It’s
nearly unthinkable, but every year thousands of children
become victims of crime—whether it’s kidnappings,
violent attacks, or sexual abuse. The mission of our Crimes
Against Children (CAC) program is threefold: first, to decrease
the vulnerability of children to sexual exploitation; second,
to develop a nationwide capacity to provide a rapid, effective,
and measured investigative response to crimes against children;
and third, to enhance the capabilities of state and local
law enforcement investigators through programs, investigative
assistance, and task force operations.
Our strategy involves
using multi-disciplinary and multi-agency teams to investigate
and prosecute crimes that cross legal, geographical, and
jurisdictional boundaries; promoting and enhancing interagency
sharing of intelligence, specialized skills, and services;
and widely offering our victim/witness services.
The
AMBER Alert System is an early warning program designed to help
quickly locate abducted children in local communities. It works
like this: following an abduction, law enforcement notifies broadcasters
and transportation officials, who interrupt transmissions to get
the word out. AMBER stands for America's Missing: Broadcast Emergency
Response and was created in Texas as a legacy to 9-year-old Amber
Hagerman, who was kidnapped and killed in 1996. Today, all
50 states have AMBER plans. For details, see the federal government’s 
