£7 million police bill to find missing people in Shropshire

About 3,000 people have gone missing in that time – more than 1,000 of them children in care, a Shropshire Star investigation has revealed.

The figures include children under the supervision of social services who have been reported missing multiple times.

One teenager is reported to have been sought by police on more than 40 separate occasions within the two years.

The issue places a strain on West Mercia Police resources, diverting officers away from fighting crime.

Figures obtained by the Shropshire Star reveal that, since April this year, police have recorded and investigated 1,658 reports of missing people in Shropshire. Of these reports, 1,042 are of children under 18 and 585 involved children in care. The total cost to the force in that time is in the region of £4 million.

Between April 2015 and March 2016 police recorded and investigated 1,485 reports of missing children and adults in Shropshire. Of these 847 involved children under 18 years and 512 reports involved children in care. The cost of these investigations ran to £3.58 million.

The cost of a medium term, medium risk police missing person investigation is calculated at an average of £2,415 by the Centre for the Study of Missing Persons at the University of Portsmouth.

A retired West Mercia policeman with experience in dealing with problem children, who did not wish to be named, said: "It puts a great strain on police budgets, but what price can you put on the safety of an adult or a child?

"Shropshire has the third largest number of care homes in the UK and this is one reason why we have so many children in care running away. We need to find out why these children are running away.

"The fact that the figure has grown so much so far this year is concerning. This could be down to the way figures are now collated.

"Anyone under the age of 18 is treated as a vulnerable person in terms of missing or absent from home and as such is given the highest priority in police terms.

West Mercia Police and Crime Commissioner John Campion said: "Protecting vulnerable people from harm is a key priority for me as commissioner and a core function for our police.

"This of course includes missing person incidents. It is vital that the police have the capacity to swiftly and thoroughly respond to and investigate these cases and I will continue to ensure that is the case.

"Clearly these incidents can frequently require large amounts of specialist skill, resources and time from our police. However, it is important that the police work with partners in the community – such as schools, health care providers and charities – to help prevent people going missing in the first place."

Anne Tugwell, operational communications assistant from West Mercia Police, said the force treated all reports of missing people very seriously. "The resources deployed are dependent on individual circumstances but every case is treated with the care and professionalism," she added.