Collaboration Helps, Collaboration Strains: Interagency Coordination and Occupational Stress for Police and Volunteer Search and Rescue Personnel in Missing Persons Operations

Interagency collaboration is fundamental to search and rescue (SAR) operations, bringing together police, volunteers, fire services, paramedics, and other responders to locate missing persons and save lives. Although collaboration is recognized as beneficial to operational effectiveness, little is known about how collaborative work shapes responders’ occupational experiences. Drawing on qualitative data from 406 police and SAR volunteer personnel, this study explores how interagency collaboration both supports and challenges those involved in missing persons SAR responses. Findings identified collaboration as a critical operational resource that expanded personnel capacity, strengthened decision-making, improved access to specialized expertise, facilitated knowledge sharing, and enhanced SAR effectiveness. Yet also, participants described collaboration as a source of occupational strain. Role ambiguity, delayed activation, communication difficulties, competing organizational priorities, authority and legitimacy tensions, and inconsistent recognition of expertise created frustration, stress, and additional coordination demands for both police and volunteers. Findings suggest that collaboration should be understood as both an operational necessity and an important component of the occupational environment in which SAR personnel work/volunteer. These findings have important implications for strengthening interagency collaboration and supporting responder well-being.