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Niagara County Sheriff's Department Missing Children & Adults |
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Niagara County Sheriff's Department Missing Children & Adults |
| Every year, more and more children and adults are reported missing or abducted. The A.L.I.E. Foundation quotes an estimate of a missing or abducted child every 40 seconds in the U.S. A study by the U.S. Department of Justice tells us that in 60% of the cases involving children there was more than a 2 hour delay before authorities were notified. In 74% of the cases involving children, the child was dead within 3 hours of being kidnapped! The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children stated in 1996 that 955,252 missing persons were entered into the FBI's NCIC Computer. The total increase since 1982 is 519% - 154,341 in 1982 to 955,252 in 1996. Something is very wrong! |
The intent of the Niagara County Sheriff's Department Special Forces Unit is to try to clean up and preserve the scenes of missing or abducted children. Each time a child disappears, people come together - families, friends, neighbors and even total strangers want to help.
This show of concern and desire to help is a powerful force BUT all to often, this force complicates and helps to destroy the one thing needed most - that is a chance to find a missing child or the person responsible for his/her abduction. When people descend on a crime scene, no matter how good their intentions are, they contaminate the scene, create unnecessary confusion, destroy precious evidence and reduce the chances of a successful search.
The Sheriff's Departments goal is to show people what they can do to really help to preserve the evidence at a crime scene. The better preservation of crime scenes can result in a) the collection of more and better evidence, b) better working conditions for investigators, c) save precious time and d) allow the investigation to proceed at a faster pace hopefully saving and finding more victims and catching and convicting predators. People can be a very valuable resource if they know what to do and when and where to do it. This program will show these people what to look for, what to do and what NOT to do so they become an ally and a working task force that assists law enforcement when time is so crucial. It can mean life and death in many cases.
The Sheriff's Department will soon be circulating posters giving the do's and don'ts that apply to ALL crime scenes. What you, the family and the neighbors do in preserving the scene before the police arrive can make a big difference. These posters should be posted in a conspicuous place so they will be a fresh reminder if the information is needed. Brochures will also be available to give you more information.
PTA Groups, Boy Scouts, Girl Scouts, DARE groups and many service clubs have all agreed to assist in this effort. If your organization would like to participate, please contact Ross Annable at 438-3393.
We believe the information below will help at ALL crime scenes. You CAN make a difference!
WHEN A CHILD IS MISSING:
DO's:
Contact the Police IMMEDIATELY.
Keep everyone out of the area until the police can secure the area.
Close off the child's room - allow no one in.
Keep friends and neighbors away from the child's home and the point where the child was last seen (pls).
Provide a central location, at LEAST 200 feet away from the scene, where friends and family can meet to obtain information.
Understand that SCENT IS EVIDENCE. Learn how to preserve it.
Secure all pets at and near the scene.
Keep traffic to a minimum.
Turn off all vehicle engines near the scene area.
DON'TS
Don't - Contaminate the scene with your presence.
Don't - Handle anything!
Don't - Clean-up or pick-up the house or child's room - leave things exactly the way they were. Don't pick up dirty clothes, sheets, etc. or allow anyone to touch them.
Don't Go out searching by yourself - WAIT for Police direction.
These procedures apply to ALL crime scenes!
Scent - the forgotten evidence.......
Law enforcement should immediately contact a dog handler to evaluate the scene for scents and make scent pads if possible. Once the scene has been evaluated, a trail dog should be brought in to work the area before foot searches are allowed. Evidence must be preserved!
If professional searches are available - use them! Untrained, good intentioned people can contaminate an area, miss important evidence and can be uncontrollable if something is found thereby contaminating evidence or the crime scene.
Keep the number of searchers in an area to no more than are needed. Don't flood the area with people. Keep all other spectators, press and others out of the area.
The Line Search Procedure used by Niagara County is highly recommended. This procedure allows law enforcement to preserve the search area, allowing sent transfer equipment to be used. A guide to institute perimeters should be based on age, time missing, distance traveled considering physical conditions, state of mind, past history, etc.
Always keep in mind...
If a small child, search the home first and his/her immediate play area. Ask permission for a searcher to perform the search as parents often unintentionally give misinformation such as "he/she would never go there.."
When searching for small children - they usually will go up hill as evening nears because a) it is colder at lower elevations b) as they look up, they see brighter sky and go toward light.
Searchers should be trained to NOT pick up or handle anything they find. Items should be left where they are found and the person in charge should be called immediately. If the item is confirmed as belonging to the missing person, you have a new pls and a direction of travel can be established.
Searchers should be instructed not to drop or throw things in the search area.
If a body is found, do not approach it closer than 30'. All searchers should immediately leave the area single file to the nearest road.
A network of qualified dog handlers and dogs should be established and only a dog handler with impeccable integrity should be considered.
It must be determined if the person is missing or lost as searches are different for each case.
GUIDE TO SEARCH FOR LOST PERSONS AND SET UP SEARCH PERIMETERS
Adults: 15 - 50+ years
Time Person Has Been Gone Distance Traveled in Straight Line 1 hr. 4 miles 1/2 hr. 2 miles 15 minutes 1 mile 7-1/2 minutes 1/2 mile 3 minutes plus 1/4 mile Persons 5 - 14 years
1 hr. 2 miles 1/2 hr. 1 miles 15 minutes 1/2 mile 7-1/2 - 10 minutes 1/4 mile Persons 2 - 4 years
1 hr. 1 mile or less 1/2 hr. 1/2 mile or less 15 minutes 1/4 mile or less 7 - 10 minutes 1/8 mile or less Distance is measured from Point Last Scene (pls)
The Special Forces Unit is requesting information from families, friends, neighbors, searchers, law enforcement and the general public that will help us improve our procedures at crime scenes.
Through hindsight, we can recognize and isolate oversights, errors and poor procedures that have plagued and impeded investigative scenes far too long.
To address these problems, we must have FACTS from ACTUAL CRIME SCENES, from people who have actually WITNESSED problems and are willing to give us this information.
We NEED your help!
If you have any information that may help us, please contact:
Niagara County Sheriff's Department Special Forces Unit
(716) 438-3393 or Fax (716) 434-9952
Niagara
County Sheriff's Department
5526 Niagara Street Ext., P.O. Box 496
Lockport, New York 14095-0496
(716) 438-3393, Fax (716) 438-3302
