Search for missing persons [experts panel]

The debate was attended by university professors, representatives of the ITAKA Foundation (Centre for Missing People), members of search and rescue teams as well as police and fire service officers.

Statement of Marek Bieńkowski, Director of the Department of Public Order and Internal Security

missing persons

Part of the meeting participants shared the opinion of prof. Ewa Gruza who argued that the system for the search of missing persons does not work in Poland. An exception includes actions taken in case of catastrophes, e.g. related to construction or communication. Then the procedures are clear and effective. In case of a typical disappearance, which is the most frequent, effective regulations and procedures do not make up an effective system. A lot of elements fail. Representatives of the ITAKA Foundation mentioned for instance high rotation of police officers. As a result there is no access to quick information on who is responsible for the search after an employee is gone. The process slow-down is a big problem - after all, in case of a person’s disappearance it is the speed that counts.

A serious problem is also the absence of statutory solutions concerning the set-up of the DNA database of missing persons and their relatives. The identification methods used in Poland these days go back to the 19^th century. We still rely mainly on people’s looks which can be misleading - it may change dramatically in case of missing persons. For instance, it may be impossible to identify a person taking some kinds of medicine against cancer. According to experts it is high time we started to use state-of-the-art identification methods. ”The DNA-based methods give up to 99 percent certainty that we have to do with the given person” - said prof. Gruza. The police officer present at the meeting mentioned that an amendment to the Act on the Police already provides for the set-up of the DNA database of missing persons.

Also the recon audits previously conducted by NIK pointed to different kinds of irregularities in the missing persons search system. For instance such persons are sometimes qualified into incorrect categories which also impacts the scope of activities taken by the services. This issue was also raised by other panel participants. According to some experts, creating three categories of missing persons was a disaster, leading to segregation of people. At the same time others provided examples of different countries which have as many as eight categories of missing persons and yet the system works perfectly in their case. However, in those countries the categorisation was preceded by an in-depth analysis of all disappearance cases in the last 15 years. Then, considering the disappearance circumstances and activities taken by the Police and support units a tailor-made search system was developed.

A representative of the Mountain Rescue Team argued that the rescue system should also be fostered bottom-up. ”We have to use the potential of associations and people willing to act” - he appealed. Such an initiative could be supported by a training scheme common for all organisations involved in people’s search.

NIK is starting a nationwide audit of the missing persons search system. NIK inspectors will verify how police officers implement internal procedures during rescue actions. They will have a closer look at the cooperation of the Police Centre for the Search of Missing Persons, Fire Service as well as associations and organisations involved in the search. The report will also address the issue of the DNA database set-up which has not been solved yet.