Spain: search for missing persons is digitized

The Ministry of the Interior of Spain has developed a pioneering system, called “Accompany me”which uses signals Wifi to obtain the coordinates of missing persons.

The system, presented this Thursday with a search simulation in Madrid, is integrated into a mobile application of the ministry, called Alertcops, and its objective is to make interventions faster and more effective, especially in complex terrain.

“Is digitize the most traditional, visual search with the sense of smell of the canine guides. Giving rescue teams coordinates with such a small margin of error saves work and allows for faster intervention, because time in these services is money,” The person responsible for this application, Francisco Alonso, explained to EFE.

The drill consisted of finding a man over 70 years old with affected cognitive abilities who had become disoriented in a park on the outskirts of the city, after his disappearance was reported.

A police force carried out raids by land and air, on foot, on horseback, in vehicles, with drones and with trained dogs, until an alert went off on the checkpoint computers when it captured the Wi-Fi signal from the missing person’s phone, which allowed us to find its coordinates with a margin of error of about three meters.

The system is especially useful for mountain rescues, as the terrain is extensive and has areas that are difficult to access.

“What limits us the most is the terrain and that conditions the time. If we can search in less space, the better, especially to reach the missing person and assist them as soon as possible.”Juan Manuel Airas, one of the participants in the drill, told EFE.

The drill was part of a seminar on good practices in the search for missing persons framed in the Spanish presidency of the Council of the European Union, with the participation of nearly 70 specialists from security forces from countries such as the United States, Chile, Peru, Italy , France or the Netherlands.

Since 2010 in Spain, 270,093 reports of disappearance have been registered, with a resolution rate of 94.7%.