Man reported missing later found dead - Humberside Police and Lincolnshire Police, December 2017

On 15 December 2017, a man left his home to go out with work colleagues. He did not return home that night. The following day, at around 9am, his mother telephoned Humberside Police and reported him as missing.

A call handler graded the call as a ‘concern for safety’, requiring a prompt response, meaning officers should attend within two hours. The supervising inspector continued to treat the log as a ‘concern for safety’ until the end of his shift at 5pm. The next supervising inspector on duty began to treat the log as a high-risk missing person.

On 16 December Humberside Police received a call about a possible sighting of the man taking a taxi to a location in Lincolnshire at around 11.40pm the previous evening. The force contacted Lincolnshire Police shortly before 3pm. A Lincolnshire Police officer conducted a general search in his vehicle around the area where the man was reported to have been taken to by the taxi, but could not locate anyone fitting his description.

The man’s family conducted their own enquiries and found him dead around 11.55pm on 16 December. He was found close to the location where the taxi had dropped him off, in the Lincolnshire Police force area.

During the investigation, investigators interviewed the officers and dispatchers involved in the incident, reviewed the incident logs, and phone calls made to the police. They also obtained statements from several witnesses, including police staff and the family and friends of the man.

Evidence indicated that, although the log was not officially graded as ‘high risk’ until shortly before the man was found dead, both forces carried out a number of actions in line with national policy for a high-risk missing person investigation.

We found that, even though the Humberside Police call handler had graded the call as ‘concern for safety’, they had told the man’s mother that they would treat him as a missing person, which was not in line with local or national policy. We were of the opinion that this could best be handled with learning, so the call handler was aware of national policies and definitions, and of the force’s expectations in relation to duties and responsibilities of call handlers and missing persons reports.

We were also of the view that the actions of one inspector, who did not record the man as missing from the outset, fell below the standard expected by the national and local policies, and that this should be handled by learning via management action. As the inspector had since retired, no further action was taken.

We were of the opinion that a third inspector, who did not re-grade the log as a ‘missing person’ – but took actions appropriate to a high-risk missing person investigation – would benefit from learning.

We were also of the view that a number of officers and staff from both forces would benefit from learning debriefs, to ensure the learning from this investigation is shared.

We highlighted an area of improvement for Humberside Police, regarding ensuring that Authorised Professional Practice (APP) relating to the definition of a missing person is applied, and that all staff are aware of the definition.

We recommended that Lincolnshire Police review its local missing person policy and bring it in line with definitions set out in APP guidance.

We also recommended that Humberside Police and Lincolnshire Police work together and with any other cross-border policing areas to ensure their local policies include: agreed methods of contact and transferring information in relation to missing persons; transference of management and supervision of missing person reports; and an agreed escalation process, if any force is concerned about inaction/risk level from a partner force and that these are shared throughout the forces.

After reviewing our report, Lincolnshire Police advised that they had already revised their missing person policy in line with APP, which now includes cross-border co-operation for missing persons investigations.

Humberside Police also agreed with our proposals.

Both forces have now reviewed and shared their working practices and policies.

We completed our investigation in March 2019 but waited until the inquest into the man’s death had concluded, in autumn 2019, before publishing its outcome. The inquest recorded a conclusion of accidental death.