10 Aberdeen Youngsters 'Missing 290 Times'

Ten youngsters from children's homes in Aberdeen went missing 290 times last year, amounting to a quarter of all missing persons cases in the area.

These included one youngster who was reported missing from a children's home on 45 occasions.

The figures were revealed in a new report looking at how police in the Aberdeen city area deal with missing person cases.

The study, by HM Inspectorate of Constabulary in Scotland (HMICS), said that while officers across the county deal with 32,000 missing persons cases a year, the lack of a national IT system means Police Scotland currently has no means of accurately determining how many people are reported missing in Scotland each year''.

As a consequence, the national police force has no means of obtaining more granular data such as knowing how many children were reported missing without significant levels of manual analysis''.

More than 99% of investigations end with the missing person being found safe and well, but there are more than 600 people who are classed as long-term missing.

Reports of missing persons account for 1.2% of annual incidents recorded by Police Scotland, with the bill for dealing with these cases estimated to be £30 million to £80 million a year.

HM Inspector of Constabulary Derek Penman said: The importance of dealing with missing person investigations effectively from the outset cannot be over-emphasised and experience has shown that in some instances the report of a missing person is the first indicator that a serious crime has occurred.

There is usually a reason why a person goes missing and understanding the circumstances and causes creates an opportunity for the police and other authorities to identify measures that can stop or minimise further disappearances.

More importantly, it can draw attention to safeguarding issues for the young and most vulnerable in our communities and help in the identification and investigation of crimes which are linked to, or are the cause of, someone going missing.''

HMICS has made four recommendations for improvements for the police's Aberdeen City Division, and seven for Police Scotland to take forward nationally.

The creation of the single police force meant Police Scotland inherited a complex and divergent approach to the management of missing person investigations across Scotland'', the report found, with different systems for recording missing persons cases and different risk assessment tools.

This meant that there was no single national consolidated picture of the true nature, extent and impact of missing across Scotland beyond basic episode recording data pointing to around 32,000 missing episode reports each year.''

It added: Police Scotland does not yet have a dedicated national ICT solution to assist with the effective management of missing person investigations. This means that Police Scotland currently has no means of accurately determining how many people are reported missing in Scotland each year and as a consequence also has no means of obtaining more granular data such as knowing how many children were reported missing without significant levels of manual analysis.''

The force set up a national missing person unit, which has led to significantly improved missing person investigations, better leadership and governance and more equal access to specialist support''.

Mr Penman said: HMICS is encouraged by the leadership around missing persons inquiries under Police Scotland and whilst more has still to be done, we endorse the approaches being taken by the service to drive improvement across Scotland.

The key areas for improvement by Police Scotland relate to using information held within the organisation to work with partners to develop ways to prevent, support and protect those who go missing.

In Aberdeen City Division we found strong leadership with an appetite to improve this key service to communities. The division has produced a comprehensive assessment profiling missing incidents which we found to be ground-breaking in terms of the depth and quality of data analysis and we recommend it be adopted across the force.''

Chief Superintendent Adrian Watson, Divisional Commander for Aberdeen City Division, said: We have seen improvements in the way we deal with missing people and the creation of Police Scotland and the specialist missing persons unit has no doubt assisted us in the progress we've made.

The innovative approach taken by our senior leadership team has also helped us make great strides in this area. We also welcome the recommendations in the report and will use them to continue to build on the good work which is being undertaken here.''

He added: It's essential that we deal with these types of inquiries with both urgency and sensitivity and tracing the missing person is, of course, the utmost priority.

It is also a very distressing time for loved ones and we are acutely aware of the importance of keeping them up to date with the progress of our inquiries to reassure them that we're doing everything we can to trace their relative.''