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NEWS RELEASE
Child Abduction Response Team to Conduct Mock Abduction Exercise in Panama
City
For Immediate Release
June 28, 2007
Pensacola— The Child Abduction Response Team that serves the 14th Judicial
Circuit will conduct a mock abduction exercise on Friday morning, June 29,
2007 in Panama City, Florida.
The Child Abduction Response Team (C.A.R.T.) consists of any local, state,
and federal law enforcement agency that agrees to participate. Private
sector partners are also encouraged to participate. The team that serves the
six counties in the 14th Judicial Circuit came together for the first time
in the spring of 2005 to collaborate and pre-plan a response to any child
abductions that might take place in the service area. It is well represented
by area police departments, sheriff’s offices, the State Attorney’s Office,
FDLE, and other local and state agencies.
The C.A.R.T is an organized, rapid, and planned response to the abduction of
a child or other missing child incident. It is designed to provide
assistance and investigative resources to the local agency that has
jurisdiction over the incident. The C.A.R.T. acts as a “force multiplier”
for the impacted agency, which remains the lead investigative agency for the
incident.
On Friday morning, June 29, 2007, the C.A.R.T. will be testing their
response, assuring that there is adequate communications and processing of
leads should there be an actual abduction in the future. By working together
in advance to identify resources and response personnel, in the case of an
actual abduction, law enforcement agencies involved can turn their attention
to locating the missing child rather than scrambling for resources.
Members of the media are invited to cover the exercise at the locations
listed below. To ensure the best coverage possible as the scenario unfolds,
please adhere to the following schedule for each location:
· 9:00a.m. -- the FDLE Panama City Field Office located at 2237 W. 24th
Street will serve as the Call Center for the exercise.
· 10:00a.m. -- Search and Rescue will take place in the wooded area at the
junction of Star Avenue and Neahi Road.
· 11:00a.m. – Exercise Staging Area at Merritt Brown Middle School located
south of the intersection of US Highway 231 and Star Avenue (5044 Merritt
Brown Way).
· 11:30a.m. – Mock Press Conference at the staging area at Merritt Brown
Middle School located south of the intersection of US Highway 231 and Star
Avenue (5044 Merritt Brown Way).
The purpose of the mock press conference is to test the skills of the
C.A.R.T. public information participants and to allow the media an
opportunity to share information about the C.A.R.T. with area citizens.
Agency heads from the various participating agencies will be on hand
immediately following the mock press conference to take questions.
- MORE -
Time is of the essence in locating a missing child. In a situation where a
child is abducted and killed, 44% are killed within less than an hour and
74% are killed within three hours. In cases of missing or endangered
children, the media can be an asset to law enforcement by providing
information to the public that assists in locating the child.
There are Child Abduction Response Teams ready to activate when needed
throughout the state of Florida. The C.A.R.T. program was devised by FDLE in
2004 to provide an immediate, specialized team response to a missing child
report where the child is believed to be endangered. The C.A.R.T. works in
conjunction with the FDLE Missing Children Information Clearinghouse (MCIC).
For more information on the Missing Children Information Clearing House or
the Florida Amber Alert Plan, please visit www.fdle.state.fl.us.
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