing persons.

See the NPCC Guidance on Adult Asylum Seekers, Undocumented Migrants and Visa Applicants who Abscond and when they should be Recorded as Missing and Guidance on Missing Migrant Children for further information.

It is imperative at the person has been processed by the Home Office and has a Home Officer number. Otherwise, the Immigration & Enforcement Unit will not accept the referral, at which point our investigation will remain open.

3.14 Closure of a Missing Person Report

When a missing person is located, the relevant Inspector will ensure:

• All reviews are completed;
• Any relevant circulations have been cancelled;
• All relevant documentation including risk assessments and search logs are collated scanned and uploaded to the ATHENA record;
• COMPACT is updated and endorsed with the location of the documentation;
• Any relevant PIR (mandatory for children or high-risk) has been completed;
• Any relevant medial circulations have been cancelled.

3.15 Missing Children (under 18)

Children who go missing from Home and Care are managed by Essex Police in accordance with the SET Child Protection Procedures; the response to missing children under 18 should be effective and collaborative, involving all agencies. If the missing person is aged under 18, local children’s services must be notified (immediately if deemed to be high risk).

For children in care who are at risk of going missing (combined with previous missing episodes, mental health issues, exploitation concerns etc) Social Workers should complete the Philomena Protocol form. The form includes information around the young person, their care order, background history, and social worker details. Once the form is completed the Social Worker should send it to the MPLO who will then create a skeleton COMPACT record. The Social Worker should also send a copy to the child’s residential placement.

When the police receive a report of a missing child, the incident log should remain open until either the child is found, or a missing person report is taken. In some cases, applying the RCRP principles may be appropriate for the police to delay the police response to allow the parent or carer to undertake reasonable actions to locate the child or to allow the child a reasonable opportunity to return of their own accord (i.e., where the level of risk lies within the parental/ carer band of the Levels of Intervention Model), but the incident log should be delayed, not closed, to ensure a review takes place after an appropriate period. If the child is not located by the parent or carer and does not return within a reasonable time as anticipated, the police should then deploy to take a missing person report.

3.15.1 The Philomena Protocol

The Philomena Protocol is a scheme that asks carers to identify children and young people who are at risk of going missing, and to record vital information about them that can be used to help find them quickly and safely.

The police only need to see the completed form if the child or young person is reported as missing.

However, if a child or young person in care in a placement or with a foster carer is believed to be at risk of going missing, the social worker will need to complete the form and send it to our Missing Person Prevention Team.

Our Missing Person Liaison Officers (MPLOs) will record the basic information on our specialist system. The placement keeps a copy of the form and makes sure the information is kept up to date. If the child or young person is reported missing, the most up to date form is given to police.

3.16 Op Encompass

Op Encompass provides Essex Police with a direct line of communication to school safeguarding leads, providing enhanced wraparound safeguarding and intervention efforts for young people within educational settings.

To ensure the effectiveness of this initiative, it is essential that the MPPT has access to the most up-to-date educational information for any young person reported missing. It is also essential that missing and found reports are as detailed as possible.

MPLOs will:

• check the missing and found reports from the previous 24 hours at the start of duty (Monday to Friday);
• MPLOs will ascertain if the young person is in education and, if so, the name of the establishment;
• MPLOs will review the details of the missing or found report, adding or redacting information where necessary;
• Ensure Op Encompass is activated on Compact and a password protected notification is sent to the Dedicated Safeguarding Lead (DSL) for the educational establishment.

3.17 Children at High Risk of CSE and missing 3 times in 90 days

All officers and staff should be aware of the National Referral Mechanism (NRM).

When any child goes missing three times in 90 days and has been identified as being at high risk of exploitation, consideration should be given to the possibility of them being a trafficked child and a NRM referral made in line with policy.

3.18 Migrant Children

When investigating a missing migrant child, the police have a duty to investigate if there is:

• a real, immediate risk to life or serious harm,
• a real, immediate threat of torture, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment,
• a real, immediate risk of slavery, servitude, and forced or compulsory labour,
• there is concern that the child has been, or is likely to be, a victim of a serious crime,
• there is concern that the child will suffer significant harm, or
• the child is dangerous and poses a real, immediate risk of death or serious harm to another person.

