I recently lost a cherished friend, a tragedy that could have potentially been avoided. My friend was reported missing, yet, painfully, the system that was in place didn't respond with urgency. The confrontation came two days too late as the police didn't act on my friend's welfare call until it was too late, ending in a devastating occurrence - finding him lifeless.

This experience painfully highlights the need for serious change in the current policy of handling missing person reports. When someone is reported missing, they should be immediately classified as such from that initial call and all possible measures must be taken to locate this individual.

Statistics reveal the heart-wrenching reality - a delay in acting can lead to horrific outcomes. According to the UK Missing Persons Bureau, approximately 250,000 people go missing in the UK each year, of which over 95% are found within 48 hours. However, it's the remaining minority who face the most danger as time passes (source: Missing Persons Bureau).

Yet, the current system waits an inordinate amount of time before any serious action is taken following the initial report. This can lead to further harm, injury, or worse, death due to suicide, accidents, or other circumstances.

The system needs to understand that when someone is reported missing, it's for a legitimate and urgent reason. Delaying meaningful action does not serve the person in jeopardy, their families, or the community at large. Therefore, we call upon law enforcement and legislative powers to amend this policy, ensuring that attention and resources are assigned immediately upon receipt of a missing person report.

We can't change the heartbreaking outcome for my friend, but we can insist on changes that prevent such unnecessary delay and confusion in the future. Do this in honour of all those who paid the ultimate price for a system that failed them. Please sign this petition for immediate implementation of policy changes about missing persons reports.