Lost Child Scenario for Security Officers (UK)

A mother runs up to you near the food court. Her five-year-old son was beside her a few minutes ago and now she cannot see him.

1. Stay with her and keep calm. Take the child's name, age, description, clothing, and where and when she last saw him, and pass the description to the control room.
   Why?

   Best practice. Good. Published lost child procedures ask a staff member to stay with the parent and record the child's name, age, description, clothing and last known location, then pass the details to control so everyone can be briefed.

2. Leave the mother where she is and run to search the food court yourself.
   Why?

   Acceptable. Weaker. Searching quickly matters, but without a description you do not know who you are looking for, and the mother is left alone. Procedures keep a staff member with the parent and send the details to control first.

3. Tell her to look around the shops herself and come back if she has not found him in half an hour.
   Why?

   Unsafe or not allowed. Wrong. A young child missing is urgent. Lost child procedures start straight away, and police advise calling 999 now when a young child is missing.

The control room asks how you want the alert shared with the other officers and staff.

1. Ask control to brief all staff by radio with the child's description, without saying his name on the radio, and to send officers to cover every exit.
   Why?

   Best practice. Correct. Published procedures say to brief all security and stewards, to keep the child's name off the radio, and to give staff at every exit the description so they can watch people leaving and challenge if in doubt.

2. Tell only the officers near the food court and ask them to look around.
   Why?

   Acceptable. Weaker. A child can move fast. If only one area is told, the exits are not covered and other staff do not know what to look for.

3. Do not tell control yet. First check the toilets and play area yourself.
   Why?

   Unsafe or not allowed. Wrong. Speed of communication is key in lost child procedures. Searching alone before alerting control wastes the minutes that matter most.

Ten minutes have passed and the boy has not been found. His mother says he has never wandered off before.

1. Ask control to call the police now, while staff keep searching likely places such as toilets, play areas and small spaces.
   Why?

   Best practice. Best. Police advise calling 999 straight away when the missing person is a young child, and you never have to wait 24 hours. Published procedures also say to call police if there is any doubt or the circumstances seem suspicious. Children can fit into small spaces, so check them.

2. Wait until 30 minutes have passed before anyone calls the police.
   Why?

   Acceptable. Weaker. Some site procedures set a time to call police, but police advise calling 999 now for a young child. When in doubt, call early.

3. Tell the mother that police will not take a report until 24 hours have passed.
   Why?

   Unsafe or not allowed. False and dangerous. Police say you do not have to wait 24 hours to report someone missing, and to call 999 now if the missing person is a young child.

An officer at the south exit radios in. A man is walking out holding a boy who matches the description. The boy is crying. The man says he is the boy's uncle.

1. Go to the exit. Politely ask the man to wait, explain that a child of this description has been reported lost, and tell control. Keep talking calmly. If he refuses and walks off, do not use force: keep them in sight and give their description and direction to control and police.
   Why?

   Best practice. Correct. Procedures ask exit staff to watch people leaving and challenge if in doubt. A crying child with an adult who is not the person who reported him needs checks before anyone leaves. Calm words are safer than force.

2. Ask the man to wait and ask the boy his name, but do not tell control yet.
   Why?

   Acceptable. Weaker. Stopping to check is right, but control and the mother need to know at once so the right people can come to the exit and the police can be updated.

3. Let them go. The man seems confident and says he is family.
   Why?

   Unsafe or not allowed. Wrong. Never release a child just because an adult says they are family. Procedures say a child should not be released until reasonable checks show it is safe, and the parent must be confirmed.

The man waits. Control says the mother is on her way to the south exit. The man says he can just take the boy to find her himself.

1. Keep the boy at the exit with two members of staff. When the mother arrives, check she is the person who made the report, ask for ID as the procedure says, and watch that the boy clearly knows her. Then tell control and the police he is found, and record it.
   Why?

   Best practice. Best. Published procedures keep at least two staff with a found child, confirm the parent's identity and that the child matches the description, ask for ID, and seek police advice if a child seems reluctant to go. Everything is recorded and everyone involved is told the child is found.

2. Walk the boy on your own to the control room to wait for his mother.
   Why?

   Acceptable. Weaker. The boy is safe, but procedures say at least two staff should stay with a found child, to protect the child and the staff, and to avoid one-to-one contact.

3. Let the man take the boy to look for his mother.
   Why?

   Unsafe or not allowed. Wrong. The child has been found and must stay with staff until a parent or carer is confirmed. Handing him to an unconfirmed adult defeats the whole procedure.