Area police forces join national missing child alert system (Printed Feb. 15, 2008)
By Amanda Estes
Staff Writer
In the case of a missing person, every minute is critical.
Law enforcement agencies across the nation, including here in Maine, are increasingly employing high tech search methods such as the A Child Is Missing Alert Program (ACIM) to assist in safe and speedy recoveries.
“It’s essentially the equivalent of knocking on 1,000 doors every minute,” said ACIM Communications Director Todd DeAngelis.
Founded in 1997 by Sherry Friedlander, the Fort Lauderdale, Fla. based organization assists law enforcement agencies by launching telephone alert messages to the surrounding community when a child, elderly person, college student or disabled individual is reported missing.
South Portland Police Department formalized an agreement with the non-profit organization on Feb. 1, joining roughly 32 other Maine law enforcement agencies that already use the free service, which is supported by federal and state funding, donations and special events.
On Feb. 4, the South Portland Police Department activated the service after a 13-year-old boy was reported missing from his home, said Officer Jeffrey Caldwell. The department called ACIM’s toll-free number, provided pertinent information including a description of the child and his last known whereabouts and the organization issued more than 2,500 alerts to the surrounding area, Detective Robert Scarpelli said. The child was found, unharmed, by a relative around 7 p.m. and was brought home safely.
Before signing on with the organization, the department would send out a local broadcast to the cruisers, put out a statewide Teletype and a national inquiry and notify other law enforcement agencies. Scarpelli said officers are now able to start an alert by calling ACIM’s toll-free number on the scene of the initial report, rather than funneling the information through central dispatch.
“It’s just another set of eyes and ears in the neighborhood or in the community,” Scarpelli said, of the ACIM service.
ACIM uses satellite-mapping technology that allows the organization’s employees to simply click and drag over a selected geographic area to begin the alert process, DeAngelis said. With the individual’s last known location, a database of phone numbers of the residents and businesses in the area is created. The search parameters are determined by several factors including time of day, the mobility of the individual and weather conditions, he said. The search parameters for a 12-year-old on a bicycle who has been missing for two hours will differ from the parameters for an elderly person with a walker who has been missing for 15 minutes, DeAngelis said.
“We stick with it,” DeAngelis said of the search process. “We call [the agency] up after the calls have been launched. As the case continues we will monitor it and with the law enforcement agency, determine if expanding the calls is appropriate.”
ACIM often works in tandem with Amber Alert, the emergency broadcast system for child abduction cases, DeAngelis said.
“They can both be used simultaneously and one of the advantages is as information is being gathered it may very well be that [ACIM’s] alert calls can lead law enforcement to...significant information to start Amber Alert,” he said.
Cell phones and unlisted numbers are not included in the organization’s database; however, an individual can add his or her number by visiting AChildIsMissing.org. As long as the telephone number is attached to a current address, ACIM will include the address in its database.
Buxton Police Chief Jody Thomas said her department has not yet adopted ACIM, but that she was familiar with the program and had heard “good things” about it.
“When we get a report of a missing child, we currently have both Amber Alert and the FBI’s Missing and Exploited Children’s Program as resources we will use to relocate that child,” Thomas said. “But I’m absolutely interested in getting our department involved with ACIM, because we’re trying to give ourselves another avenue to finding the missing person. I will talk to the South Portland Police Department and see how we can join ACIM and what it involves.”
The Kennebunk and Sanford police departments have found ACIM isn’t just a useful tool for finding missing persons. In May 2005, when the department had to locate the parents of a 3-year-old autistic boy who was found wandering around by himself, half-dressed, they called ACIM, said lead dispatcher Dennis Vincent. The organization dialed all of the telephones in a one-mile radius, Vincent said. The child was reunited with his family within roughly two hours, he said.
“It would have taken a lot longer,” Vincent said, had the department not called ACIM. “We had officers out knocking on every door in that neighborhood.”
In the event of a major incident at Kennebunk schools, ACIM will also send out alerts to notify parents where they should pick up their children, Vincent said.
Major Gordon Littlefield with the Sanford Police Department said his agency has used ACIM with success several times since formalizing an agreement three years ago. The department last used the service in May 2007, when a small boy was found wandering the streets wearing only a diaper.
“He obviously didn’t have the communication skills necessary for us to carry out a conversation,” Littlefield said.
The child was reunited with his family in less than an hour, Littlefield said. ACIM was also instrumental in locating an elderly person who was reported missing, he said.
Sanford could use ACIM to notify neighborhoods when a sex offender moves to their area, however, the department prefers to have officers notify residents by going door to door, Littlefield said.
While law enforcement agencies are responsible for calling ACIM if the individual or individuals have been found, officers stress parents or guardians must notify their police department if they hear from the missing individual.
“A lot of times parents will call and they’ll tell us their kids are missing and won’t call us back when they return,” Scarpelli said. “We have to tell the parents if they return or if they hear from them, please call us.”
