The missing people - a clearer picture emerging

Four months into a 'conversion project', and 12 months into a new alert system, the Missing Persons Unit at PNHQ is establishing a clearer and more reliable picture of the extent of New Zealand's missing people.

OC of the Missing Persons Unit, Detective Sergeant Liam Clinton, says the conversion project and alert system are providing some real benefits to Police.

The conversion project involves taking 1366 missing person files, which used to live in the old Law Enforcement System (LES) and re-entering more detailed data into the National Intelligence Application (NIA).

Around 300 files are still awaiting conversion.

Taking into account the files still to be converted, there's around 600 outstanding missing person alerts in NIA.

Of this 600, around 200 are thought to be missing presumed dead or declared dead by the Coroner.

This figure includes those missing presumed drowned, climbers whose bodies can't be recovered or victims of a criminal act where bodies have not yet been recovered.

But the number of missing people changes on a daily basis, as some are found and new ones reported missing.

In 2004, 80 percent of missing people were found within 14 days. Today, that's jumped markedly to 87 percent.

On top of these improvements, other benefits include automated email alerts to the Missing Persons Unit whenever an officer enters someone in NIA as missing or found. The Unit constantly monitors these alerts.

"From the data entry, we get a feel for whether the matter is routine or requires urgent attention," says Liam.

"If we think it's urgent or suspicious we'll make contact with the OC Case or the CIB and make sure someone is dealing with it. A longer time delay can mean less forensics.

"Only a handful each year are immediately suspicious."

Staff who submit missing person data into NIA also receive automated reminder emails to review their file at certain times through the lifetime of a missing person inquiry.

The reminder acts as a prompt for staff to make a simple phone call or visit family, friends or acquaintances of the missing person. This can shed new light on their whereabouts or provide a pleasant surprise that the person is no longer missing.

Together, these processes give the Unit a much better and up-to-date overview of the type and volume of missing people in New Zealand, and those New Zealanders missing overseas.