Vehicle Will Help Save Time to Help Save Kids
The Pasco County, Fla., Sheriff’s Office recently demonstrated its new Missing and Abducted Child (MAC) Team mobile command center, at the sixth yearly Public Safety Awareness Symposium in Holiday.
Sgt. Brett Landsberg, who oversees the Sheriff’s Office’s juvenile investigation division, noted that the new office will reduce investigation time. The leading goal for detectives handling missing and abducted child calls is discovering the child alive.
The Sheriff’s Office devised the MAC Team to work in quick response mode–to appear at the scene within 60 minutes of finding out that a child is missing. Once on the scene, specially-instructed investigators work rapidly to lead searches, obtain evidence, and hand out information concerning the child.
The new mobile command center, however, means that equipment can now be brought along to the crime scene, including computers, high-speed printers, and faxes. Detectives will also now be able to mass-produce posers and fliers at the scene.
The MAC Team will connect to such agencies as the Florida Department of Law Enforcement’s Child Abduction Response Team and the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children.
Abstracted by the National Law Enforcement and Corrections Technology Center (NLECTC) from the St. Petersburg Times (FL); 3/28/07; P. 1; Ingalls, Kit.
