A joint team made up of Calgary police, the fire department and RCMP will be working together on and over the Bow River to find any people who may have gone missing in the waters lately.

Starting Wednesday, police will deploy the HAWCS helicopter to search the river from the air, starting at the dam in northwest Calgary and then work south through the city.

"Every year, we take advantage of the timeframe which has low water levels, less snow and freezing temperatures to do an aerial search of the river for any human bodies that may have gone in somewhere along the river in city limits," said Inspector Don Coleman with the CPS Major Crimes Unit.

RCMP will take care of searching the river outside city limits, working all the way to the Saskatchewan border.

Officials say that if anything of note is found, the CFD Aquatic Rescue Team will head out for a closer look.

"They'll GPS pin it and then ground units will continue that search, supported by CFD," Coleman said.

If any missing person is located, the Medical Examiner will be called in to determine the nature of the death.

Coleman says in the 16 years they've been conducting searches like this, they have yet to find any human remains within city limts, but the RCMP have found bodies before.

Police say they aren’t looking for anyone in particular, but hope that their efforts will help bring closure to families with missing loved ones.

"Obviously, anything we can do to assist in bringing closure to families who have lost loved ones, that is the ultimate goal. We have ben asked to help by the CPS and we are ready, willing and able to do whatever we can," said Carol Henke, public information officer with the CFD.

This type of search is done around this time of year on an annual basis, say emergency services.