Services cannot improve if they don’t know how they are succeeding and failing.
Nationally there have been very few initiatives to explore public opinions on police responses to missing people. There are few opportunities for people to share their experience, provide feedback, or consult on policy or new guidance. It is rare that Independent Advisory Groups consider missing person investigations, and there are few examples of public consultations relating to missing.
All police forces will have a clear process for people who have had been in contact with the police, including people who have been reported missing or reported a loved one missing, to make a complaint. However, there are relatively few complaints made to the police about their response to missing incidents. While this may seem like a positive, suggesting few people are dissatisfied, research into the experiences of Black missing people and their families, as well as social media discourse, actually suggests that issues just aren’t being reported.
It is possible that Black people may be even less likely to make a complaint, or provide feedback, than others, due to a history of poor trust in policing.
To improve responses to Black missing people in your force area, it is vital to consider how you can better seek feedback, identify issues, and create an open dialogue with the community to build trust.
While the necessary steps to do this will depend on your individual force and the existing setup for community engagement, the following prompts may help to begin planning.