Police Chief Jon Bergen says every missing person's report must be treated seriously. (File photo/ paNOW Staff)

By Nigel Maxwell

Missing persons

Missing or runaway? Police address challenges

Mar 18, 2021 | 5:02 PM

There were 559 missing persons investigations handled by the Prince Albert Police Service in 2020.

The topic was discussed during Thursday’s Board of Police Commissioner’s meeting at City Hall. Sgt. Darren Androsoff was invited to give a presentation on the activities of the now two-year-old Police and Crisis Team (PACT), which predominantly handles cases related to mental health, but also looks after missing persons reports.

Mayor Greg Dionne asked Androsoff about the number of runaway cases, stressing his own concerns with the frequency.

“We’re getting so tired of some of the runaways that we are going to relax a little, and that person is actually going to be a missing person,” Dionne said.

Androsoff explained that of the total 559 cases, the group home runaway scenario was extraordinarily common.

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“Yes, we are not babysitters and yes, people get tired of that. But at the end of the day, group home runaways are still not only human beings, but they are likely higher risk than anybody else,” he said.

Citing the case of one youth at Ranch Ehrlo, who was reported missing 47 times last year, Androsoff said he has tried to address the situation by working closely with the actual group homes themselves. He added the operators are doing their best.

“They are trying to put them in a situation to succeed and they are sometimes failing at that,” he said, adding too the PACT unit does assist with the follow-ups.

Moving forward Androsoff said he would like to see an absolute dedicated missing person position in the police service. He explained based on his own experience in the last year, you get the sense of where resources need to go.

“One of the problems is we do have a lot of people looking at these files, but I would like to see someone who is 100% invested in missing people,” he said.

In a follow-up comment, Dionne said there are no repercussions for the actions of the repeat runaways who often turn up the next day, and suggested there needs to be some way to control them to prevent a tragic event from happening. Dionne also indicated these concerns will impact future group home licensing proposals that come before city council. Androsoff said it’s not that easy, adding the group homes in the area are associated with the Ministry of Social Services.

“The youth that are in there are wards of social services, they are under the care of social services and they have a responsibility to provide some type of care,” he explained. “There’s nothing that exists on their side to 100 per cent deny services.”

Speaking with paNOW after the meeting, Police Chief Jon Bergen acknowledged the important work PACT does on a day-to-day basis.

“When we are asking them to multi-task and work on the different mandates, that can be challenging but it’s effective,” he said.

Responding to Sgt. Androsoff’s comment about the need for a dedicated missing persons investigator, Bergen said the police service has to work with the funding it is provided from the provincial government – two officers.

“You know having additional positions where we could have focused response in each area would always be preferred but we are grateful for the funding we receive now and the ability to support both PACT and the missing persons investigation,” he said.

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nigel.maxwell@jpbg.ca

On Twtter: @nigelmaxwell