By Sarah Dale
8 April 2025
Misper is revolutionising the way searches for missing people are coordinated – and it’s attracting global attention
A former police officer, who turned personal grief and frontline experience into a potentially life-saving tool, is shortlisted for the Innovation Award at this year’s Tees Business Awards.
Paul Cooper, from Wynyard, is the creator of Pocket Sergeant, an award-winning app used by thousands of officers across the UK. Now, his more recent app, Misper. is gaining traction for how it helps improve searches for missing people. It’s already being used by more than 2,000 users and has attracted interest from organisations in the US, Canada and Germany.
The name “Misper” comes from police shorthand for “missing person”. The app was launched in 2024 and is already making waves in policing, tech and mental health circles.
“It’s an honour to be shortlisted, especially for something so close to my heart,” says the father-of-one.
“The idea for Misper came from difficult moments I’ve witnessed firsthand and if it helps just one person, it’s worth it.”
The awards ceremony, which will take place at Hardwick Hall this Thursday, [10 April] is a key event in the Tees Valley business calendar, this year supporting Teesside Hospice.
Paul served with Cleveland Police and Lincolnshire Police between 2008 and 2016, working on countless missing person cases. Behind the uniform though, he was carrying personal grief too.
He has lost several friends to suicide and supported others through mental health crises. One case continues to weigh heavily on him. He personally took the suicidal brother of a friend to hospital for assessment – only for him to be released, detained again, and later take his own life.
“I still think about what I could have done differently. It’s more heartbreaking as I knew the family. That guilt stayed with me,” says Paul.
“Building Misper became a kind of outlet for that sadness. It won’t bring back the people we’ve lost, but it could help save someone struggling today.”
Misper is built on Paul’s frontline experience – and the gaps he witnessed when it came to searching for vulnerable people. Despite police responding quickly, he saw how searches often lacked coordination and failed to prioritise key areas to look based on risk factors.
“It’s not about searching more, it’s about searching smarter,” says Paul.
The app uses publicly available data and behavioural research to guide searches. For example, gender, age and mental health status can influence where a person is likely to be found.
“The data is powerful,” Paul explains. “Search strategies benefit greatly from understanding how gender can influence behaviour. Suicidal females are often found relatively close to where they were last seen, frequently near water. Males, on the other hand, are more commonly located in secluded, wooded areas. These patterns allow responders to make quicker, more informed decisions when every minute counts.”
Free to download via Google Play and the App Store, Misper includes features designed to assist both police and families in real-time:
- Upload a photo and description of the missing person
- Use search checklists and radius mapping
- Coordinate search parties
- Integrate and log verified sightings
This week is especially significant for Paul as it also marks the launch of his debut book, From Trauma to Triumph: The Pocket Sergeant Journey, which was released today. [April 7]
The memoir traces his journey from growing up with an abusive father and being placed in care after his mum died when he was seven, to becoming a police officer, to building two award-winning tech solutions from scratch.
“It’s my story, but it’s not just about me,” says Paul, who lives in Wynyard with his wife Linda and their 13-year-old son Chester.
“It’s about showing people that no matter where you start, there’s always hope.”
From Trauma to Triumph: The Pocket Sergeant Journey by Paul Cooper (Whitehall Publishing) is available in paperback and Kindle at https://amzn.eu/d/iHSCYth
For more information about Misper, visit MISPER – A lifeline for missing people
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