''Child safety: missing persons'' webcast
Detective Sergeant Nick Hewes from Operation Compass - part of the Territorial Policing Crime Directorate - has participated in a webcast entitled 'Child safety - missing persons' here on ParentsCentre.
Over 30,000 people went missing in London last year, more than half of them being children. During parenthood, more often than not, parents will at some time experience the disappearance of a child.
For some parents the experience may last for just a few hours. For others the period may be for days, weeks, months or even years.
In most cases the child will reappear. The parents may offer the appropriate punishment or establish better communication channels with the child to ensure that it doesn't happen again.
However, many children are never found and are still missing today. Some may be runaways while others may have suffered abduction from areas parents believe to be safe. It is hard to keep an eye on your child 24 hours a day.
Operation Compass provides a direct support unit for frontline Borough-based colleagues across London by offering advice on live investigations, sharing best practice and helping to modernise the Standard Operating Procedures.
Detective Sergeant Nick Hewes has advised on some of the immediate measures that you can carry out if your child goes missing, explained how investigations are carried out and highlighted how parents and the community as a whole can act as a resource to protect children from going missing.
A video of the interview is now available on the ParentsCentre website - you can view it using the links below.
Windows Media Player files
These files are played using Windows Media Player, which is available free from
the 
Windows Media Player
website
[External Site]. You can also view the video in Flash
[External Site]
and 
read a
transcribed version of the interview
- download (.rtf)
113.83KB
(help)
.
56kb
[External Site]
100kb
[External Site]
256kb
[External Site]
400kb
[External Site]
800kb
[External Site]
Next Steps
 | Sometimes speaking to parents and carers who
have experienced the same issues and problems as you can be a great way to get
valuable advice and information. Read, respond or ask a question in the |
|---|
 | Benefit from the advice and tips given by our experts by reading or asking a
question in the |
|---|
 |
|
|---|
