IOPC publish full report of police response to Gaia Pope's death

Miss Pope, 19, first went missing on November 7, 2017, in Swanage and was found dead 11 days later in undergrowth on a clifftop near Dancing Ledge less than a mile away. She had died of hypothermia. 

She had run away from home having been diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) after reporting that she had been drugged and sexually attacked by a man when she was 16. 

At the time of her disappearance, she was anxious about his imminent release from prison for unconnected sexual offences. 

Now, the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) has published its full report four years after it was completed and handed over to Dorset Police. 

The investigation found that a Wareham-based former police constable “may have breached the police standards of professional behaviour in relation to duties and responsibilities”.

Read more: Gaia Pope inquest: Everything we've learnt over last 12 weeks

The officer, who was acting sergeant at the time, “may have failed to conduct an adequate handover before finishing his shift”. 

But the report added that he had said he “believed he had dealt with the incident to the best of his abilities, but that, with hindsight, he believed he could have handled the incident better.  

“He stated that any failings were due to inexperience and lack of training.” 

In the months after the report, the report said 147 police officers and staff had received missing persons decision-maker training. 

It also did not find “evidence to suggest that a more concentrated approach to these additional lines of enquiry might have resulted in Gaia being found alive”. 

Read more: Gaia Pope inquest: Dorset Police search 'didn't make sense'

The report, which heard from more than 100 witnesses, added: “Nor did our investigation identify any notable individual or organisational failings in these areas.” 

And, that the decision-maker will set out her views on the investigation findings in a separate opinion document.

"She will also decide whether any organisational learning has been identified that should be shared with the organisation in question," it adds.

The jury of a 12-week inquest held at Bournemouth Town Hall last year found her mental health and mental state “caused or contributed” to her death. 

Senior coroner for Dorset Rachael Griffin, who presided over the inquest, said she would be writing to the chief constable at the time, Scott Chilton, expressing her “concerns” about training around concern for welfare and missing person policies. 

A Dorset Police spokesman said: "Since [2017] we have delivered a raft of changes to our ways of working and introduced dedicated missing persons teams to ensure our response meets national best practice and provides the right service for our communities.

"This has also included enhancing the training provided to our people and working with the Missing People Charity, which conducted an in-depth whole system approach to provide recommendations to help the Force improve its response to missing people.

"We have also carefully considered, and responded to, all the learning identified in the Prevention of Future Deaths report from HM Coroner. This has included implementing a large number of positive changes to our policies and working practices."

The force said the following changes have been made:

• "We amended and updated our missing persons and concern for welfare policies, procedures and practices, and upgraded our crime recording system so pertinent information can be easily accessed.
• "Missing person and vulnerability training was reviewed and rolled out to key decision makers, and everyone joining the Force receives initial missing person training. Full day missing person inputs is delivered to all newly promoted inspectors and sergeants across Dorset, who will either review or be involved in such investigations.
• "We have revised our deployment policy, as well as our joint operation policies and procedures with outside agencies who also help to search for missing people.
• "We commissioned the Missing People charity to carry out an in-depth whole system approach review to provide recommendations on how we can improve our response.
• "We recruited a Missing Person Co-ordinator to support the delivery of improvements relating to the Force’s response to missing people. This includes working alongside partner agencies to reduce the harms associated with people going missing through prevention planning and targeted interventions with individuals.
• "Missing persons, including all missing children, is a set agenda item on the Daily Tasking Meeting, which is held three times a day seven days a week, and the roles and responsibilities in respect of high and medium risk missing persons have been clarified in the revised Force policy.
• "In November 2021 we introduced two dedicated Missing Persons Teams to cover both Local Policing Areas.
• "Command team changes were implemented mid-2022 to provide strategic oversight of missing person investigations.
• "The Force has a dedicated strategic and tactical lead who provides oversight and scrutiny.
• "Vulnerability 4 training has been introduced to cover aspects of missing person investigations."