Police Want You To Know

Carole Moore
Missing Persons Contributor
Officer.com

Police are human beings, too. They understand what you're going through when a family member or friend is missing, and although they may at first come across as insensitive, they're really not. Their first obligation is to do what's best for the welfare of that missing person and it's important that they keep themselves professional and focused on bringing the loved one home. Searching for that person is their primary focus, but once a search turns up nothing of significance or something that may lead police to believe the individual has or could be harmed, their second obligation is to conduct an investigation. That can lead to charges of insensitivity from people who don't understand that until the police find that person, everyone is a suspect. I think there is a certain hardening of emotions that comes with the job. Cops have to learn to distance themselves from the human side of their business or they will soon lose their minds. Think about how much heartache and sadness police encounter; add to those emotions the stress, terrible hours and, often, the lack of trust the public many times conveys to cops and you have a typical cop's life. I am here to tell you that police do care about your missing loved one. So, why don't they check out that lead that's on the other side of the country? Unless the department has a lot of money, they must chase most long distance leads electronically - that is they will ask another agency in the other jurisdiction to check out their lead for them. This is where the problem develops: the police in the other jurisdiction are themselves loaded down with cases of their own. They'll do a courtesy check for the other department, but unless the circumstances are really unusual, there is just so much time they can devote to another agency's missing person case. After all, they have missing persons cases of their own to work. Police want to resolve their cases, not simply because it's their job, but because they know that people are hurting. Here's an unidentified found body I'd like to see reunited with her loved ones. Can you help? http://www.forensicartist.com/reconstruction/jpd.html