11/12 in our series on police MISPER searches
Inspiringly for us, some of our Search-PRAS user community don’t just use the tool for solving missing person search cases. They also use it to improve elements of their force’s work that we didn’t imagine. Let us explain…
Search-PRAS has many capabilities to support missing person search operations. These capabilities have evolved—and continue to evolve—through dialogue and close collaboration with frontline users. Our aim is clear: to give our users precisely the tools they need to do their job. It’s an extremely rewarding, satisfying and effective way to work.
Meeting and anticipating user needs
As you’d expect, at Cunning Running we work hard to understand and even anticipate what will be useful to our users, and then to build those capabilities into a constantly improving software tool.
However, there are also many instances where we’ve been surprised by the ingenuity of some of our users. Such users have put the Search-PRAS tool to new uses or found ways to use features to do things and meet needs that we’d never considered. That too is incredibly rewarding.
Several examples spring to mind, but there are many more.
Operational areas defined and managed
In a number of cases, the Search area definition and Search status tracking tools in the Search-PRAS software have been used for non-Search operations. These were cases where a complex area of police operations needed to be defined, then sub-divided, tasked to teams, and the progress of the evolving operation carefully managed. Search-PRAS was perfect for these challenges and, as it does in missing person searches, helped to collapse timescales, make the best use of available resources, and reduce cost and risk.
Criminal gangs’ transport routes revealed
In other instances, the Search-PRAS software’s ability to import and display georeferenced datasets—for example crime locations, vehicle sightings, mobile phone data—has been used for rapid and effective intelligence analysis that uncovered criminal gangs’ attempts to mask their transport routes.
Such intelligence, as we all know, is critical in thwarting increasingly sophisticated criminal activity and bringing the perpetrators to justice.
Multipoint visibility for optimised venue protection
And in a further example of its flexibility, Search-PRAS was used to gain visibility of terrain from a series of vantage points around a venue that required protection for a specific event. Rapidly produced Search-PRAS visualisations were then used to optimise the placement of police lines around the protected venue, avoiding a wasteful default ‘solid line’ solution, while also retaining confidence in the coverage being provided. Significant cost savings resulted.
Search-PRAS has a lot of hidden potential that extends far beyond missing person search operations. What’s more, it has a ‘big brother’, CTS-PRAS, which offers even greater capability. If and when Search-PRAS starts to become fully exploited by an organisation, there is a simple growth path to CTS-PRAS than can further extend use cases and benefits.
Real empowerment
It’s evident that a feature-rich tool like Search-PRAS in the hands of a curious user with a desire to do the best job possible is a powerful combination. This is real empowerment that creates a virtuous circle of new possibilities that drive the capability forward.
Still in 2025, however, even though digital transformation has been a theme in other industries for many years, missing person search operations, and the professionals that run them, very often have only basic tools to assist them in their task.
Give them Search-PRAS and they’ll immediately be more effective. And once they fully appreciate the capabilities of the tool in their hands, they may well find that it opens up new ways of working and other innovations that were not previously possible. All of which will continue to save time and costs, and safeguard the wellbeing and lives of missing persons and others in potential danger.
See for yourself soon, and be inspired.
Arrange a remote demo now
Call +44 (0)1794 834750 or email enquiries@cunningrunning.co.uk now for an initial chat and to arrange a Search-PRAS demo via a Teams call with one of our search professionals. Or Make an Appointment.
Stay on top of the developing search story…
The above article is one of an extended series of articles on search challenges and issues for police forces.
To receive notification when each article goes live, please follow the Cunning Running company page on LinkedIn, or the LinkedIn pages of John Overend or Phil Cowell.
Previous articles in this missing persons search series:
Missing persons search in the digital age: ready for your ‘Eureka moment’?
Article 1:
Ensure the excellence of your force’s search capability
Article 2:
Rapidly plan optimised searches in the office, then execute with maximum efficiency in the field
Article 3:
Compress critical timelines in missing person search operations
Article 4:
Focus use of resources on priority locations in missing person search operations
Article 5:
Audit of decision rationale in missing person searches—why it’s critical for all stakeholders
Article 6:
Leverage and enhance your use of existing geospatial assets in missing person searches
Article 7:
Stay on top of evolving missing person searches—and replan quickly
Article 8:
How to achieve rapid focus on the most likely areas, before the MISPER search area widens
Article 10:
Gain key insights in MISPER by integrating case intelligence data with specialised mapping
