Essex Police Try The Baby Seal Gambit…

A spike in the number of missing people reported to police in Southend is putting a huge strain on officers, a chief inspector has said.

Simon Anslow, Southend district commander, said his officers have received 53 missing person reports in the last two weeks – 37 of which were children. He has estimated that each missing person report costs, on average, around £2,000 of police effort to process, at a time when Essex Police are facing major budget constraints and cuts to staff.

Oh noes! If the Terrible Toree Cutz continue, then when granny falls into a ditch one night on her way home from bingo, who'll go looking for her?

Mr Anslow said as of yesterday (Tues) there were seven active missing people cases in Southend and that 50 of the 53 from the previous two weeks had been found.

Ah. We aren't talking dementia cases here, are we?

Police have their own missing person liaison officers who work with Southend’s Integrated Youth Support Service to identify reasons why young people go missing, and to reduce the risk of a repeat occurrence.

Each case is also reviewed by Mr Anslow and while most missing people cases are not crime-related and return home within 24 hours the borough’s top cop was keen for police to still be involved in searching.

He added: “We still have the power to impose protection orders and section people for their own safety, which other authorities do not have, so we still need to be involved.”

Really..? How many of those 50 cases noted above required the application of these powers, then? 10? 5? 1?

Or is it 'none'?