For more information about the A Child is Missing Alert Program, visit www.achildismissing.org.
Staff Writer
In the case of a missing person, every minute is critical.
Law enforcement agencies across the nation, including here in Maine, are increasingly employing high tech search methods such as the A Child Is Missing Alert Program (ACIM) to assist in safe and speedy recoveries.
“It’s essentially the equivalent of knocking on 1,000 doors every minute,” said ACIM Communications Director Todd DeAngelis.
Founded in 1997 by Sherry Friedlander, the Fort Lauderdale, Fla. based organization assists law enforcement agencies by launching telephone alert messages to the surrounding community when a child, elderly person, college student or disabled individual is reported missing.
South Portland Police Department formalized an agreement with the non-profit organization on Feb. 1, joining roughly 32 other Maine law enforcement agencies that already use the free service, which is supported by federal and state funding, donations and special events.
On Feb. 4, the South Portland Police Department activated the service after a 13-year-old boy was reported missing from his home, said Officer Jeffrey Caldwell. The department called ACIM’s toll-free number, provided pertinent information including a description of the child and his last known whereabouts and the organization issued more than 2,500 alerts to the surrounding area, Detective Robert Scarpelli said. The child was found, unharmed, by a relative around 7 p.m. and was brought home safely.
Before signing on with the organization, the department would send out a local broadcast to the cruisers, put out a statewide Teletype and a national inquiry and notify other law enforcement agencies. Scarpelli said officers are now able to start an alert by calling ACIM’s toll-free number on the scene of the initial report, rather than funneling the information through central dispatch.
“It’s just another set of eyes and ears in the neighborhood or in the community,” Scarpelli said, of the ACIM service.
ACIM uses satellite-mapping technology that allows the organization’s employees to simply click and drag over a selected geographic area to begin the alert process, DeAngelis said. With the individual’s last known location, a database of phone numbers of the residents and businesses in the area is created. The search parameters are determined by several factors including time of day, the mobility of the individual and weather conditions, he said. The search parameters for a 12-year-old on a bicycle who has been missing for two hours will differ from the parameters for an elderly person with a walker who has been missing for 15 minutes, DeAngelis said.
“We stick with it,” DeAngelis said of the search process. “We call [the agency] up after the calls have been launched. As the case continues we will monitor it and with the law enforcement agency, determine if expanding the calls is appropriate.”
ACIM often works in tandem with Amber Alert, the emergency broadcast system for child abduction cases, DeAngelis said.
“They can both be used simultaneously and one of the advantages is as information is being gathered it may very well be that [ACIM’s] alert calls can lead law enforcement to...significant information to start Amber Alert,” he said.
Cell phones and unlisted numbers are not included in the organization’s database; however, an individual can add his or her number by visiting AChildIsMissing.org. As long as the telephone number is attached to a current address, ACIM will include the address in its database.
Buxton Police Chief Jody Thomas said her department has not yet adopted ACIM, but that she was familiar with the program and had heard “good things” about it.
“When we get a report of a missing child, we currently have both Amber Alert and the FBI’s Missing and Exploited Children’s Program as resources we will use to relocate that child,” Thomas said. “But I’m absolutely interested in getting our department involved with ACIM, because we’re trying to give ourselves another avenue to finding the missing person. I will talk to the South Portland Police Department and see how we can join ACIM and what it involves.”
The Kennebunk and Sanford police departments have found ACIM isn’t just a useful tool for finding missing persons. In May 2005, when the department had to locate the parents of a 3-year-old autistic boy who was found wandering around by himself, half-dressed, they called ACIM, said lead dispatcher Dennis Vincent. The organization dialed all of the telephones in a one-mile radius, Vincent said. The child was reunited with his family within roughly two hours, he said.
“It would have taken a lot longer,” Vincent said, had the department not called ACIM. “We had officers out knocking on every door in that neighborhood.”
In the event of a major incident at Kennebunk schools, ACIM will also send out alerts to notify parents where they should pick up their children, Vincent said.
Major Gordon Littlefield with the Sanford Police Department said his agency has used ACIM with success several times since formalizing an agreement three years ago. The department last used the service in May 2007, when a small boy was found wandering the streets wearing only a diaper.
“He obviously didn’t have the communication skills necessary for us to carry out a conversation,” Littlefield said.
The child was reunited with his family in less than an hour, Littlefield said. ACIM was also instrumental in locating an elderly person who was reported missing, he said.
Sanford could use ACIM to notify neighborhoods when a sex offender moves to their area, however, the department prefers to have officers notify residents by going door to door, Littlefield said.
While law enforcement agencies are responsible for calling ACIM if the individual or individuals have been found, officers stress parents or guardians must notify their police department if they hear from the missing individual.
“A lot of times parents will call and they’ll tell us their kids are missing and won’t call us back when they return,” Scarpelli said. “We have to tell the parents if they return or if they hear from them, please call us.”
For more information about the A Child is Missing Alert Program, visit www.achildismissing.org.
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