Specialist missing persons unit on way

Police are to establish a specialist missing persons unit to help find the more than 7000 people who go missing in New Zealand each year.

The new unit will maintain a national overview of missing persons investigations and provide specialist knowledge, advice and assistance to local police officers conducting the actual investigations, police magazine Ten One reported in its December issue.

Police statistics show that on average 7000 people are reported as missing each year. Of those, 82 per cent are found within two weeks and less than 1 per cent remain missing after a year. More than 800 people are listed as missing long-term.

Detective Superintendent Larry Reid, of police national headquarters, told Ten One the need for national co-ordination became clear after a police review found a lack of national procedures had led to several police districts developing their own, often quite different, sets of instructions.

A new manual created by the unit would standardise forensic procedures around missing persons investigations and establish fixed review points at set lengths of time a person was missing.

Missing persons project officer Senior Sergeant Ian Kain told the magazine the unit would also review cases to identify potentially related cases in different districts.

The unit, to be staffed by a full-time detective sergeant and a part-time administrative assistant, would also monitor long-term missing persons cases to check the correct actions were being taken by local officers.

It would also collate information relating to New Zealanders missing overseas and co-ordinate local investigations for foreign nationals missing in New Zealand.

Mr Kain said the unit would also try to identify strategies to reduce the number of people going missing.

Police are advertising the unit's two positions.

- NZPA