Police Search Advisors, otherwise known as POLSAs, are the forces search experts responsible for the planning, management, and control of police search operations, including counter terrorism, crime, and missing person searches.

The team of 50 are available 24/7, 365 days a year and provide high risk missing person advice, search strategy and management. They are also utilised by our Major Crime Team on murder investigations, searches with high value assets, or where those subject to the search have used innovative or complex methods to hinder search activity.

The kind of things our POLSAs search for range from people to weapons, drugs, and cash to explosives, and sometimes even down to searching for SIM cards that might be the key to bringing down organised crime groups and other serious criminals.

Andrew Clark is one of our Police Search Advisors who led the search for evidence relating to the offence including the search for weapons used relating to the murder of Jack Howes, as well as the Patrol Sgt searching for both the suspect and weapon in the murder of Sachin Hawkins; two stories we tell as part of our current Knife Crime campaign, What’s the Point?

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