Recommendations - Surrey Police, April 2020
Recommendation date: 1 April 2020
Response due: 27 May 2020
Published: 17 September 2020
Welfare and vulnerable people
A member of the public contacted Surrey Police to express concerns that his partner was intending to end his life due to a breakdown in their relationship. Officers attended at their home address and commenced a missing person investigation, which was assessed as medium risk. One of the attending officers reviewed a series of whatsapp messages between the couple and updated the duty officer. Actions were taken overnight and the following morning an officer from the missing persons unit (MPU) attended the home address to take further details. After reviewing the same messages, the MPU officer felt the risk should be increased to high. Before a review could take place, the body of the missing person was located in a burial ground close to the home address.
Recommendations (2)
Recommendation 1
Accepted
Recommendation
The IOPC recommends that Surrey Police considers developing and issuing a forcewide communication or bulletin in order to highlight the practical uses of this piece of equipment. When responding to the initial report, an officer reviewed a large number of … Read more
Force Response
Accepted action: Having reviewed the recommendations and discussed them with relevant departments it is my belief that in this case these are individual learning points, rather than an organisational learning points. I believe this is supported by a different officer … Read more
Recommendation 2
Accepted
Recommendation
The IOPC recommends that Surrey Police training and/or policy on the use of mobile data terminals is reviewed to ensure officers are aware of the practical uses this piece of equipment can provide. Surrey Police provide a three hour training … Read more
Force Response
Accepted action: I have discussed this specific recommendation with an Inspector within Learning & Development. Having discussed with initial recruit training staff, and having reviewed current lesson plans, they state the following: I’m confident that in response to the IOPC’s … Read more