A Florida plan for quick, coordinated police responses to child abductions – developed after the 2004 abduction and murder of 11-year-old Carlie Brucia of Sarasota, Fl., is being taken nationwide, the Associated Press reports. The Child Abduction Response Teams program, devised by the Florida Department of Law Enforcement (FDLE), will be used as a model for training law enforcement personnel around the country beginning in January.
The basic idea is to put together regional law enforcement resources, from bloodhounds to helicopters to forensics experts, in advance so they can be deployed rapidly when a child is abducted. Since the initial team was created by the FDLE early this year, the teams have been activated 13 times, with 11 successful child recoveries. “We’re in synch before we arrive at the scene,” said FDLE Commissioner Guy Tunnell. “In a missing-child case, time is of the essence.” The first national training session will be Jan. 23-27 in San Diego.
Link: http://www.sptimes.com/2005/12/01/State/US_likes_abduction_re.shtml