Police Scotland Glasgow division reveal how they find missing people

The Evening Times has exclusively obtained figures through the Freedom of Information Act which show Glasgow cops dealt with 2518 missing people cases from April 1, 2017 to April 1 this year.

However, a total of 2498 cases ended positively with the missing person traced - and it is all thanks to expertise the force has developed in dealing with this type of enquiry.

Sergeant Michael Miller heads up the Missing Persons Coordination Unit for G division in Maryhill Police Station.

Under the supervision of area commander, Chief Inspector Vicky Little, he is responsible for launching the search for the city’s missing.

“I have 21 years service and I would say we are much better now at dealing with missing persons enquiries,”explained Chief Inspector Little, above.

She added: “The resources that we have at our fingertips are excellent.

“After every missing person enquiry, we look at what we have learned and we always take something from it. It is about what we can do to improve it the next time.”

She continued: “We have a major incident room in this office and if a high risk missing person came in, we would open it up.

“That wasn’t around 21 years when I first joined the police.”

A risk assessment is carried out by officers when they first receive a report of a missing person. Each case is ranked as high, medium or low risk and resources are deployed as appropriate.

In high risk cases, every unit of Police Scotland can be involved in the search for the missing person.

From the marine unit to conduct underwater searches to the dog branch who have the skills to follow a missing persons’ scent, the resources available in these cases are endless.

Even city detectives have to weigh-in on the risk assessment in case something untoward has happened to a missing person.

There is no doubt, however, that the biggest weapon at the force’s disposal nowadays is technology.

Chief Inspector Little said: “Social media has been the biggest change for us because it gets somebody’s photograph out immediately and it goes viral.”

She added: “Technology is important these days but we also have to bear in mind people’s right to privacy, we can’t just put traces on phones.

“The missing person has to be high risk and a trace has to be authorized by a Superintendent. It is not just up to us because that would be the easy option, trace a phone and find the person. But you have to balance that with people’s rights to a private life.”

Before technology, however, it is the old school methods that help define the start of a missing persons enquiry.

Sergeant Miller, above, said: “Officers are sent to the place where the person was reported missing and they will do a systematic search of the premises.

“A statement is taken and we start to look at what information is given and what risk there is to the missing person.

“This will influence the nature of the investigation.”

In most missing person cases, the person is traced almost instantly.

But anything after 28 days is classed as long-term missing.

Sergeant Miller said: “Long term missing persons cases can be open for years. I get reports of body parts being found throughout the UK and I check those against the cases we have open.”

The city’s force is also showing success in tracing missing people who suffer from dementia or Alzheimer’s.

They have adopted the ‘Herbert Protocol’ which encourages families to fill in a file with crucial information in advanced about an elderly person suffering from the condition.

This file can be easily accessed by police if the worst happens and means they can begin the search instantly.

This proactive approach was developed following a case involving George Herbert who suffered from dementia and had gone missing from a care home in Norfolk in 2011.

George had gone missing on numerous occasions and was considered ‘high risk.’ Following a review, Norfolk Police designed the ‘Herbert Protocol’ which encourages relatives to keep a file of key information such as height and weight, previous jobs and the first school.

Around 1,200 people in the city have been offered the opportunity to be part of the ‘Herbert Protocol’ and it seems to be working in Glasgow.

Sergeant Miller said: “The ‘Herbert Protocol’ does help. We had a gentleman who would go missing and he would often get the bus. That was his thing, get out his home, jump on the bus and end up wherever.

“That sort of information we know straight away because of the ‘Herbert Protocol’ so we can immediately contact the buses to find him.”

Not all cases end positively for the force, however, with the Freedom of Information figures revealing that 18 people were found dead after being reported missing in the last year alone.

One of the city’s high profile cases involved 21-year-old Thomas Keenan, above, who vanished in the Maryhill area last November.

His body was recovered from the Clyde and Forth Canal, six weeks after he was first reported missing.

A major search was carried out for the popular young man with door-to-door enquiries among the tactics involved.

Tragic Paul Sweeney, above, 36, vanished after he left a friend’s house in Croftfoot.

He was a missing person before he was found days later in nearby Kings Park.

Glasgow busker Graham McAdam, 42, above, was reported missing last November.

His body was found in the River Clyde in Erskine after a seven-week search to find him.

Kirkintilloch man James O’Connor,above, was recovered from the River Kelvin in January.

The 39-year-old had been reported missing October.

The families of the missing people who are traced deceased are offered support from the charity missing people.

The force also signposts support services to the people they do successfully trace in a bid to prevent them going missing again.

Chief Inspector Little said: “We have built up good relationships with some families.

“We have been invited to funerals which is touching.

“People also take the time to send in thank you cards. For them to go through all that and take the time to thank you for something you have done for them, gives you great job satisfaction.

“Even if it is not been a successful outcome for the family, there is an appreciation that we have done everything we can for them.”

Glasgow's long-term missing

• Samuel Townsley vanished in Glasgow City Centre on October 19, 2016. The 28-year-old was last seen in Union Street and has been missing for over a year. His father William previously told the Evening Times: “In my honest opinion I think he has been murdered. The police have been in the River Clyde four times now with divers and there has been no trace.”
• Read: Samuel Townsley: Father of missing man who vanished in Glasgow makes heartbreaking claim
   

• Cumbernauld man Paul Booth, 45, vanished in his hometown on October 25, 2016. The last official sighting of him was at around 2pm on the day he disappeared on a footbridge between McGregor Road and Hillcrest Court in the town. His sister Pauline previously said: “”It is just so out of character for him to disappear without letting one of us know.”
• Read: Paul Booth: Cumbernauld woman fears missing brother dead as she faces second Christmas without him
   

• David Findlay has now been missing for 10 years after vanishing from his Cardonald home. There has been no trace of pensioner, who was 69, since May 5, 2008 when he left his home to go for a walk. His daughter Linda previously said: “When remains are found I am always thinking is this it. I am always thinking is it going to be this time.”
• Read: Cardonald man who left his home to go for a walk still missing after 10 YEARS