Police response to missing child....

Hitch

Are there not emergency phones on the wall outside the part time cop shops anymore?

fwhorn

Happychappy wrote: »

So what was the problem ? why couldnt you ring it in to the person who would start the incident off and log it onto the system where it would be picked up by the person who deals with it ?

The officer who happened to be at the station would not have access to creat an incident, and would only have to ring it in and relay the same facts, so why not the person who has the facts ring it in directly ? and the previous poster who watches Dixon of Dock green and believes in santa Claus and "Desk Sergeants" should try and watch a more up to date police series for the latest police systems.

The officer gave the corect and good advice but unfortunately the great unwashed knows best, oh to be perfect :rolleyes:

So what was the end result with the juvenile, did she get her backside kicked for all the worry ? oh and sorry what was the crime the last post refers to ?

The officer did not give the correct and good advice at all, he gave them an answer with which created the least amount of work for them. The officer in question would of had access to at least one of the following.

a) Mobile phone
b) A radio
c) a landline

And they should of reported the incident.

From what I can read from you post, you watch far to much T.V. This is the real world, not a tv series! Do you really think coppers can travel back in time?

moonrakerz

redrabbit29 wrote: »

To reassure you, police officers DO NOT get performance related pay. They do not get bonuses and they don't exactly have targets like you suggest.

The only targets which are really looked at are "cleared crimes". That is incidents in which an offender has been found and charged with the offence.

I would dispute that - one policeman I know HAS to make 7 arrests a month to meet his targets.

I note you say:- "they don't exactly have targets" - sorry ! but that sounds like a senior police officer trying to say they don't have targets when they actually do !
I would also be very worried about your definition of a "cleared crime" - it would appear that from what you say once you are charged then you are deemed to be guilty - an equally dodgy way (for the public !) to meet more idiotic targets. Would I be a tad cynical to suggest this might tempt officers to be just a teensy-little bit "economical with the truth" ! But of course we all know that the police are all as pure as the driven snow.

As someone else has already said "dunderheads & eejits" ! (Not generally the man on the beat, but his seniors who dictate the lunatic methods of policing the public have to put up with)

hollydays

Ok- so the concerned Parent goes home,another 10 minutes,then spends,ooh lets say another 10 minutes hanging on the line trying to get through.Because she is a member of the public,and not a Police Officer she will be asked to repeat everything a number of times etc.I think post number 4 got it right-what was stopping the PC taking her into his office.Oh yes,they try not to let "the great unwashed" in there (thats civilians to you and me apparently).

redrabbit29

pulliptears wrote: »

redrabbit, the first few hours after a child goes missing are crucial. Would it really have been too much of a task for the policeman to get on his radio and have a car sent?

In this instance the child was thankfully fine, but those few minutes wasted because an officer couldnt be bothered to help could have been the difference between life and death.

Please remember that out of the 20 missing people that one police force may deal with on a daily basis, probably 1, maybe 2 of them are actually in danger. The majority of which are probably children/teenagers and are simply off somewhere sulking. However I would like to emphasise that obviously there are genuine missing people that could potentially be in some danger. I would also like to say that the police should still treat every initial report in the exact same way. I hope you understand what I'm saying there, because I am not, just to make it clear, saying that a blarrrzaaay (I don't know how to spell that word) attitude should be taken, again they should all be treated the same - as an important task.

Secondly, saying that it would have taken a few minutes for a car to be sent out is not the point. The point is, when you phone the police to report a missing person, several things happen:

1) a record is made of the incident/report
2) initial questions are asked to gain vital information, such as description, name, age, medical risks, drug/alcohol intake. All of this helps an initial risk assessment be made.
3) A missing person database record is created. All missing persons are put on here, and if a person goes missing 10 times, then there will be 10 entries made. This means that information from previous incidents can be looked at. E.g. where did they go, a photo of them, where was searched for the person. Really important stuff.
4) Description and name of the person are broadcast over the radio immediately. This could be to several different areas. The broadcast would ask for all units to keep their eyes peeled for a person named XXXX, description and clothing was this....
5) A request is made for an available unit to attend the house of the person who initially called in. Within 45 minutes an officer, or officers will arrive. This is so that more information can be gathered, maybe a photo, things like this.

Simply saying that the officer could have just asked somoene to go round is not sufficient. In fact it's far less reliable. There is SO much information and intelligence that needs to be processed and passed along that it's just not feasible.

