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A nitpick (beyond the spelling, grammar, and punctuation errors throughout): The part about "most states in the Union require 24 hours before reporting a missin

A nitpick (beyond the spelling, grammar, and punctuation errors throughout): The part about "most states in the Union require 24 hours before reporting a missing person" is nothing but a Hollywood trope. The fact is, most agencies require a missing person to be entered into their respective state's database within a few hours of the report. I can say unequivocally that Georgia has a two-hour window, as I've entered many such reports during my stint in law enforcement, and that is our state's requirement. The reason they want to enter the person as soon as possible is so that any checks for that person's info will return a "hit" in time to locate the person. For example, George has dementia, goes for a walk at 8am, and is gone for several hours. He is reported missing at 12pm, and the police report is keyed into the state database by 1pm. At 2pm that same day, George is stopped by an officer and his information ran on the state computer. A hit shows up that states he's a missing-endangered person (endangered due to his mental state), the officer notifies his department so they can notify the family, and all is well. Now, if the bogus 24 hour rule was real, George never would have been reported the day he went missing, and perhaps would have met a grisly demise that night. Timely reporting is a potentially life-saving measure and I really wish television and the movies would stop it with that particularly dangerous bit of misinformation.

sliverstorm 11y ago
The scope of the operation also grows exponentially (or was it quadratically?) with time. Scent trails and tracks decay quickly, and at a fixed rate of travel the area in which the subject can be grows as time^2 (the area of a circle). At 2mph after 1 hour your subject is within an area of roughly 12 square miles. After 24 hours that area is more than 7000 square miles. So agencies are generally interested in processing them quickly. That must be balanced against some filtering for bogus reports and incidents likely to resolve themselves, of course.
- morganvachon 11y ago
  > Scent trails and tracks decay quickly This is generally only an issue when it's a case of a missing-endangered subject; most missing persons reports are of a routine[1] nature (spouse is delayed in travel and can't be reached; child has run away for the third time that month). Having a blanket policy that requires timely entry of all reports will cover every scenario, especially since an otherwise routine missing person report can turn into an emergency situation after the initial report is made. > incidents likely to resolve themselves That's true, and the vast majority of missing persons reports I entered over a 14 year span were canceled within hours or at most, days, when the missing person returned of their own volition. But the ones who are found safe only as a result of the timely report stand in defense of the policy. [1] Just as there is no such thing as a "routine" traffic stop and therefore officers should always be alert, there is actually no such thing as a "routine" missing person report either; but for the sake of this discussion, by "routine" in this case I mean "not urgent or endangered".
anigbrowl 11y ago
It's a trope with a basis in fact - that used to be the standard until relatively recently. I have had occasion to file 2 missing person reports and both times I was told on my first call that the person hadn't been gone long enough to justify a report. Both incidents were >10 years ago and obviously things have changed since then.
- dogma1138 11y ago
  Depending on the agency and the situation there could be also very different policies regarding this, however I couldn't find a single regulation stating that there's a 24 hour period or that it had been changed. If you say that an 17 yr old didn't came home they might say it's more likely that they are spending the night at a friend while a 9 yr old kid that didn't came home from school will spark an ember alert very quickly. But in general the police cannot actually prevent you from filing any type of a report, you can go to any police station and a file a report that aliens have abducted your cat.
- morganvachon 11y ago
  Then I would say the agency you called wasn't conforming to their state's regulations and was potentially endangering lives. I worked in law enforcement from 1999 to 2013 and missing persons cases always had a timely entry regulation during that time. My state's regulations are copied nearly verbatim from the federal rules (NCIC).
  - anigbrowl 11y ago
    As I said, I was talking about the basis in fact rather than in law.
davydka 11y ago
Fantastic info. Thanks for sharing that.
samstave 11y ago
You left out the part where the cops with an IQ <70 see the word "endangered" as "dangerous" and shoot said demented person. Cops are incapable of servicing the greater need any further the system is broken.
- seibelj 11y ago
  Reddit would be a better place for comments like this. HN is for reasonable discussion
  - samstave 11y ago
    Jesus Christ I'm tired If this, get off your high horse and have the guts to have "a reasonable discussion" on a topic that doesn't fit within your comfort zone. You are a coward for posting your snide comment on an attempt to look intellectually superior. The state of the police in the US is a disease... Defend that if you're so inclined. Your snipey comment to try to quell discourse is abhorrent, and shows you're incapable of actually talking about the issue.
    - seibelj 11y ago
      The comment you responded to was about the utility of quickly filing missing persons reports. Your response said that people with dementia filed as missing would be lucky to survive an encounter with a police officer. It seems like you have an axe to grind that is completely irrelevant to the topic of discussion. I don't know your political inclinations but your arguments are illogical and confusing. I said it would be better for reddit, because comments like yours are common there, while fairly uncommon on HN
      - MrJagil 11y ago
        I would say that your stab at reddit was just as meaningless as his initial comment. Why didn't you post what you just posted in the first place? If you really want to help keep HN clean, avoid the snide one-liners. Either leave it at a down-vote or post a proper reply.