When dealing with migrant children, officers should be aware of Op ***.

3.19 Child Abduction Warning Notices (CAWN)

CAWNs can be valuable in assisting the safeguarding of vulnerable young people and provide supportive evidence for criminal or other proceedings.

These Warning Notices are useful in disrupting the criminal activity of adults who are associating with young people against the wishes of the parents or local authority carers. The Notices can be used where arrest or prosecution for any substantive offence is not available or is not appropriate at that time.

There are two notices:

• Section 2 Child Abduction Act 1984 is for a child under 16;
• Section 49 Children Act 1989 is for a child under 18 who is in the care of a Local Authority.

The notice identifies the child or young person and confirms that the suspect has no permission to associate with or to contact or communicate with the child and that if they continue to do so they may be liable to arrest and prosecution for one of the offences outlined above.

A CAWN can be issued to any relevant suspect over the age of criminal responsibility.

The considerations of proportionality and necessity will form the basis of the decision making process.

Guidance on CAWN can also be found on CID96

3.19.1 Issuing the CAWN

A warning notice should be viewed as a safeguarding measure for the child concerned as well as a proactive case building initiative. Furthermore, they can be used as evidence when making other applications to the court such as Sexual Harm Prevention Orders and Sexual Risk Orders.

An Inspector may authorise the issuing of a Child Abduction Warning Notice for a child under the age of 16 years (or under 18 years if in local authority care under a section 31 Care Order) in the following circumstance/s:

• Is the child subject to reports suggesting a suspect has induced or incited them to run away from the responsible person, or their behaviour and association with a suspect is giving rise to significant safeguarding concerns?
• Is or has the child been in the company of a suspect in circumstances in which it is suspected that the facts amount to an offence of child abduction, but there is insufficient evidence to justify a decision to prosecute, and safeguarding concerns still remain?
• Then, the issuing of a CAWN should be considered and is to be issued as soon as practicable.
• The authorising Inspector will ensure that an entry is placed on COMPACT and that the following checks have been made:
  • PNC
  • ATHENA (MOSOVO to be notified if identified as a MAPPA/ViSOR subject).
• The authorising Inspector will need to ensure a non-crime Athena record is created and an appropriate case officer to own the CAWN is identified. The authorising Inspector will need to agree the review frequency with the case officer and their supervisor, commensurate with the risk posed. A review period should be no longer than once every two weeks. Decisions will need to be made by the case officer and their supervisor, should the CAWN be breached. If Essex Police issued the CAWN then the presumption is Essex Police will own any decisions regarding subsequent enforcement should a breach occur, regardless of where in the country it happens;
• The case officer for a CAWN will be a warranted officer, normally of constable rank, who is best placed to manage the risk. In most cases the case officer will be from an LPA Community Policing Team, such as a CYP officer. In cases of high risk, the authorising Inspector should consider referring this to an accredited Detective Inspector to allocate a suitable case officer, either from a CID team or C&PP command;
• During the checks, should the subject of the CAWN be flagged as a MAPPA nominal, the authorising Inspector needs to ensure the MOSOVO Detective Inspector is made aware so the appropriate case officer can be allocated.

A statement will be taken from the person responsible for lawful care of the child to include:

• Clarification of parental responsibility, child’s name, age, and date of birth;
• The fact that the restrictions and wishes of the parent or carer have been made clear to the child;
• The concerns the parent or carer has for the child arising from the association, with the named person;
• The provision of a recent good quality photograph which should be exhibited within the statement;
• Permission for the photograph to be shown to the suspect at the time the warning is delivered.

3.19.2 Serving the Warning Notice

Notices will be prepared using the CAWN – Warning Notice.

A photograph must be shown to the suspect to clearly identify the young person to whom the notice refers. The notice must also be read out to the suspect.

The suspect will be issued with two copies of the notice and requested to sign both.

