Number of kids reported missing DOUBLES in West Yorkshire
Many go missing repeatedly - and others are disappearing from care
Last updated 3rd Apr 2018
Radio Aire can exclusively reveal the number of children going missing in West Yorkshire has DOUBLED – and many are the same young people being flagged up repeatedly.
Figures from West Yorkshire Police show nearly 12,700 people aged under 18 were reported missing in 2016, which is double the number in 2014. It means the force are dealing with an average of 35 missing children reports every day.
“It’s a massive issue for police officers and the service, and it’s been an increasing burden over the years,” says Nick Smart, head of the West Yorkshire Police Federation.
“We’re seeing roughly a 30 per cent increase year on year. That’s on the back of losing over 1,000 officers in the last six years. So it has a massive impact on delivering what we need to be delivering.
“Often it’s trying to find a needle in a haystack. Going back to known locations, speaking to friends, chasing on Facebook... So we have to allocate a lot of resources. If we can get them back safely, that’s just the first part. We then have to look into whether any crimes have been committed.”
**'Often it's like trying to find a needle in a haystack' **
Worryingly, Nick told us many of the children going missing are running away from care homes.
A West Yorkshire Police report in January 2018 warned the number going missing from care has increased by 30 per cent.
Nick thinks other services need to do more to make sure no vulnerable child goes missing more than once:
“We need to be more proactive and preventative at stopping them going missing in the first place.
“Unfortunately what we find is 34 per cent of our missing children are repeat callers who go two times, three times, even ten times. It can’t just always be a call to the police saying ‘oh they’ve gone missing again’ – other people have to start putting some preventative measures in place.”
The police report also says more than a quarter of the children that go missing are at risk of sexual exploitation.
Barnardo’s works with young people in West Yorkshire once they are located and brought home, and told us there are lots of risks a missing child might face.
'**They could be feeling lonely and seeking a person who's going to make them feel loved'**
“We have the most vulnerable people who are in care, who tend to be going missing because they’re going back to their parents’ house or the old estate they used to live on, because they’ve still got attachments to those places,” says Becky, a project worker at Barnardo’s.
“They could be feeling quite lonely and seeking a person who’s going to make them feel loved, make them feel welcome.
“We all know that people who exploit young people seek out these vulnerabilities. They’ll look for young people who haven’t had a great life, and then they are made targets.
“Then they’ll introduce drugs, alcohol, because it gives them more power.
“There’s a risk of being exploited for crime. Some young people may go missing because their friends are offering substances or alcohol. And if they’re fairly unhappy at home, going out and getting that high - no matter how short-lived it may be – is better than how they were feeling before.”
'**We can't treat children badly to keep them safe'**
With concerns being raised about the rising number of children running away from care, we asked the man responsible for safeguarding children in Leeds what procedures are in place to try to prevent them going missing more than once.
“Being in care is not similar to being in prison,” says Mark Peel, head of the Leeds Safeguarding Children Board (LSCB).
“We don’t lock young people up. So our ability to prevent young people leaving a building or getting backwards and forwards to school is limited. We do know when children go missing, but our ability to prevent them going missing is limited by the law. We can’t treat children badly in order to keep them safe.
“It’s our responsibility to try and find out what’s motivated them to run away to make sure we deal with issues once they’re raised. Where we can we resolve issues, and we make sure there are other avenues they can look to for support."