Missing persons: prevention and investigation

Expected outcome

Project results are expected to contribute to some or all of the following expected outcomes:

• Improved skills, tools and training curricula for Police Authorities in Europe and Civil Society Organisations (or Non-Governmental Organisations) to work with at-risk groups to prevent persons from going missing. Those improved skills, tools and training curricula are to take into account European multicultural dimension, as well as legal and ethical rules of operation;
• Enhanced investigation tools and methodologies for Police Authorities in Europe to tackle cold cases in the context of missing persons, based on modern (forensic) technologies and criminology;
• Modern training curricula for Police Authorities, their improved cross-border cooperation and enhanced tools and methodologies to tackle new cases of missing persons;
• Enriched European common approaches applied by Police Authorities in Europe to fight the issue of missing persons relying on the synergy of technology, the latest socio-psychological knowledge learned from cases, as well as field experience of Police Authorities and entities dealing with victims, while fully respecting fundamental rights such as privacy, protection of personal data and anonymity of victims.

Scope

The issue of missing persons is a multifaceted challenge that encompasses diverse categories and is influenced by various factors. People may go missing under a variety of circumstances, such as voluntary disappearances, abductions, cases related to mental health crises, or because of conflict, migration, geopolitical instability, natural disasters. Groups in a vulnerable situation - notably children, victims of trafficking and exploitation, persons with disabilities and persons suffering from cognitive impairments - face an even greater risk of going missing, often under distressing and dangerous conditions. Tackling this issue requires a coordinated response from multiple stakeholders, from Police Authorities via Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) or Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs) to the involvement of the overall society.

In an era of rapid technological advancement and societal developments, there is a pressing need to improve current European approaches to fight the issue of missing persons (prevention and/or investigation of cold and new cases) using innovative societal and technological solutions. To this end, modernised skills, training curricula and methodologies for Police Authorities, CSOs and NGOs to work with people in a vulnerable situation and children are needed, such as effective awareness raising campaigns, which should be accessible to persons with disabilities, that take into account European multicultural dimension. When it comes to investigation, Police Authorities need efficient tools that benefit from new and emerging technologies to solve cold cases while combining modern forensic science (including biometrics and digital forensics) and criminology, e.g., modern tools for using an old DNA, or accurate facial ageing, among others. When multiple practitioners are involved in exchanging sensitive data, data sharing tools in a privacy-preserving manner should be considered. Furthermore, for new cases of missing persons, apart from an improved cross-border cooperation, Police Authorities also need, on the one hand, a modernised training to face such situations more efficiently, improving the dialogues and interactions with families, taking into account a gender sensitive and intersectional approach when relevant, and on the other hand, modern technologies and forensic tools for, for example, fast and reliable cross-matching of DNA samples between new and cold cases.

If a proposal concerns forensics, its consortium should involve forensic institutes as well. Coordination among the successful proposals from this topic should be envisaged to avoid duplication and to exploit complementarities as well as opportunities for increased impact. Proposals funded under this topic are expected to provide ideas on how they would engage with the Europol Innovation Lab during the lifetime of the project, including validating the outcomes, with the aim of facilitating future uptake of innovations for the law enforcement community. For aspects of training of Police Authorities, cooperation of successful proposals with CEPOL is expected, provided that the Agency opts out from applying for funding. To ensure the active involvement of and timely feedback from relevant security practitioners, proposals should plan a mid-term deliverable consisting in the assessment of the project’s mid-term outcomes, performed by the practitioners involved in the project. Finally, proposals are expected to address all applicable considerations expressed in the Introduction of the Fighting Crime and Terrorism Destination.