The suspect retains one copy; the other is retained by Essex Police and uploaded to COMPACT and Athena. If the suspect refuses to sign, the officer will endorse the notice.

IMPORTANT CAWNs must be recorded on Athena and PNC and the number placed on COMPACT.

CAWNs must be attached to the suspect person’s iteration. If the suspect is not known on ATHENA, person iteration MUST be created for this purpose.

The nominated case officer and their supervisor will manage the individual cases, in terms of ongoing review and mitigation of the risk, along with key decisions around further mitigation and enforcement should a breach occur.

The team of the authorising Inspector will retain ownership unless ownership is transferred to another department or team. The rationale for the transfer of ownership will be recorded on the Athena non-crime.

3.19.3 Reviewing of the CAWN

The Police Order Enforcement Team (POET) is to be notified once the CAWN has been served. The Detective Inspector of the POET Team will hold responsibility for compliance and ensuring a review date no later than within 6 months is set by the authorising Inspector. At this point, a full review of intelligence concerning the child and individual will be conducted. The review should be conducted with the relevant authorising Inspector who will authorise its extension or discontinuance. The suspect
must be informed of the review outcome and PNC should be updated.

3.19.4 Breaches of CAWN

Suspects cannot be arrested for non-compliance with a CAWN as there is no such criminal offence. Any subsequent arrest must be for a substantive offence. If there is evidence that the terms of the CAWN have not been complied with – for example, the suspect has been seen with the child, or the child is subsequently reported missing and is located with the suspect – then consider arrest of the suspect for a substantive child abduction or other criminal offence. The team initiating the CAWN remain responsible for the non-compliance and dealing with any subsequent breaches.

Regardless of where the breach occurs, it is the responsibility of the team / Force initiating the CAWN to enforce and deal with any subsequent breach, even if this occurs in another Force. Breaches of CAWNs should always be enforced – a full rationale must be recorded by the rank of Inspector or above if opportunities to enforce a breach of CAWN have not been taken.

The decision to prosecute should always be made in line with the CPS statutory charging guidelines.

3.20 Wanted Missing

If a missing person is wanted for an offence, or a child has escaped from lawful custody, consideration must first be given to where the greatest risk lies. An assessment should be made as to the risk grading of the missing person including all information and markers such as CSE. No person graded High Risk or a child under 18 will be dealt with as a wanted person.

In all other cases the decision to close COMPACT and deal with the missing person as wanted must be fully documented by way of rationale recorded on the COMPACT record.

3.21 Missing Abroad

An initial report should be made on Storm and COMPACT as per guidance in section 3.1. For high-risk cases advice should be sought from the SCD international liaison desk and S 4201 Procedure - International Enquiries should be consulted, as well as the flowchart.

3.22 Intervention Notices

When a person has been missing 3 times in 90 days, COMPACT will generate an intervention notice for the individual, which is sent to the Missing Person Liaison Inbox.

It will be the responsibility of the MPLO to view these notices, identify if any other departments need advising, internal or external, and action appropriately by way of a Strategy Meeting. This will then show the intervention notice completed.

Intervention notices are stored and are searchable on the COMPACT system.

• Code of Practice for the Acquisition and Disclosure of Communications Data;
• Code of Practice for the Retention of Communications Data.

All applications will be made using the OPTICA system.

3.23 Financial Enquiries

Where there is a concern for a person’s welfare, the following financial data (which is accessed with appropriate authority) can provide information about an individual’s lifestyle, location and indicate if they are alive:

• Banking checks,
• Loyalty cards,
• Pensions / benefit claims (high risk only)
• Prepaid cards/Oyster cards

An accredited financial investigation officer (FIO) will be able to offer the IO advice on how this information can be accessed and used to support the investigation and develop an effective investigative strategy (See Using financial information).

4.0 Equality Impact Assessment

• EIA – July 2026

Police officers and staff will consider any risks or health and safety aspects of each incident. It is the responsibility of all officers to conduct a Dynamic Risk Assessment when attending any incident.

