Raise awareness about a missing person

After you report a person missing to the police, you may feel isolated, frustrated and helpless that you are not doing more to help.

You can take some active steps to raise awareness in your community about the missing person.

Ways to raise awareness

Different ways you can raise awareness for a missing person.

Create and display posters

Displaying physical posters in your neighbourhood can raise awareness about the missing person in a quick and effective way.

What to include on the poster

Your missing person posters should have:

• a clear heading, for example ‘Missing person’ or ‘Have you seen me?’
• a clear and recent photograph of the missing person
• details of the area the person was last seen
• details of what the person was wearing at the time they were last seen
• the number for Crime Stoppers (1800 333 000) for the public to provide information.

Do not include your personal phone number.

Where to display your poster

Distribute posters and recent photographs in public areas, such as:

• shopping centres
• bus stops and railway stations
• sporting and entertainment facilities
• libraries
• police stations
• churches, and
• community centres.

Keep a list of where posters and photographs have been displayed.

Create a social media campaign

Social media is a powerful communication tool. It can assist to raise immediate attention and awareness of a missing person.

Public access to your campaign

The information you share on social media becomes public information. This can help to expand the number of people that see your message, but also opens your posts to public commentary.

Be prepared that your posts may attract negative attention. This can have a long-term effect on family and friends of the missing person.

Public information is also difficult to control. Once information is on the internet, it can be shared, saved, and used by others. You may not be able to remove the information completely.

Sharing identifying details or updates about the case can also compromise the investigation. It can alert perpetrators to potential police activity or enquiries.

Manage comments and responses

Any information from the public could be helpful, and should be responded to and investigated. When you ask for help from the public through social media, it can be difficult to manage their responses.

People may try to contact you through:

• email
• social media comments and messages
• personal contact numbers.

We recommend that you direct all information to either:

• Crime Stoppers Victoria
• The police officers investigating the case.

Maintain your campaign

Starting up a social media campaign is a long-term commitment. The people that join your social media campaign may be eager for updates.

You may get messages from people requesting new information. This may be distressing if you have no updates to share for a long time.

If you are very close to the missing person, consider sharing or passing on the task of monitoring social media to another friend or relative.

Work with the media

Victoria Police may use media outlets to share details about a missing person with the public. The public can provide valuable information and help the investigation.

We encourage the use of media outlets when the missing person:

• is a child
• is elderly
• has an urgent medical need, or
• is at risk.

In urgent matters, such as when a child is missing, Victoria Police will send out a ‘media alert’. This is an immediate notification to all media outlets and those registered to receive Victoria Police media alerts.

Providing information to the media

The Victoria Police Media Unit will support you to provide information about a missing person to the media via a media release. This release will be distributed to television, radio and newspaper outlets.

To release the image and information about the missing person to the media, complete and submit an Authority for Media Release. This must be completed by the next of kin of the missing person.

Provide the Media Unit with the following information about the missing person:

• Name
• Age
• Physical description
• Last known location
• A recent photograph.

Prepare to talk to the media

In some cases, the family of the missing person can speak directly to the media. A relative or close friend may also act as a spokesperson. Alternatively, the police may provide someone to speak to the media on behalf of the family.

You should be well-prepared before you speak to the media. Speak to police about the details of the case beforehand. In some situations, police may wish to keep some details from the public, as certain information could hinder an investigation.

You can choose to read a prepared statement, rather than be interviewed.

If you are being interviewed, you may find it helpful to have the police present. They can provide more information.

The Victoria Police Media guide for families and loved ones has information about media behaviour and expectations:

Dealing with intrusive media

If the media are being overly intrusive or disruptive, you can request they respect your privacy.

If this fails, speak to a police officer. They may be able to liaise with the media about maintaining your privacy wishes.

Work with police

Regardless of what kind of awareness campaign you are running, you should co-ordinate your activities with the officers in charge of the missing person case.

This can help minimise negative influences on the case, and ensure you are not hindering any police investigations.

What you can do on behalf of a missing person

There are several things you can do on behalf of the missing person. This includes:

• notifying the missing person's employer, business, school or education facility
• cancelling any prearranged social engagements, appointments or travel plans
• ensuring someone is looking after the missing person's house and pets, and arranging for the mail to be collected if they live alone
• making interim arrangements for outstanding bills, mortgage, rent, insurance or other financial obligations
• notifying police if you notice unusual activity in the missing person's bank accounts.