A missing loved one is your first priority, but your local law enforcement agency’s focus might be elsewhere. Integrated Security Services provides highly trained private investigators who can give your case the attention it deserves.
If your wallet disappears, you can wait a week or two for police assistance. If a loved one disappears, you need to take immediate action.
Since local law enforcement agencies aim to ensure the safety of your entire community, they often fail to prioritize missing persons cases over more tangible crimes. In fact, the Columbus Monthly reports that 90,000 people remain missing in the United States today.
According to the National Institute of Justice (NIJ), 17,000 law enforcement agencies operate within the U.S., many of which don’t have the time or money to tackle missing persons reports. This leaves hundreds of families directionless in their quests for answers.
Additionally, many missing children cases actually turn out to be custodial abductions. While still a serious crime, large urban police agencies, with certainly more resources in manpower and technology, are often forced to triage these investigations to address a greater volume in service calls.
Thankfully, a private investigator, especially one provided by Integrated Security Services, can more fully commit to finding your missing family member.
The critical issue for parents and caregivers is time. Only a private investigator can move quickly, when time is of the essence. Police officers must follow very strict missing person investigation guidelines, because manpower is limited and often these investigations can be very broad in scope.
What’s the Holdup?
Why does the missing persons case that feels so urgent to you seem less important to the staff at your local police station?
First, law enforcement agencies are simply overwhelmed. According to the FBI, police made a total of 11,302,102 arrests in 2013, rendering them too preoccupied to address many of the 627, 911 missing persons cases reported in the same year.
Second, the police are given incentives to prioritize other issues. Policing.com explains that police priorities are dictated by state and federal legislation rather than by the specific problems of each separate neighborhood.
For example, the Local Law Enforcement Assistance Program of 1988 gave equipment, training, and funds to agencies willing to focus their attention on drug crimes, leading cops to exert most of their effort on drug searches and put crimes of other varieties on the backburner.
Third, missing children cases are widely considered more urgent than reports of missing persons over 18 years of age. Amber alerts, along with programs like the NCMEC (National Center for Missing and Exploited Children), bring the exposure to missing children — exposure that missing adult cases lack.
The Conventional Approach
However, there are other law enforcement resources in place that you can consult if a loved one over eighteen has disappeared.
For starters, the CUE Center for Missing Persons allows you to quickly file a report to find your missing person through local law enforcement.
Next, you should make an account with the National Missing and Unidentified Persons System — NamUs, for short — which provides the “necessary bridge” between you and professional assistance, according to the NIJ.
NamUs compiles information found by coroners, anthropologists, police, and families to create a centralized system that’s accessible to all parties. Additionally, it sends emails to loved ones when their cases have been updated, assists them in conducting free forensics tests, and allows them to print missing persons posters.
But once you’ve consulted these resources, all you can do is wait. Unless, of course, you hire a private investigator.
A Private Eye Won’t Turn a Blind Eye
If there’s a missing person in your life, they deserve attention. Law enforcement agencies, despite their best efforts, can’t guarantee that you’ll get it — but private investigators can.
For over 20 years, Integrated Security Services has provided families with top-notch private eyes, fully focused on their assigned missions. Equipped with a wide range of tactics to lead you to your loved one, our private investigators are able to circumvent many restrictions faced by police officers.
Their approaches will be more thorough than those of your local law enforcement agency and can also be customized to your unique concerns and desires.
Patience may be a virtue, but when it comes to missing persons, you shouldn’t have to wait. While we always encourage you to first notify the police, hiring a private investigator through Integrated Security Services will get you immediate and effective assistance. And in many instances, Integrated and our staff of retired former law enforcement professionals can act as a liaison between you and the police, improving communications and results.
