CDE #31808
Treat Every Missing Child
Report As If the Child Is in
Immediate Danger
By Sheila Hanna-Wiles, RPL
46 PUBLIC SAFETY COMMUNICATIONS
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requests a BOLO (Be on the Lookout) be sent out to neighboring
jurisdictions. This request came
approximately 1 ½ hours after the
original call was received. The officer advises communications staff to
enter the report into NCIC (National
Crime Information Center) “when
they get time.” The report is never
entered into NCIC.
Approximately 30 minutes later,
another officer in a neighboring
town pulls a car over for speeding.
The officer runs the license of the
driver and asks for identification of
the passenger. The passenger produces a school ID badge. The officer runs both names through NCIC
and both are clear. The officer gives
the driver a ticket for speeding and
sends them on their way.
The next morning a report comes
in of an abandoned vehicle in a
local shopping center parking lot.
The officer runs the license plate
through NCIC and finds out that
this same vehicle was stopped the
day before for speeding. The officer looks in the vehicle and notices
blood on the seats. He forces the
trunk open and finds the body of a
deceased female. The female is later
identified as Lisa.
Scenario 2: Twelve-year-old
Bobby loves the computer that was
given to him by his parents for
Christmas. Bobby has befriended
several people on different website
chat rooms. One friend in particular,
Claire, has become Bobby’s favorite
friend. Monday evening, Bobby’s
parents go to his bedroom to tell
nuno/istock.com
Scenario 1: Fourteen-year-old
Lisa leaves a note to her parents
stating she doesn’t like living with
them anymore and will find somewhere else to live. The parents last
saw Lisa at 10 p.m. the night before
and found the note at 6 a.m. Lisa’s
parents call 9-1-1 immediately after
discovering the note. This is the
conversation between Lisa’s mother
and the 9-1-1 calltaker:
Calltaker: 9-1-1, where is your
emergency?
Mother: 123 Adams Road. My
daughter has run away.
Calltaker: Ma’am how do you
know your daughter ran away?
Mother: Because she left a note
that said she didn’t like living here
anymore and was going to live somewhere else.
Calltaker: Has she done this
before?
Mother: Yes, a couple of times but
she has always come back home in a
couple of hours.
Calltaker: How long has she been
gone this time?
Mother: I don’t know. We saw her
at 10 p.m. last night.
Calltaker: OK, I’m sending an
officer to take a report.
Both parties hang up.
The calltaker dispatches an officer
to talk to Lisa’s mother. She advises
the officer that the subject has a
history of running away from home.
Feeling no urgency to get to the
house to take the report, the officer
decides to drop his radio off at the
station for maintenance on his way
to the call.
The officer takes the report and
PUBLIC SAFETY COMMUNICATIONS 47
Runaways
him goodnight and find him missing.
Several items of clothing are missing,
as well as the money he had saved for
an upcoming school trip. Bobby did not
leave a note, nor has he made any references about being unhappy with his life
at home.
Bobby’s parents immediately call 9-1-1.
The following conversation takes place
between Bobby’s father and the 9-1-1
calltaker:
Calltaker: 9-1-1, where is your
emergency?
Father: 100 Court Dr. My son is
missing.
Calltaker: Sir, how do you know your
son is missing?
Father: Because some of his clothes
are missing and the money he has been
saving is also missing, and he should be
in his bedroom getting ready for bed.
He was in his bedroom earlier.
Calltaker: Has he done this before?
Father: No.
Calltaker: How long has he been
gone?
Father: I’m not sure, but less than
two hours.
Calltaker: OK, I am sending an officer
to take a report. In the meantime, can
you give me a description of your son,
what he was wearing?
Father: (Gives description of son.
Clothing, age, etc.)
Calltaker: Do you know where he
could have run to? Any close friends or
family?
Father: I can’t think of any place in
particular but he talked a lot about a girl
he met on the Internet. I believe her
name is Claire.
Calltaker: Do you know where Claire
lives or do you have a phone number or
last name for her?
Father: I don’t know where she lives,
and I don’t know her phone number or
last name. I thought I could find it on
his computer, but I don’t know his passwords to get into his computer.
