How does the crime of child abduction affect the family? This presentation gives participants an opportunity to hear first-hand how family members cope with the pain and anguish of the search for an abducted child. Their experiences can help first responders improve their response to future cases involving missing and abducted children. This is why we are here.

Participants will receive information regarding incident types, victim and family risk factors, offender behaviors and incident timelines in order to effectively utilize concrete, operational response tactics aligned to the complex dynamics of missing and abducted child cases. Federal statutes which apply to missing child incidents will be outlined, with explanation of how these mandates affect the processes first responders execute. The AMBER Alert’s function as a mechanism for rapid public notification, and how these alerts support the foundational enforcement and investigative processes undertaken by law enforcement, will be discussed.

Telecommunications Best Practices and Operational Protocols for Effective Response to Incidents of Missing and Abducted Children. The APCO-ANS 1.101: National Standard for Public Safety Telecommunicators When Responding to Incidents of Missing, Abducted and Sexually Exploited Children, will be discussed, with a focus on the model policy and call intake protocol guidelines to support first response operations carried out by telecommunicators and responding officers in the field. A high-level review of the NCIC Reference Guide for Effective Use of NCIC with Missing Child Incidents will support effective gathering, formatting and entry of information into NCIC. A vast array of expert and professional support services available through the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) will conclude this segment. segment.

Investigative strategies immediately employed in response to a missing child or child abduction incident will be discussed, including responsibilities of the first responding officer to secure the scene, assess threats, protect evidence, identify and secure family and witnesses to support preliminary analysis of the incident and establish the foundation for critically-important investigative decision-making in the case.

Effective application, timing and sequencing of resources will be considered through case examples and lessons learned. Response strategies across case types will be discussed. Investigative considerations in identification and containment of the place last seen and/or the actual site of the abduction as crime scenes, will be presented and discussed. Proper initiation of interviews with family members and others associated with the victim, family and incident will be carefully considered, along with protocols for conducting neighborhood, roadblock, and business canvasses and searches

Methods and organization of information for effective investigator briefing by first responding officers will be discussed. Participants will be taken through a consideration of the elements of written reporting, and discuss how this written reporting by first-responding officers forms the bedrock of case integrity and must be highly detailed and exceptionally accurate.