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Trenton,
NJ – Attorney General Anne Milgram
today signed a law enforcement directive
ordering all county prosecutors to designate
child abduction response team leaders to
ensure that planned strategies are in place
throughout the state to swiftly respond
to missing child cases.
“Protecting
our children remains among the highest priorities
for every law enforcement agency in the
state of New Jersey,” Milgram said.
“Time can be lost and opportunities
wasted when law enforcement responds to
a report of a missing child without a plan.
This directive will ensure that there is
a response plan carefully put together by
trained law enforcement officers.’
Under
terms of the directive, each county prosecutor
designates two people to serve as child
abduction response team leaders who will
– under the authority of each prosecutor
– oversee missing child investigations.
Local law enforcement agencies receiving
missing children reports must notify county
CART leaders and immediately begin an investigation.
The local department receiving the report
shall be the lead agency unless the county
prosecutor determines otherwise.
The
county response team leaders will receive
standardized training for conducting missing
child investigations. The leaders will work
with the State Police missing persons unit
and other law enforcement agencies. The
State Police will conduct training, issue
procedures for conducting investigations,
and be responsible for analyzing mandated
“After Action Reports’’
to evaluate the effectiveness of the program
and best practices.
Experts
from the National Center for Missing and
Exploited Children, the non-profit organization
that is federally mandated to serve as the
national clearinghouse for missing and exploited
children, began a one-week training session
today for new response team leaders.
Ernie
Allen, NCMEC’s chief executive officer
said, “Attorney General Milgram’s
directive mandating that every missing child
under 13 is reported directly to Child Abduction
Response Team liaisons will enhance New
Jersey’s already swift and effective
response to the most serious missing children
cases. It will result in even more children
coming home safely. It is very significant
that this directive comes from the top –
from New Jersey’s chief law enforcement
official. General Milgram is a great champion
for children.’’
Gloucester
County Prosecutor Sean Dalton, who was an
early advocate for establishing a Child
Abduction Response Team, or CART, said,
“This directive will put New Jersey
in the forefront of ensuring the safety
of our children. I want to thank Attorney
General Milgram for her leadership in carrying
out this directive.’’
“The
successful resolution of an abducted child
case relies on a quick and efficient investigative
response, and that is only achieved through
preparation and training,” said Colonel
Rick Fuentes, Superintendent of the New
Jersey State Police. “Whether or not
you handle a child abduction in your police
career, CART training is still useful in
the far more common situations involving
missing and endangered children.”
The
directive is scheduled to take effect on
Jan. 1, 2009. State Police will continue
to be immediately notified when there is
an AMBER ALERT request from local police
departments, but the State Police, in turn,
will notify CART leaders in the county that
submitted the request to activate the alert.
“Cooperation,
communication, and coordination among law
enforcement agencies are essential to the
prompt and successful resolution of missing
child cases,’’ Milgram
said.
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