Calltaker: OK, do you have a recent
picture of your son? If so, please have it
ready for the officer.
The officer arrives on scene. Both
parties hang up.
The officer takes the report and
gets the picture of Bobby. He immediately confirms that the case meets
48 PUBLIC SAFETY COMMUNICATIONS
the AMBER Alert criteria and asks the
comm center staff to put him into NCIC
and issue an AMBER Alert.
For the next hour, the officer and
Bobby’s parents try to break into Bobby’s computer and retrieve any information they can about “Claire.” Within
two hours, the police locate a computer
technician who can break passwords.
Just as the technician was able to get
into Bobby’s computer, the phone rings.
It’s Bobby.
Bobby asks his parents to come and
pick him up from a local convenience
store. After they pick him up, Bobby
tells them the story of meeting Claire
on the Internet and how she wanted to
meet in person and how they could do
fun things forever. He says she told him
that his parents would not like where
she lived so he shouldn’t tell them
where he was going.
Claire had picked Bobby up at the
same convenience store earlier. She
took him back to her house where they
were supposed to “have fun.” Bobby
noticed right off that she looked older
than 16 years old, like she had told him
in the chat room.
Claire began making sexual advances
toward Bobby. Bobby told her he didn’t
like what she was doing and it made
him feel uncomfortable. All of a sudden, Claire got angry and screamed for
Bobby to get out of her house “now and
never come back.” This is when he ran
out the door and to the convenience
store. Bobby was able to take officers
directly to Claire’s house. After officers
made the arrest and did a background
check on “Claire,” they found out that
she was a registered sex offender.
These two stories are not Lifetime
movie plots; these are real scenarios that
haunt our family, friends and community every day. These are calls that are
received in a comm center every day,
somewhere.
A Little Understanding
Understanding the background of runaways and knowing the level of response
that is needed “is unquestionably one of
the most critical elements in the entire
missing-child investigative process” and
will assist in bringing these runaways
back home safely, according to Steidel.1
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Resources
Most of the resources listed below
are free to all agencies:
•National Center for Missing and
Exploited Children (NCMEC)
√Time to Act: 9-1-1 Center and
Missing Kids Course
√
Missing Child Seminar for
Chief Executives
√
Checklist for Public Safety
Telecommunicators
√
9-1-1 Call Center Partner
Program
√
Simple Leads Management
Software
•www.amberalert.gov
√Train-the-Trainer Seminar:
Call Center Best Practices
in Handling Calls of Missing
and Exploited Children, developed and administered by the
AMBER Alert Training and
Technical Assistance Program
√Telecommunications Best
Practices for Missing and
Abducted Children, developed and administered by
the AMBER Alert Training and
Technical Assistance Program
•
Missing Child Clearinghouses:
w ww.missingkids.com/en_US/
documents/nismart2_runaway.pdf
• w w w . o j p . u s d o j . g o v / o j j d p
(NISMART-2 Series, October 2002):
The NISMART-2 studies spanned
the years 1997–99. All data were
collected to reflect a 12-month
period.
•www.empoweringparents.com/
Runaway-Teens-Why-They-Do-Itand-How-to-Stop-Them.php#
•www.apcointl.org: APCO International APCO ANS 1.101.2-2010
•www.ncmec.org: National Center
for Missing and Exploited Children
•www.netsmartz.org: NetSmartz
“Furthermore, it is recommended that
law-enforcement agencies respond to
every report of a missing child as if the
child is in immediate danger.”
A runaway is defined as a child who
leaves home without permission and
stays away overnight; a child 14 years
old or younger (or older and mentally incompetent) who is away from
home, chooses not to come home when
expected to and stays away overnight; or
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Runaways
a child 15 years old or older who is away
from home, chooses not to come home
and stays away two nights.2
Another term you need to know is
“thrownaways.” Although closely related
to “runaway,” thrownaways have different criteria. Thrownaways are children
who are asked or told to leave home
by a parent or other household adult
and no adequate alternative care has
been arranged for the child, and the
child is out of the household overnight.
