To wonder why the police always put the age of people in missing posts

[Canwe666]

Sometimes even full date of birth. I can understand under 18 but once people are adults age doesn’t have as much bearing. Also putting peoples full name.

Your issue is to do with idiots contacting your daughter not what the police did.

The police release as much details as possible to the public when someone goes missing to maximise the chances of them being found. They want to communicate these details through every possible medium - radio, TV, print, word of mouth so something like age is pertinent. Not everyone will see the photo and not all missing people even look like their photo. It’s especially important to divulge age in the cases where a small child goes missing as everyone is on an extra vigilant look out when they know someone is a small child.

The only time when the police wouldn’t release info about a missing person would be in rare cases where the public knowing personal info may have a threat to their safety. Age isn’t private information at all. It’s a descriptor of someone.

I didn’t say it was “correct” though, because my entire take on this is that notions of correct/incorrect aren’t massively useful when we’re casually posting online. So no need to go into a flight of fancy about me hypothetically claiming in bad faith that various other things are “correct”.

I said it worked perfectly well in a conversational register. And I do think that. It’s acceptable to lots of people and easily understood even by those who don’t use it.

I don’t really agree that speaking up in support of a person’s non-standard but serviceable usage is “just as bad” as peevishly calling them out for what you regard as a grammar violation; but whatever. I’m sure MN is big enough for both of us.

I hope things are getting better for your daughter, OP.

Age is an important detail in a missing person appeal. A girl went missing near me a few years ago who was described as tall with long, dark curly hair and having a distinctive red coat. That could have described me to a tee - except I was old enough to be her mother. From the photograph, she could have been anything up to 25, but she was actually 17. Someone could easily have spotted me and thought ‘Hmmm… she looks a bit too old, but it wasn’t a great photo, so it could be her…’ Whereas no one would mistake me for a 17 year-old in a million years. Age could be a key factor in turning ‘That could be her’ into ‘That’s definitely not her’ or ‘She fits the age; I’m sure that’s her’.

People share these things verbally, not everyone sees missing persons pictures. People in offices will be having tea together and saying 'did you see that girl who went missing' and the first thing the other person will say is 'no, who is it, what age is she? Whereabouts is she from?' Because yes they're being nosy but they're also sympathetic and want to help, usually. So now 5 people in the local area know a 14 year old girl is missing and her name is Lucy, who might not have seen a picture on Facebook or the news that night. If their daughter brings home a friend that evening asking if they can stay and it turns out she's 14 and called Lucy, or if they spot a 14 year old sleeping on a park bench, they might just be the person who can help.

Family member is a copper and honestly sometimes I don’t know why he bothers. There is a lot of anti-police sentiment on here, but he genuinely sees the worst of humanity on a daily basis and does his upmost to help people - the dire reality of what humans are capable of doing to each other (and themselves) knows no bounds.

Here is a missing person narrative with a happy ending, and the mother is online complaining about it. Fairly sure it’s just a case of a mis-directed grievance, but still. There are weirdos everywhere and the police are not responsible for any attempts to contact the victim on SM.

As they say oop north, nowt as queer as folk.

The age is important to find the person and quickly. If your daughter goes missing regularly and is upset about her age being added, she would be best not going missing.
Not everyone returns and that is why it is important to find them quickly. Some people are reported missing when they could be suicidal for example.
If your daughter regularly goes missing and you know she is going to return, why do you report her missing?

I think the point is that the urgent need to locate the individual before they end up in serious danger overrides the loss of privacy. Photos aren't always accurate - my boss looks very young in photos but looks their age in real life. My DH looks older in photos than he does in real life.

People often try to use a middle name, or something linked to their surname like a different spelling. It's important information.