sliverstorm 11y ago

The scope of the operation also grows exponentially (or was it quadratically?) with time. Scent trails and tracks decay quickly, and at a fixed rate of travel the area in which the subject can be grows as time^2 (the area of a circle). At 2mph after 1 hour your subject is within an area of roughly 12 square miles. After 24 hours that area is more than 7000 square miles. So agencies are generally interested in processing them quickly. That must be balanced against some filtering for bogus reports and incidents likely to resolve themselves, of course.

morganvachon 11y ago
> Scent trails and tracks decay quickly This is generally only an issue when it's a case of a missing-endangered subject; most missing persons reports are of a routine[1] nature (spouse is delayed in travel and can't be reached; child has run away for the third time that month). Having a blanket policy that requires timely entry of all reports will cover every scenario, especially since an otherwise routine missing person report can turn into an emergency situation after the initial report is made. > incidents likely to resolve themselves That's true, and the vast majority of missing persons reports I entered over a 14 year span were canceled within hours or at most, days, when the missing person returned of their own volition. But the ones who are found safe only as a result of the timely report stand in defense of the policy. [1] Just as there is no such thing as a "routine" traffic stop and therefore officers should always be alert, there is actually no such thing as a "routine" missing person report either; but for the sake of this discussion, by "routine" in this case I mean "not urgent or endangered".

anigbrowl 11y ago

It's a trope with a basis in fact - that used to be the standard until relatively recently. I have had occasion to file 2 missing person reports and both times I was told on my first call that the person hadn't been gone long enough to justify a report. Both incidents were >10 years ago and obviously things have changed since then.

dogma1138 11y ago
Depending on the agency and the situation there could be also very different policies regarding this, however I couldn't find a single regulation stating that there's a 24 hour period or that it had been changed. If you say that an 17 yr old didn't came home they might say it's more likely that they are spending the night at a friend while a 9 yr old kid that didn't came home from school will spark an ember alert very quickly. But in general the police cannot actually prevent you from filing any type of a report, you can go to any police station and a file a report that aliens have abducted your cat.
morganvachon 11y ago
Then I would say the agency you called wasn't conforming to their state's regulations and was potentially endangering lives. I worked in law enforcement from 1999 to 2013 and missing persons cases always had a timely entry regulation during that time. My state's regulations are copied nearly verbatim from the federal rules (NCIC).
- anigbrowl 11y ago
  As I said, I was talking about the basis in fact rather than in law.

davydka 11y ago

Fantastic info. Thanks for sharing that.

samstave 11y ago

You left out the part where the cops with an IQ <70 see the word "endangered" as "dangerous" and shoot said demented person. Cops are incapable of servicing the greater need any further the system is broken.

seibelj 11y ago
Reddit would be a better place for comments like this. HN is for reasonable discussion
- samstave 11y ago
  Jesus Christ I'm tired If this, get off your high horse and have the guts to have "a reasonable discussion" on a topic that doesn't fit within your comfort zone. You are a coward for posting your snide comment on an attempt to look intellectually superior. The state of the police in the US is a disease... Defend that if you're so inclined. Your snipey comment to try to quell discourse is abhorrent, and shows you're incapable of actually talking about the issue.
  - seibelj 11y ago
    The comment you responded to was about the utility of quickly filing missing persons reports. Your response said that people with dementia filed as missing would be lucky to survive an encounter with a police officer. It seems like you have an axe to grind that is completely irrelevant to the topic of discussion. I don't know your political inclinations but your arguments are illogical and confusing. I said it would be better for reddit, because comments like yours are common there, while fairly uncommon on HN
    - MrJagil 11y ago
      I would say that your stab at reddit was just as meaningless as his initial comment. Why didn't you post what you just posted in the first place? If you really want to help keep HN clean, avoid the snide one-liners. Either leave it at a down-vote or post a proper reply.