Or it is when a child is away from
home and is prevented from returning
home by a parent or other household
adult and adequate alternative care is
not arranged. Although not necessarily reported to authorities as missing,
thrownaways frequently come to the
attention of law enforcement.2
willingness to run away is dreaming of a
better life outside the home. The dream
consists mostly of “no rules and I’m my
own boss.”
Some kids run away because of drug
and alcohol abuse. The kids are addicted
or using more than their parents know
about. Usually, their goal is to be able to
use it freely and not hide it.
Sadly, some kids run away because
they are living in a home where they are
criticized constantly.
If you take all these reasons and
look closely, the bottom line reason
is because these kids don’t have good
problem-solving skills. Running away
is the easiest fix to the problem. They
choose to run from the problem instead
of looking for alternate options to fix the
problem.
Scope of the Problem
A Telecommunicator’s
Impact
Youth ages 15–17 years old make up
two-thirds of the runaways/thrownaways. According to the National Incidence Studies of Missing, Abducted,
Runaway, and Thrownaway Children
(NISMART) report findings in 1999, an
estimated 1,682,900 youth had run away
or been “thrown away.”2 Twenty-one
percent were reported to authorities for
purposes of locating the youth. Seventyone percent could have been endangered during their runaway/thrownaway
episode by virtue of such factors as substance dependency, use of hard drugs,
sexual or physical abuse, presence in a
place where criminal activity was occurring or very young age (13 or younger).
This is not to say that every child
runaway/thrownaway will end up in the
worst situation. Some have been found
living with family members or close
friends and doing well.
Why these children end up as runaway/thrownaways is almost as important as finding them. Three things are
needed in order for a child to run away:
ability, willingness and opportunity.
Most kids have the ability and opportunity but need the willingness. Willingness comes from many different factors
or circumstances, such as stress, not
wanting to get in trouble for something
they did, a power struggle, substance
abuse or not wanting to go to school.
Another reason that sparks the
50 PUBLIC SAFETY COMMUNICATIONS
The manner in which the initial call is
handled by the public safety telecommunicator forms the foundation and
direction of the overall response to the
missing child. The attitude a telecommunicator possesses during the onset of
the call will manipulate the handling of
the call. As with any emergency call, a
telecommunicator must treat each call
as a new call regardless of how many
times the person has called to report
their child missing. The telecommunicator is tasked with gathering the facts
surrounding the incident and relaying
those facts to the responders. They must
not pre-judge the call.
When taking calls for runaway/
thrownaway children, one of the most
important resources a telecommunicator should use to build a response toolbox is the Standard for Public Safety
Telecommunicators when Responding
to Calls of Missing, Abducted, and Sexually Exploited Children (APCO ANS
1.101.2-2010). The response toolbox is
a pre-incident planning and resource
development project.
The goals for the initial intake of
information are stated in the APCO
ANS standard as:
1.Obtain and verify incident location along with callback and
contact information. Maintain
control of the call. Communicate
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the ability to help the caller.
2.
Methodically and strategically
obtain information through systematic inquiry to be captured in
the agency’s intake format.
3.Recognize the potential urgency
of the missing child incident and
immediately begin the proper
notifications consistent with
agency policy.
4.
Perform all information entries
and disseminations, both initial and update. This includes
mandatory entry of information
about the missing child into the
Federal Bureau of Investigations
(FBI) National Crime Information Centers (NCIC) databases
accurately, including vehicle if
known.
These goals should remain at the
forefront when developing a response
toolbox. The intake information must
be gathered in a timely fashion and
methodical manner.
The following questions are consistent with the APCO ANS 1.101.2-2010
standard. After obtaining the location to
send responders and the caller information, the next step is to narrow down the
time frame. Asking the following questions can assist in getting this information efficiently:
1. When did this happen?
2. Where was the child last seen?
3.Any special regional considerations, such as wildlife, weather
or wilderness?
4.With whom was the child last
seen?
5. Who last saw the child?
a.
If the answers to questions 4 and 5 are the same,
ensure this information is
conveyed to investigative
personnel.
b.Complete the background
checks for investigative
personnel as authorized.
6.What mode of travel was the
child using?
