Missing Persons Risk Triage

When a missing child is reported to the police, law enforcement agencies should make a timely assessment to qualify or disqualify risk for the life or well-being of the missing child. This risk assessment is crucial to determine which steps need to be taken to successfully recover the child. Under-reaction can result in serious harm or death to the child. Over-reaction and doing too much is wasteful of resources and potentially an unwarranted intrusion on a child’s privacy.

In order to advocate the use of missing person risk triage, AMBER Alert Europe has developed a decision-making guide on risk management in consultation with law enforcement experts in the area.