DPS-MHP & MDOC Join Forces for Search and Rescue

Описание: PARCHMAN PRISON, MS (Aug) - A growing problem nationwide is the increase in missing persons. In Mississippi, there are over 125 missing persons each year who require federal and local law enforcement officers to remain on standby to search at a moment's notice. Two years ago, MS Governor Tate Reeves and Public Safety Commissioner Sean Tindell formed the Mounted Patrol Division of the Mississippi Highway Patrol.

It may seem like a throwback to the old west but horseback is still considered the most effective way of searching most terrain. Now, MHP's Mounted Division is pulling in another state agency, the Mississippi Department of Corrections. The two agencies just conducted the first, two-day joint Search & Rescue training mission in an effort to synergize efforts. In this hot summer, a dozen riders from both agencies searched for clues over miles of Parchman Prison's 18,000 acres. The joint exercises effectively doubled the state's Search & Rescue army.

"They have horses, we have horses, and it becomes a force multiplier. We go from six with the Highway Patrol to 16 in a collaborative effort." - Captain Lee Morrison, MHP Mounted Patrol.

"In Search & Rescue, there's steps you take just like in any mission. You;ve got to find out what your area is, got to talk to everybody to find out who's missing, what they're wearing, what they may be driving, and then try to locate where they're last seen. Then you start in your quadrants." - Supt. Marc McClure, Parchman Prison.

The two-day training included a night-time search in which officers ahd to find clues by flashlight, training them how to shave off time to find a person more quickly even in the dark.

"When we do search & rescue, we have resources in north Mississippi right here. We have prisons over the whole state, just like they have patrols over the whole state so this doubles the efforts. So it's good when we work together so we absolutely know what to do." - Commissioner Burl Cain, MDOC.

Captain Morrission says in both Mississippi and Tennessee that family members can help searcher find their loved ones more quickly by providing:
1) A recent photo
2) Last known location
3) What the person was wearing
4) Possible direction in which they were traveling