Police Get New Tools To Help Find Abducted Children

By Andrew Gorosko

The police department has acquired some computerized tools designed to aid police in finding missing or abducted children, as part of the LOCATER project.

Police Captain Joe Rios, who is supervising the program, said Wednesday police now have that Lost Child Alert Technology Resource (LOCATER) equipment installed at the police station, as a way to inform other law enforcement agencies of children who are reported missing or abducted from Newtown, as well as to learn about children who are reported missing or abducted from other areas.

 The equipment consists of a personal computer, a color printer, a scanner, and custom software designed to aid police in locating missing or abducted children. Police obtained the computer hardware and software through a grant program, Captain Rios said.

Fortunately, Newtown has not experienced any child abductions in memory, but in the event that they occur, police will have equipment on hand that would help them locate the missing children, he said.

The first few hours after a child is reported missing are critical in locating that child, the captain explained. With the new equipment, police can communicate with other law enforcement agencies about missing children, as well as create posters and flyers that publicize child abductions, he said.

Police believe that quickly disseminating descriptive information on a missing child is an important way to find that child. The LOCATER system is intended to ensure a high level of police preparedness for child abduction cases, in that the longer a child is missing, the less likely there would be a safe recovery.

Dana Schubert, who is the police department’s youth officer, has been designated as the police department’s operator of the LOCATER system. Officer Schubert specializes in law enforcement issues concerning children through Grade 5.

Each of the police officers in the police department would be able to use the LOCATER equipment, as needed, to aid them in their investigations, Captain Rios said.

Other police departments in the area that already use the system include the state police, Danbury police, and Redding police, he said.

Reports that town police occasionally receive about “missing children” often turn out to be other problems, the captain noted. Those situations include teenagers who have not returned home by a specified time, small children who have wandered away from their yards, small children who become “lost” or are hiding within buildings, and child custody situations involving various mix-ups, the captain said.

The LOCATER project is a joint effort of the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, as well as the US Department of Justice’s Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention.

Besides missing children situations, the computer equipment has software designed to allow law enforcement agencies to communicate concerning missing adults, wanted persons, crime alerts, and other situations.