Contact: Beth Alberts
713.409.2720
For Immediate Release: 11 Law Enforcement Agencies Join Forces in Missing Child Recovery Field Training
On May 7, 2009, 11 different law enforcement agencies in the 13-county Houston-Galveston region participated in a field training that replicated a missing child incident. Officers were required to respond as if a 7-year-old child was reported missing from her home. Sponsored by Texas Center for the Missing and hosted by West University Place Police Department and Rice University Police Department, this training is the first of its kind in Houston. Participating agencies are members of the Southeast Texas Child Abduction Response Team which provides training and resources to agencies facing high-risk missing child incidents. Special thanks to Houston Citizens Police Academy Alumni Association and Precinct 4 Constables Citizens Police Academy Alumni Association who supplied volunteers for this exceptional event.
The Southeast Texas Child Abduction Response Team (SETCART) is a coalition of law enforcement agencies coordinated by Texas Center for the Missing. Sixty-one law enforcement agencies have joined this cross-jurisdictional coordinated response to child abduction cases. Member agencies receive Missing Persons First Responder Investigator training from experienced homicide and missing persons officers and agree to offer aid to other member agencies during critical missing child incidents. Modeled on a Florida program, SETCART is a process for deployment of personnel and assets to assist with the most critical child abduction cases in our region by providing extensive investigative and search resources to outlying areas that otherwise would not have access to these life-saving tools (e.g., additional investigators, dive teams, search dogs, mantrackers, sonar boats, etc.).
Texas Center for the Missing is dedicated to providing support for families and the volunteers searching for their missing children and endangered adults. The organization also serves as a catalyst for mobilizing resources in the search for missing children and adults, has created a plan for immediate action if a child is unaccounted for, and educates the public on prevention of abduction and internet lures.
For more information, contact Beth Alberts at balberts@tcftm.org or 713.409.2720 or visit www.thetexascenter.org.
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