The photo of the internal notice is circulating on social media in which the Bielefeld Police Department asks for assistance in determining the identity of a small child, which is why we received inquiries as to whether the notice was real. He is, but the child has already been found and the police ask that the shared posts be deleted immediately .
This photo of the notice is:
On August 18th, the notice called on all bus and train staff to help the Bielefeld police search for a small child. The child was seen with different adults, mostly male. There was a suspicion of child endangerment.
Important: This was an internal notice for bus and train staff, not a public police search!
Bielefeld police: Suspicions were not confirmed, the child was found
As “ Westfalen-Blatt ” reports, the suspicion of child endangerment was not confirmed. This was also the reason why the notice was only internally : Since the investigation was carried out undercover, any perpetrators should of course not notice that they are being searched for because of the child.
Fortunately, the child has now been identified. The Bielefeld police are in contact with the girl and her family, but no criminal relevance has been determined at this time.
The problem with private search calls
emphasize it again clearly at this point : Only law enforcement authorities are allowed to publicly search for people!
In the current case, the distribution of an internal notice, not only was the personal rights of the child jeopardized by private individuals, but it would also have unnecessarily complicated the undercover investigation!
Private search calls can lead to criminal liability. It is very likely that at least civil claims will arise.
Children and young people also have personal rights that may not be violated by private searches (pictures of supposedly wanted children, sick children, etc.). Anyone who violates the personal rights of third parties must expect expensive warnings, claims for damages and compensation for pain and suffering and may be committing criminal offenses.
Parents often search for their missing children privately, even if this is the job of the police and can even hinder the search if the police first investigate in private and thereby warn a possible perpetrator.
So: Well-intentioned is not always well-done: Sharing private or internal calls for missing persons on social networks involves a number of pitfalls that can, under certain circumstances, be very problematic for the person sharing the message, but also for the missing person themselves.
Notes:
1) This content reflects the current state of affairs at the time of publication. The reproduction of individual images, screenshots, embeds or video sequences serves to discuss the topic. 2) Individual contributions were created through the use of machine assistance and were carefully checked by the Mimikama editorial team before publication. ( Reason )