£680,000 - the cost of looking for missing people in 2016

Wednesday 14 June 2017

Police estimate it has cost £400,000 this year alone looking for people who have gone missing - 80% of whom are young people.

In 2016 there were 522 cases of missing people, costing a total of £680,000, and Police said many of these were the same young people who repeatedly go missing.

So far this year there have been 305 reports of people missing - equating to nearly 2 people being reported as ‘missing’ each day. And, with each missing person  costing approximately £1,300, the Police and Youth Service have joined together to try and tackle the problem.

Acting Chief Inspector, Mark Hafey, has welcomed the new partnership: “This new joint initiative with the Jersey Youth Service is very much welcomed. In recent years’ multi-agency working in Jersey has seen significant development in respect of the support that is available for young people.

“History does tell us that those young people who are frequently missing are at a greater risk of becoming involved in sexual exploitation or other areas of crime and it is hoped that this improved way of managing and working with missing young persons will reduce further missing person episodes.

“This new way of working will also ensure that relationships are developed with young people which will ensure they have the opportunity to talk to someone that they trust and who is in a position to listen to their concerns and act upon them.”

Over the past three months, the Jersey Youth Service have been consulting with young people, parents, police and Children's Services about what their service should look like and deliver. They have undergone training in the UK and partnered with several national organisations and are said to have brought back many ideas about how to develop services here in Jersey.

Two new leaflets have been commissioned that offer support and advice to both children and parents and are available in English and Portuguese. There are also further handouts that police officers will give to young people on their return home, informing them about what will happen next.

Speaking about the new initiative, Principal Youth Officer, Mark Capern said:  “Our primary concern focuses on the risk that these vulnerable young people expose themselves to when they go missing.”

“I want our young people to be safe and have to know that they have somewhere they can turn to when they need support and advice.

“This new area of work we are developing will target vulnerable young people and help keep them safe by building positive relationships, treating them as individuals and working with them so they have places to go, opportunities to grow, have a voice on issues affecting them.

“I would like to thank the young people and parents that have supported our consultation processes and the support our Police and Children's Service colleagues have given us. We feel confident that what we have in place will support our young people.”