I'll finish the post by saying what I said in my first post. I don't know how the officer spoke to the original poster, or what exactly was said, and their attitude. But recommending that it be reported via the non-emergency line or 999 is absolutely correct.

edthedead

There seem to be a lot of people posting on this thread who have big opinions but very little knowledge of the original incident or how the modern police service works... and I would suggest that watching 'The Bill' does not qualify you as an expert on the Police!

If the OP is that worried phone in and complain (to the police)... I am sure that all will be explained and if any mistakes have been made the appropriate action taken.

fwhorn

I'll finish the post by saying what I said in my first post. I don't know how the officer spoke to the original poster, or what exactly was said, and their attitude. But recommending that it be reported via the non-emergency line or 999 is absolutely correct.[/quote]

The officer it was reported to has an obligation to act on it, not fob the person off with phone in the crime. A child of 12 years of age was missing, this should set alarm bells ringing not the end of shift bells.

What if the person was reporting that someone was walking down the road with a gun, or someone was injured, or that some where was being robbed, or someone was being attacked and so on. Are you sure we have to ring it in.

Just imagine this.

"Officer can you help me, I have just been assaulted and my money and phone has been robbed"
"Ah yes sir, sorry but I cannot do anything but if you would like to ring up and report it"

I hope I or anyone else reading this thread never has to go through the fear of their child going missing.

moonrakerz

edthedead wrote: »

There seem to be a lot of people posting on this thread who have big opinions but very little knowledge of the original incident or how the modern police service works... and I would suggest that watching 'The Bill' does not qualify you as an expert on the Police!

If the OP is that worried phone in and complain (to the police)... I am sure that all will be explained and if any mistakes have been made the appropriate action taken.

I have posted a couple of times on this thread about present day police performance. My attitude towards the police changed markedly some years ago when my son was arrested for a minor (alleged !) offence.
The performance of the police was like the Bill. The arresting officer's statement could have been written by J K Rowling, three witnesses who put my son elsewhere were ignored in favour of one person, who also happened to have van full of stolen property !
I was blatantly lied to by the arresting officer, in front of 2 witnesses.
My son's explanation was not investigated at all.

The case was dropped eventually. When I saw a solicitor about making a formal complaint, I was warned off as "it could be counter productive" !
Pardon me if I consider the "appropriate action will be taken" message with more than a little pinch of salt !

To use an old expression: "if I saw a policeman on fire I wouldn't **ss on him" !!!

End of rant ! straying from the subject.

Happychappy

fwhorn wrote: »

The officer did not give the correct and good advice at all, he gave them an answer with which created the least amount of work for them. The officer in question would of had access to at least one of the following.

a) Mobile phone
b) A radio
c) a landline

And they should of reported the incident.

From what I can read from you post, you watch far to much T.V. This is the real world, not a tv series! Do you really think coppers can travel back in time?

Life on mars was the series I was referring to, so what is the reason for an officer to ring in on a mobile phone and get involved when the mother, guardian, social worker can do the same with far more details then "er whats her date of birth" "er whats her eye colour" "er whats her ?"and having to relay it, knowing full well in the next hour the juvenile will appear from under a bush or similar, and if not the helicopter, dogs, underwater search team and thousands of officers trying to get off duty will be called back on to do a search and find the juvenile safe and well at Sharon and Tracey's.

If the system of the force is for someone to call the Mumbia call centre and report it, and the officer is told that is the system, why not follow the system you pay for and put another cog in the wheel ? the officer could be out there catching motorists at 31 in a 30 and raising valuable income :rolleyes:

The desk Sgt still makes me laugh to think that people from Life on Mars days still think this character exists, has nobody heard of civilianisation, or workforce modernsation, or business change opportunities.

advent1122

Thanks for all the comments. although I find some of them totally unbelievable.
She spoke to a "policeman" in person and reported to him that her 12 year old child has been missing for 3 hours.
It was 10 at night.
She asked him to ring it through which he refused as the station was not open, she does not have a mobile phone so could not dial 999 and was passing a police station so thought that would be a good place to report it.
How silly of her, imagine reporting a missing child to a POLICE OFFICER IN UNIFORM - the fool.
As she was (her words) "crying my eyes out and out of my mind with worry and not thinking straight" .
So It took her another 20 minutes to walk home to report a SERIOUS incident.
Thankfully it worked out fine in the end - but can you imagine the headlines if things had worked out differently?