Local Policing+ Inspection of the approach to Missing Person Investigations in Aberdeen City Division

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Inspection reports

22nd June 2015

The aim of this inspection was to assess the state, effectiveness and efficiency of the investigative arrangements for adults, children and young people reported missing in Police Scotland Aberdeen City Division. Whilst we have inspected the approach to investigation through the lens of local policing in Aberdeen, we have also had regard to the wider national arrangements by examination of broader strategic arrangements within Police Scotland. This includes a detailed assessment of national approaches to all aspects of the missing person investigations from initial reporting and recording, assessment of risk and investigation, through to management of the return and working with other agencies around harm reduction strategies. A map showing the location of Aberdeen City Division and other Police Scotland divisions is included as Appendix ‘A’ to this report. This inspection comprised the + element of a wider inspection of local policing arrangements in Aberdeen conducted early in 2015 under the HMICS Local Policing + Programme. This inspection, which forms part of our published scrutiny plan, is the third in our local policing inspection programme and follows on from our pilot inspection of Fife Division. Our findings from the local policing inspection in Aberdeen City Division are subject of a separate report which is available on the HMICS website. Our programme provides flexibility to scrutinise new and emerging issues affecting policing in Scotland. These issues are identified through a process of stakeholder engagement and informed by our scrutiny risk assessment.
Number Recommendation
1

Aberdeen City Division should share the findings from its recently developed missing person tactical assessment with community planning partners in Aberdeen and in particular child and adult protection committees.
2

Police Scotland should work with the Scottish Government Missing Person Steering Group to develop common partnership definitions for missing people that can be agreed and adopted by multi-agency partners across Scotland.
3

Police Scotland should ensure greater consistency between internal and external management information reports on missing people by drawing source data from final incident closing codes on command and control systems.
4

Aberdeen City Division should work with Contact, Command and Control Division to introduce processes to ensure that data and information about missing persons is properly recorded on both STORM and the CrimeFile missing person system to achieve greater accuracy and reconciliation of data between both systems.
5

Police Scotland should provide clearer guidance to officers on the establishment of a single point of contact for the relatives or guardians of missing people.
6

Aberdeen City Division should put local arrangements in place to ensure that return home interviews (in addition to safe and well checks) are conducted by investigating officers for all missing people including adults in accordance with the provisions set out in the Police Scotland Standard Operating Procedure.
7

Aberdeen City Division should conduct a review of the Return Home Welfare Interview (RHWI) function in light of the Police Scotland Standard Operating Procedure and new Missing Person Operational Co-ordinator post to ensure that an equitable service is available when the dedicated RHWI officer is not available due to rest days or annual leave.
8

Police Scotland should issue policy guidance to staff on the circumstances under which a reported missing person should result in a vulnerable person database entry.
9

Police Scotland should conduct a review of staffing within the National Missing Person Unit to ensure that it has sufficient capacity to administer the national long-term missing person database, conduct national investigative reviews and support the ongoing improvement agenda around missing person investigations.
10

Police Scotland should ensure that all divisions develop missing person tactical assessments at local authority level to share with local community planning partners including child and adult protection committees.
11

Police Scotland should work with local authorities and local child and adult protection committees in developing more routine analysis and sharing of data about missing people to inform shared partnership tactical assessments.

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