French Police End Missing Persons Searches, Suggest Using Facebook

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French Police End Missing Persons Searches, Suggest Using Facebook

Posted by timothy on Thursday May 23, 2013 @02:25AM from the hire-a-stalker dept.

itwbennett writes "According to an announcement on a French government website, police have stopped current searches for missing adults and will not accept new search requests. 'Such 'searches in the interests of the family' were conducted under an administrative procedure almost a century old, introduced to help families separated during the upheavals of World War I to find missing relatives,' according to the French Ministry of the Interior. In a letter to police chiefs announcing the changes, the Ministry advised them to instead 'direct people towards social networks on the Internet, which offer interesting possibilities.'"

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So once again... by DigitalReverend · 2013-05-23 02:28 · Score: 5, Funny

the French surrender.

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1. Re:So once again... by Anonymous Coward · 2013-05-23 02:43 · Score: 5, Informative
  
  Nothing to see here. The French procedure does not correspond to that used in the US. Searches for children or persons who are clearly in danger continue.
2. Re:So once again... by BasilBrush · 2013-05-23 04:27 · Score: 3, Insightful
  
  Not really, there's a presumption that if somebody's been missing for more than a given amount of time that they're in danger, unless there's evidence to the contrary.
  
  Then it's a bad presumption. Most people go missing because they want to. You've got to look for children, senile people and people with mental health issues, because they may not have the capacity for making a rational choice to leave, and the chances of them coming to harm are higher. But adults who get out of contact with their families. In most cases it's because they don't like them, or have some issue they'd rather get away from.
3. Re:So once again... by icebike · 2013-05-23 08:28 · Score: 3, Insightful
  
  And if there's foul play, there's likely to be something indicating that.
  Yeah, like the person is missing!
  In fact, the standard followed by most jurisdictions is: the absence of any indication of intent to disappear is in fact evidence of either an accident or foul play.
  Police make at least an effort to find people that simply disappear (after a suitable waiting period), and at least interview friends and workmates etc for changes in behavior, look at credit card usage, and request cell records, before throwing in the towel. (The effort is actually much larger if its a missing woman than if it is a man.) Its not an unreasonable level of effort, nor does it take a great deal of resources. (Some of this stuff is automated these days).
  Most people who CHOOSE go missing end up defrauding someone out of some amount of money. Unpaid rent, unpaid credit card bills, saddling a spouse with a huge debt, etc. Its not a victimless choice.
  
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And stolen things by Anonymous Coward · 2013-05-23 02:31 · Score: 5, Funny

Should be looked for on ebay.
Re:HELP!!! by spongebue · 2013-05-23 02:33 · Score: 5, Informative

As the description of this says, this applies to adults. I'll admit I didn't RTFA, but I assume that means nothing will change with regards to children.
Sensationalist summary by 200_success · 2013-05-23 02:41 · Score: 5, Informative

The summary is missing the important qualifier "... unless the person may be in danger". So, apparent abductions and unexplained disappearances would still get police assistance like you would expect.
1. Re:Sensationalist summary by advid.net · 2013-05-23 02:49 · Score: 4, Informative
  
  Yes, translation is:
  Allows you to search for a missing person, your family, to renew relations with her. Does not apply to missing persons in alarming conditions suspicious or criminal.
  So this kind of search is no longer available with the state help.
  Ok... Is it really worth a story on /. ?
2. Re:Sensationalist summary by Anonymous Coward · 2013-05-23 02:56 · Score: 3, Insightful
  
  Only if you leave out the important details and get people worked up over nothing. You know, standard operating procedure here.
3. Re:Sensationalist summary by ColdCat · 2013-05-23 03:12 · Score: 5, Informative
  
  It change almost nothing.
  This law was to find your family members after long lost of contacts (years). It was to help family member reconnect after end of WW1 WW2 and after the end of colonisation in Asia and Africa. The administration do the research find the person, the ask him/her if he want to reconnect with you and if he/she wants give you the address. It's stopped because fewer and fewer people use it in the last decade.
  
  If someone is missing, police still do the research.
  If Someone need to be found to pay kids pension, to helps his/her parents, for fraud or taxes evasion, or even for some kind of family Inheritance there are others laws.
4. Re:Sensationalist summary by Nadaka · 2013-05-23 03:18 · Score: 4, Funny
  
  remember to keep it under 3oz or you might not get through airport security.
5. Re:Sensationalist summary by bws111 · 2013-05-23 03:40 · Score: 3
  
  Simple. If the person went missing today (or very recently) they will do a normal 'missing person' investigation. If it is 'I wonder were cousin Pierre is, last I heard he was moving up north', they won't.
Re:HELP!!! by boylinux · 2013-05-23 02:42 · Score: 3, Informative

As per the article. Searches will continue for minors, and for those who disappear in worrying circumstances -- for example those with suicidal intent, or victims of a crime -- as they are conducted under a different procedure.
They suggest hiring Liam Neeson by Picass0 · 2013-05-23 02:48 · Score: 4, Funny

He has a very particular set of skills.
Status Update... by thestudio_bob · 2013-05-23 03:13 · Score: 4, Funny

Status update: Kidnapped

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Re:HELP!!! by bws111 · 2013-05-23 03:19 · Score: 5, Insightful

The problem seems to be in the phrase 'missing person', which I guess is a translation thing. When people hear 'missing person', they think of someone who has suddenly disappeared - didn't come home from work, etc. Those cases they will still investigate, of course. What they are no longer doing is helping to find a person you have lost contact with (and I can't imagine their are many police forces in the world that would help with that under normal circumstances).
Re:HELP!!! by ShanghaiBill · 2013-05-23 03:37 · Score: 4, Insightful

So, taxpaying adults are shit out of luck
Unlike children, adults have a right to disappear and start a new life somewhere else. Unless there is a reasonable suspicion that a law has been broken, the police should not be spending tax dollars to find people that don't want to be found.
Re:HELP!!! by Frontier+Owner · 2013-05-23 03:41 · Score: 3, Interesting

I thought we used /. so we didn't have to read the article. someone posts a story, a brief exert and we move on.
Re:HELP!!! by MBGMorden · 2013-05-23 04:01 · Score: 4, Insightful

His children example was used for shockvalue, but the point is still the same - for the most part, if someone dissappears without a trace, foul play is involved. They MIGHT have just decided to skip town, but most people don't. Lets say its not your 9 year old daughter. Lets say your 23 year old daughter never comes home from work. I'd like to hear something besides "Check Facebook" from the local authorities.

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