7.
What was the direction of
travel?
8.What suspicious circumstances,
if any, were there?
9.What steps have been taken to
locate the child?
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Runaways
10. Has this happened before?
11.What is the caller’s relationship
to the child?
12.What ideas or suspicions exist
about where the child may
have gone?
13.What notes, letters, or threats,
if any, were located pertaining
to this incident?
Once this information is obtained and
relayed to the responders, the next part
of questioning will center on the child.
Examples of questions to ask are: the
child’s name, sex, race, age, height, weight,
hair color, etc. The child’s clothing description is also gathered at this time.
Finding out about the child’s medical
condition is another very important element. Ask the caller if the child has any
medical conditions or if the child is taking
any medications, and if they are, when the
next dose is needed.
The next part of questioning should
focus on the suspect/companion. The
preliminary questions are similar to
those asked about the child: name, sex,
race, age, medical status, etc. Another
important piece of information to gather
is the relationship between the child and
this person. Do they know each other?
Are they related?
If the child’s mode of travel was in
a vehicle, then you should obtain the
vehicle’s description. The easiest way
to get a vehicle description is to use the
acronym CYMBALS: color; year; make/
model; body style; additional description (dents, rust, damage); license plate;
and state.
Make a Difference
Scenario 1 recap: The officer
arrives at Lisa’s parents’ home to deliver
the news. “I’m very sorry. We did all that
we could,” says the officer. The hurt and
grief Lisa’s parents feel at the news of
their daughter is indescribable.
Could the telecommunicator and/or
officer have made a difference in the
outcome? Yes.
One very important element that
was missed in the process was getting
the information into NCIC immediately. Had the information been put
into NCIC, then the traffic stop officer would have received a “hit” on
Lisa’s name. The telecommunicator and
52 PUBLIC SAFETY COMMUNICATIONS
officer pre-judged the call based on
the history. The prejudgment prevailed
when the telecommunicator advised the
officer of the history, although the history was not relevant to this episode.
And the officer prejudged by making
a stop on his way to the call as though
time was not an issue.
We know the telecommunicator did
not ask enough pertinent questions
to help locate Lisa. She didn’t get a
description of Lisa, did not ask if she
could be accompanied by anyone or
obtain her mode of travel. All of these
are examples of information that could
have been put in a BOLO immediately.
Difference Means
Life or Death
Scenario 2 recap: After the
investigator questions Bobby and as he
released him to his parents, he said,
“We’re done questioning Bobby. You
may take him home. We did everything
we could to make sure this moment
happened.”
Now, it’s time for the investigator to
question Claire. “We know your intent
was to sexually assault Bobby. So why did
you let him leave?” asks the investigator.
Claire responds, “The television had
an AMBER Alert scroll at the bottom
of the screen, and it stated that Bobby
could possibly be with me. I knew it
was only a matter of time before you
guys would find me. So I let him go. We
could have had a good time if you would
have stayed out of it, and Bobby would
have cooperated.”
The NCIC entry and the AMBER
Alert notification were the key differences in sparing Bobby’s life. The telecommunicator asked several pertinent
questions prior to the arrival of the
officer, including the possibility of a
suspect/companion. This allowed the
information to be gathered and broadcast faster to other responders. The telecommunicator advised the caller what to
do prior to the officer’s arrival because
she knew the process. When the officer
requested the entry into NCIC and that
an AMBER Alert be issued, the telecommunicator knew exactly what had
to be done.
One part of this story that can make
a difference between life and death
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is to educate the community about
NetSmartz (www.netsmartz.org). This
is an Internet safety resource from
the National Center for Missing &
Exploited Children and the Boys and
Girls Clubs of America that uses the
latest technology to create high-impact
educational activities for kids of any
age group. The goal of NetSmartz is to
extend the safety awareness of children
and empower them to make responsible
decisions online and in real life.
It’s Your Move
A missing child is a parent’s worst nightmare. When their child is missing, they
expect public safety responders to do
everything they can to locate their child.
Are you and your agency prepared to do
everything you can to help that parent
find their missing child?
