Missing persons team receive Devon & Cornwall Federation Team of the Year Award

1 October 2026

The force’s missing persons team – who are small in number but have a huge positive impact on the lives of vulnerable people – have received the Team of the Year Award at the 2026 Devon and Cornwall Police Federation Recognition Awards.

PC Sharon Tooze, PC Steve Parsons and PC Alan Thomas (who has recently retired) investigate and locate missing persons in Exeter, East and Mid Devon.

PC Thomas explained: “We’re the only missing persons team in the force, just the three of us, whereas if you're in another area, it would be down to response officers to do those enquiries.

“We tend to deal with low- and medium-risk missing children and adults. But we also do a lot of work behind the scenes with children's social care, with schools, with the dedicated safeguarding leads.

“Missing children are often vulnerable, so we do a lot of safeguarding and risk assessments. And when we locate, we're not just doing it on paper. If there’s a missing person, we go out and find them.” Often the person is in crisis when they locate them.

PC Tooze added: “On a daily basis, there could be three or four missing people, or up to 10 or 12. It is a lot of work. Especially with the children, we try to build a relationship with them and build some trust so that if they are missing and we pick up the phone, they will engage with us, which makes locating them a lot easier.

“Adults can be a little bit more tricky to find because, quite often, they don't want to be found. There's a bit more work with regards to financial enquiries and phone enquiries, we can get quite in-depth. I just love the role though; the whole investigative side of it is what I really enjoy.”

PC Thomas agreed that the role was rewarding, especially as the officers got to know regular missing teenagers: “Some will stop going missing so regularly, and start engaging with other agencies and education, and then you see them six months later and they might have a job. You could see that you'd assisted in that – you'd helped and done what you could.”

PC Parsons, the longest-standing member of the team, added: “We're trusted by a lot of the young people. To be honest, some of them trust us more than anyone else.”

A patrol inspector praised the team, saying: “I genuinely believe that they will have saved lives with the personal difference they make to the people they deal with. They’re completely humble in how they work, and massively helpful.  I know I couldn’t operate effectively as a patrol inspector without the reassurance that they have this massively risky area of business covered off, and I can’t think of another team more suitable for this award.”

Devon and Cornwall Police Federation Chair Katie Clements congratulated the team on their award, saying: “These officers are so trusted within the force, and other agencies will even phone them before they call anyone in missing, because they know they can often find someone with just a couple of phone calls. Their determination and empathy has made a huge difference to people’s lives, especially those of vulnerable young people in the region.”

PC Tooze, PC Parsons and PC Thomas will attend the 2026 Devon and Cornwall Police Federation Recognition Awards on 1 October 2026.

The Devon & Cornwall Police Federation Recognition Awards are in association with Axon.

Also sponsoring the Awards are Niche, Uniform Mortgages, Gallagher, Serve and Protect Credit Union, Warren & Co, The National Police Healthcare Scheme, THB Legal, Police Mortgages, Bluline Health, Accord and No1 Copperpot Credit Union.