A new innovative app to help family and friends find missing loved ones has been launched by a former police officer.
Misper – named after the shortform term police officers use when discussing a missing person – has been created by Paul Cooper, from Stockton in Teesside, who is behind the award-winning app, Pocket Sergeant.
Driven by both personal and professional reasons, the 39-year-old, who worked for both Cleveland Police and Lincolnshire Police, has spent the past two years working on the app ready for its launch.
“In my years in the police, I saw firsthand the challenges and complexities involved in finding missing people, particularly those with mental health issues,” said Paul.
“With Misper, I wanted to create a tool that could make a real difference in these critical situations.”
Having lost several friends to suicide and known a number of relatives of friends who have gone missing, Paul also has personal experience of the trauma families and friends go through when people go missing or die by suicide.
“It’s difficult to put into words what drove me to build the Misper app other than the guilt and sadness I felt having dealt with people who later went on to take their own lives,” he said.
“Whilst the Misper app won’t bring back anyone we’ve lost to suicide, it could save someone who is struggling today.”
The Misper app is a culmination of Paul’s eight-and-a-half year police career and experience in handling cases of missing people at risk due to their mental health conditions. The app is built upon publicly available research that correlates certain factors such as gender, age and mental health conditions with the likelihood of where the missing person may be found.
Misper integrates this research into a user-friendly mobile application, using a traffic light system (green, amber, red) to indicate the likelihood of where a missing person suffering from specific mental health conditions might be located.
“The system is designed to guide search efforts more effectively, when there’s no suspicion of third-party involvement,” he added.
The app, which is free to download on Google Play and the App Store, boasts several innovative features to enhance the search for a missing person:
· Photo upload and description.
· Search checklists and radius mapping.
· Search party coordination.
· Verified sightings integration.
“I’ve dedicated several years to developing this project,” he said.
“During this period, I’ve witnessed a significant increase in missing person appeals filling my social media feeds. Social media platforms have seen a surge in groups dedicated to sharing appeals, creating posters, and organising physical searches for missing individuals. More and more people are getting involved, eager to help. However, many of these volunteers lack the necessary knowledge and training for conducting effective searches.
This is where the Misper app comes in – it’s designed to help the public better coordinate their efforts in searching for missing people.”
Find out more about Misper at www.misperapp.co.uk and Pocket Sergeant at www.pocketsergeant.co.uk.