Policy Text
University of California, San Francisco
Police Department General Orders
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4.11 Missing Persons Investigations
4.11.1 Missing Person s Investigations (Revised: 4/16/18)
The UCSF Police Department is occasionally called upon to investigate cases of missing
persons. It is Department policy to investigate each report and to follow -up on each report to its
logical conclusion. The purpose of this order is to set forth policies and procedures for accepting
and initiating missing person reports. These policies and procedures are based on PC §§ 14205,
14206 and 14207. A "missing person" is defined as any person, including a known or suspected
runaway, who is reported missing to a law enforcement agency, until the person is located or
determined to be a voluntary missing adult.
Section 3701 (a) of the Crime Control Act of 1990 (Suzanne’s Law) mandates reports of missing
persons under the age of 21 are to be immediately investiga ted; there is no waiting period.
Missing persons under the age of 21 are considered juveniles and will be entered into the NCIC
Missing Person File by ECC personnel accordingly.
A. All reports, including any telephonic reports of missing persons or runaways, shall be
taken without delay. Priority shall be given to handling of missing person reports over the
handling of property -related crimes. (There is no requirement for a 24 -hour " waiting
period" before a report is accepted.)
B. The agency responsible for the follow -up investigation is the agency that has jurisdiction
of the residence of the missing person, absent evidence of foul play in another
jurisdiction.
C. Regardless of residence, the agency responsible for conducting the investigation is the
agency with jurisdiction over the locati on where evidence of foul play against the missing
person occurred.
D. ECC personnel shall follow the procedures listed below when taking information
regarding a missing person:
1. As the law requires, ensure report is:
a. Accepted without unnecessary del ay
b. Accepted by telephone if necessary
c. Accepted regardless of jurisdiction
d. Given priority over reports of non -emergency or property -related crimes.
2. Verify that the call concerns a missing person of one of the following types:
a. Involuntary Miss ing Person
(1) Kidnapped
(2) “Throwaway” – rejected or abandoned
(3) Mentally/emotionally -impaired
University of California, San Francisco
Police Department General Orders
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b. Parental Abduction
(1) Urgent – fleeing the area, state or country
(2) Non-urgent – location of child is known to both parents; child is
safe.
(3) Court order involved
(4) No court order involved
c. Runaway – voluntarily missing minor
d. Unknown Missing – insufficient facts.
3. Determine if the person is "at risk" or missing under "suspicious circumstances."
a. Indicators
(1) Signs that foul pl ay or a crime may be involved
(2) Health problems – missing persons suffering from a physical,
mental or emotional condition
(3) Having no pattern of running away, disappearing or varied routine
(4) Victim of parental abduction
(5) Child under 12 years of age.
4. Obtain descriptive information. At a minimum, this would include:
a. Name, address, date of birth and age
b. Physical description
c. Clothing description
d. All information on parents if a parental abduction
e. Suspect information (if applicable).
5. Dispatch the call.
a. In dispatching a missing person call, the dispatcher should be concerned
with:
(1) Priorities
(a) Priority should be given to missing person and runaway
cases over non -emergency property crimes.
(b) Priority of miss ing person calls should not be superseded
by:
i. Shift changes (i.e., do not hold call for oncoming
shift.)
ii. Meals or other breaks
iii. Other administrative obligations (e.g., writing
reports, washing patrol units)
(2) Content
(a) In determining dispatc h content, dispatchers should
consider the following:
i. Level of urgency
ii. Informational needs of the officer.
(b) For urgent missing person calls, dispatch content should
include sufficient information to permit responding officers
to identify the missing person. This may include:
University of California, San Francisco
Police Department General Orders
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i. Name and age
ii. Physical description
iii. Clothing description
iv. Mental and/or physical condition
v. Time and location last observed
vi. Mode of transportation
vii. Suspect information (in case of parental abduction
viii. Patterns of previous behavior
ix. Child being removed from jurisdiction (abduction).
(c) When receiving an “in progress” or “just occurred” report
of a missing person under 12 years of age (a child), local
broadcasts must be made without delay.
i. The responding officer must initiate the local
broadcast.
ii. Local broadcasts may include radio and/or
administrative message via the teletype.
iii. If the officer requests an administrative message, all
pertinent information shall be included in the
messa ge (i.e., subject description, location where
last seen, destination of subject, suspect
information).
6. Entering Missing Person Information into the National Crime Information Center
Database (NCIC)
a Upon completion of the report, the officer shall ha nd deliver the report to
the ECC. ECC personnel shall receive the report and enter it into a missing
person file in