Katherine Wright

“Lack of training and guidance for frontline officers on conducting searches of premises in missing person cases. Evidence given by the Police at the Inquest indicated that there is no structured training or clear operational guidance on what constitutes an adequate search, including checking all areas of a property where a person could reasonably be found.”

“Absence of protocols for escalating safety concerns during searches. The officer who undertook the search felt unsafe due to the cluttered environment but did not escalate this concern or request additional resources to enable an adequate search to be carried out. There appears to be no guidance on when and how officers should escalate such issues.”

“risk that future deaths could occur unless action is taken”