POLICE officers will be unable to cope with missing person reports without the extra resources to deal with it, the Thames Valley Police Federation has warned.
Figures for the Thames Valley area revealed the force received 13,258 missing persons calls last year - an average of 36 a day.
And the federation says 20 per cent cuts to funding mean the number of officers to do the work has fallen.
Graham Smith, chairman of the federation, said the police force needed to be properly funded if it is to keep up with the growing demand.
He added: "In the long run I don’t think we can cope.
£In the long run, unless we have the resources, we can’t keep on with demand being placed on the police service.
£If the former Home Secretary, now Prime Minister, believes that policing is just about crime, surely those missing persons are nothing to do with crime.
"We are always there, 24/7, every day of the year. Every ten years. Every century.
"But I don’t think the Government recognises that we are supposed to be the service of last resort. The Government turn their faces away from the fact that if the police service is not there it will not get done."
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