Supervisors and managers conducting operations relating to missing persons are reminded of the need to conduct a risk assessment concerning that operation on form PERS52.

Generic risk assessments are available from the Health and Safety website, these include:

• GRA 14 Police Duties and Patrolling (includes PCSOs)

6.0 Consultation

The following have been consulted during the formulation of this document:

• Unison
• Police Federation
• Essex Diversity and Inclusion Manager
• Health & Safety
• Head of Operational Change
• PSD D/Superintendent
• Risk
• Policy
• Superintendents Association
• Strategic Force Crime & Incident Registrar
• DPO/Temp Head of Info Management
• C&PP Command
• Head of Operations Centre
• LPA Commanders
• Control Centre
• Support Networks

7.0 Monitoring and Review

The Crime and Public Protection Strategic Vulnerability Centre will be responsible for reviewing this procedure every 12 months to ensure that continues to be fit for purpose and it remains consistent with national guidance.

8.0 Governing Force policy. Related Force policies or related procedures

• B 1600 Policy - Missing Persons
• B 1200 Policy - Child Abuse Investigations
• D 0400 Policy - Critical Incidents
• B 1203 Procedure - Child Abduction
• D 0401 Procedure – Dealing with Critical Incidents
• S 1702 Procedure/SOP – Child Rescue Alert
• S 4200 Policy – International Enquiries
• S 4201 Procedure – International Enquiries

8.1 Data Security

Essex Police have measures in place to protect the security of data in accordance with our Information Management Policy – W 1000 Policy – Information Management.

The Business Owner for Compact is the Head of the Strategic Vulnerability Centre. IT to be notified of any changes in the Business Owner. If the person or team responsible for this system or data changes (for example, if someone leaves or a new owner takes over), the Information Security Compliance team must be notified immediately- information.security.******.uk

8.2 Retention & Disposal of Records

Essex Police will hold data in accordance with our Records Review, Retention & Disposal Policy – W 1012 Procedure/SOP - Records Review, Retention and Disposal.

We will only hold data for as long as necessary for the purposes for which we collected. Victims/public should be reminded that Essex Police take the protection of personal data seriously as described in the privacy notice https://www.essex.police.uk/hyg/fpnessex/privacy-notice/

9.0 Other source documents, e.g., legislation, Authorised Professional Practice (APP), Force forms, partnership agreements (if applicable)

• Statutory Guidance on Children who run away or go missing from Home or Care Jan 2014
• ACPO Family Liaison Guidance 2008;
• SET Safeguarding and Child Protection Procedures
• Guidance Child Abduction Warning Notices;
• Mental Health/Learning Disabilities Protocol;
• Grampian Document;
• LSCB Protocol agreement.
• Dept. of Education – Joint Protocol – Disclosing details on their Register of children’s homes with local authorities, the police etc.
• Southend, Essex, and Thurrock, Children & Young People Who Go Missing or Run Away from Home or Care Protocol;
• 2016 APP guidance – Major investigations – Missing persons
• Additional Guidance Document
• Form CID96 – Child Abduction Warnings Checklist
• Form CID97 – Initial tasks for Missing Persons
• Continuum of risk
• COMPACT Risk Flags
• Trigger plan
• Multi agency protocol – Adults missing from care homes, hospitals, and mental health establishments
• Definitive list
• Risk assessment and response
• Considerations prior to contacting the press office
• Out of officer hours requests
• MPLO job description
• DoE migrant children guidance
• Flow chart to assist with CAWN’s
• Detective Review
• Essex missing people toolkit
• PERS52 – Risk Assessment
• Form CID94 – missing person report/booklet
• Form CID94 Found – Found Report
• Code of Ethics
• Vulnerable Adults APP
• Mental Vulnerability and Illness APP
• Missing Person who is an Alleged Domestic Abuse Victim
• Missing Person who is an Alleged Domestic Abuse Perpetrator
• S 1702 Procedure/SOP – Child Rescue Alert
• Sherratt v Chief Constable of Greater Manchester 2018 EWHC 1746 (QB)