COMMUNITY POLICING
ILLUSTRATE THE PERSISTENCE OF THE CHALLENGE: 2021/22: 330,571 missing person reports 2022/23: 312,901 missing person reports 2023/24: 378,272 missing person reports
Behind every number is a human story, a neighbour, a classmate, a loved one whose life has been interrupted, sometimes tragically. In 2023/24 alone, 48 missing children died, and over a six- year span, 6,728 adults were confirmed dead following their disappearance. Each statistic represents a life that police and communities sought to protect, and a family that endured unimaginable anxiety. Operationally, missing person cases
often involve multiple agencies and can stretch resources considerably. The police must balance the need for immediate action such as search deployments or urgent public appeals, with longer-term investigative strategies that may include
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digital forensics, intelligence analysis, and inter-force collaboration. Crucially, every case carries a unique emotional weight, often placing officers themselves under significant psychological pressure.
COMMUNITY INTELLIGENCE LED POLICING METHODOLOGY (CILPM)
responsibility, and intelligence is most effective when drawn from the lived knowledge of communities.
“Conversations at local shops, informal chats with parents at school
gates, and watchfulness in public spaces can all become opportunities to intervene early.”
In the face of such complexity, traditional reactive policing is insufficient. Community Intelligence Led Policing Methodology (CILPM) offers a framework to strengthen both prevention and response. CILPM thrives on the principle that the police cannot operate in isolation; safety is a shared
Neighbourhood officers who know their communities intimately, faces, rhythms, and vulnerabilities, are invaluable. Whether patrolling an urban estate or a rural village, they can detect the subtle changes that signal risk: a routine missed, a familiar face absent, or an unusual visitor noticed by local residents. These observations, when shared and systematically analysed, create the early warning systems that prevent disappearances
from becoming tragedies. In a modern policing environment marked by multifaceted threats, immigration-related unrest, organised exploitation gangs, human trafficking, knife crime, and the rise of self- radicalisation, CILPM provides a dynamic tool for integration. By embedding
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