Every 9-1-1 center should have policies and procedures in place on how to
handle these types of calls. In addition,
every staff member should be trained
on these policies and procedures. Every
call that is received about a missing child
should be checked for quality assurance.
Contact information should be readily
available to every telecommunicator.
Adopting APCO ANS 1.101.2-2010 as
the minimum standard for your agency
in handling these types of calls is a good
start to implementing and creating a
response toolbox.
,PSC,
Sheila Hanna-Wiles, RPL, is education
and training administrator for APCO Institute.
Contact her via e-mail at [email protected].
References
1.Steidel SE. Missing and Abducted Children:
A Law-Enforcement Guide to Case
Investigation and Program Management,
4th ed. Alexandria, Va.: National Center for
Missing & Exploited Children. 2006.
2.NISMART: National Incidence Studies
of Missing, Abducted, Runaway, and
Thrownaway Children. Office of Justice
Programs. First conducted in 1988, the
NISMART-2 studies spanned the years
1997 to 1999, www.ojp.usdoj.gov.
d APCO Institute Seminars
For a complete list of convenient, affordable seminars on topics vital to your agency, visit www.
apcointl.com/institute/webinars.htm.
www.apcointl.org
Runaways
Save More Lives
d CDE Exam #31808: Runaways
1.A child who leaves home without permission is considered a runaway.
a.True
b.
False
2.A child who is not allowed to come home is considered
a thrownaway.
a.True
b.
False
3.Youth ages 15–17 years old make up what percentage of
runaways/thrownaways:
a.Half
b.
One-third
c.Two-thirds
d.
Three-quarters
6.What forms the foundation and direction of the overall
response to the missing child?
a. The parents’ information
b. The officer’s response time
c.The manner in which the initial call is handled by
the telecommunicator
d. The length of time the child has been missing
7.
Which of the following items would you find in a
response toolbox for missing children? Select all that
apply:
a. Contact number to NCMEC
b. Policy and Procedures for Missing Children
c. APCO ANS 1.101.2-2010
d.
Calltaker Checklist
4.Three things are needed in order for a child to run
away. Select all that apply:
a.Opportunity
b.
Willingness
c.Money
d.
Ability
5.The bottom line reason kids run away from home is
because:
a. They hate their parents.
b. They lack problem-solving skills.
c. They lack belonging skills.
d. They lack acceptance skills.
8.It’s important to remember that all children who run
away will end up in a bad situation.
a.True
b.
False
9.One of the most important resources to use when building
a response toolbox for missing children is the Standard
for Public Safety Telecommunicators when Responding
to Calls of Missing, Abducted, and Sexually Exploited
Children (APCO ANS 1.101.2-2010).
a.True
b.
False
10.Timing is not an issue in these types of cases for NCIC
entry as long as the data is eventually entered.
a.True
b.
False
Using the CDE Articles
for Credit
APCO Institute Continuing
Dispatch Education
Ordering Information: If you are APCO certified and will be using the
1. Study the CDE article in this issue.
Expiration Date:
2.Answer the test questions using this
form. Photocopies are acceptable,
but don’t enlarge them.
APCO EMD Basic Certificate #
3.Fill out the appropriate information
section(s), and submit the form to:
APCO Institute
351 N. Williamson Blvd.
Daytona Beach, FL 32114
Questions? Call us at 888/APCO-9-1-1.
CDE tests for recer­tification, complete this section and return the form when you send in your
request for recertifi­cation. Do not send in the tests every month. There is no cost for APCOcertified personnel to use the CDE article program.
APCO Instructor Certificate #
Expiration Date:
If you are not APCO certified and would like to use the CDE tests for other certifications, fill out
this section and send in the completed form with payment of $15 for each test. You will receive an
APCO certificate in the mail to verify test completion. (APCO instructors and EMD students please
use section above also.)
Name:
Title: Organization:
Address:
Phone:Fax:
E-mail:
I am certified by: q MPC q PowerPhone q Other
If other, specify:
q My check is enclosed, payable to APCO Institute for $15.
q Use the attached purchase order for payment.
54 PUBLIC SAFETY COMMUNICATIONS
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