City puts focus on search for missing

HUMBERSIDE Police is hosting an annual missing persons conference in Hull today to discuss how inquiries are handled.

The conference, which will take place at the Mercure Hull Royal Hotel, will feature speeches from experts including Inspector Colin Hope, national search adviser at the National Policing Improvement Agency; Commander Martin Blunden, of Hertfordshire Fire and Rescue Service, who will focus on the national fire service protocol for missing persons searches; a representative from the charity Missing People; and Dr Oliva Stevenson, of Glasgow University.

The event will focus on the search aspect and how each police force and partner agency can support each other when looking for a missing person.

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The Humberside force handles thousands of missing persons reports each year, which mostly concern adults.

Latest figures from January 1 to December 31, last year show 4,117 people were reported missing.

A total of 455 of them had been reported missing at least once before. Of these, 1,711 were still listed as missing by the end of the year.

There were 11 reports of children aged five or younger going missing; 54 children aged between six and 11 disappearing; and 678 reports of children aged between 12 and 17 going missing. A total of 968 people aged 18 or over were reported missing.

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The numbers varied across each division of the force. The caseload was more than three times higher in Hull (D Division) than elsewhere.

There were 2,298 missing person reports in the city last year, compared with 692 in the East Riding (C Division), 593 in North East Lincolnshire (A Division), and 534 in North Lincolnshire (B Division).

According to Missing People, about 250,000 people go missing in the UK each year. As well working with other agencies to help find them, the charity offers specialist support for those left behind.