IACP Support for 9-1-1 Center Adoption of APCO Standard for Public Safety Telecommunicators When Responding to Calls of Missing, Abducted and Sexually Exploited Children
WHEREAS, there are nearly 800,000 children reported missing each year[1]; and on average 2,100 children are reported missing to law-enforcement agencies each day;[2] and
WHEREAS, 58,200 children were victims of non-family abductions in a one-year period of time;[3] and the percentage of minority children among missing children appear slightly higher than their percentage in the U.S. population;[4] and
WHEREAS, researchers[5] have found that when children are abducted and murdered, time is of the essence because 47% die within the first hour, 76% within three hours, 15 survive more than a day and 40% are dead before they are reported;[6] and
WHEREAS, we are seeing an increase in the number of reported cases of child sexual exploitation;[7] and
WHEREAS, call takers and dispatchers in public safety answering points (PSAPs) play a vital role in child protection through effective call screening of calls regarding missing children, collection of information about children and abductors, and follow-up information searches that support investigations of missing children; and
WHEREAS, the International Association of Chiefs of Police and the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children agree that the problems of missing and sexually exploited children are grave concerns of our organizations and the nation; and the consequences of these actions against our children threaten the foundation of our country's existence; now therefore, be it
RESOLVED, that the International Association of Chiefs of Police and the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children join in partnership to encourage 9-1-1 Centers to adopt the APCO Standard for Public Safety Telecommunicators When Responding to Calls Pertaining to Missing, Abducted and Sexually Exploited Children (APCO ANS 1.101.2-2010) which describes best practices that will help to recover abducted children as soon as possible and protect children from sexual exploitation.
Submitted by: Communications and Technology Committee
Ctc.002.A11
[1] According to Andrea J. Sedlak, David Finkelhor, Heather Hammer, and Dana J. Schultz in "National Estimates of Missing Children: An Overview," National Incidence Studies of Missing, Abducted, Runaway, and Thrownaway Children, Washington, DC: Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, Office of Justice Programs, U.S. Department of Justice, October 2002, page 5, 797,500 children were reported missing in 1999 [hereinafter Sedlak].
[2] Daily average of 2,184 is derived from 797,500 reports made in 12 months of 1999.
[3] Sedlak, supra note 1, page 10.
[4] Id., page 8.
[5] Robert D. Keppel, Joseph G. Weis, and Kenneth A. Hanfland. Case Management for Missing Children Homicide Investigation. Olympia, Washington: Office of the Attorney General, State of Washington and U.S. Department of Justice's Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, May 1997, page 23.
[6] Id., page 13.
[7] Reports of sexually exploited children have increased to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children's CyberTipline from 9,668 reports in its first full year of operation in 1999 to 81,939 reports in 2003. These numbers are summarized from NCMEC Quarterly Progress Reports by John B. Rabun published in Alexandria, Virginia, by the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children respectively January 13, 1999/page 37, January 13, 2000/page 36, January 8, 2003/page 27, and January 14, 2004/page 29
