A
MESSAGE FOR PARENTS
How to Protect Your Kids with
ID Kits
07/24/06
A
child disappears in a crowd at the fair.
A toddler wanders out an open door. A teen
doesn’t return from the mall. Every
year, hundreds of thousands of kids in the
U.S. are reported “missing.”
Recently, we talked about what
the FBI does to find missing and abducted children. What can you
as parents do to help us?
Here’s one important suggestion: have
information that helps identify your child
ready to hand to law enforcement the instant
you report your child missing.
We recommend a kit distributed
through the National Child
Identification Program started
by the American Football Coaches
Association in 1997. The FBI has
been a partner in this program since
2002.
Each package includes:
- All you need to take inkless
fingerprints;
- Cards
for detailing your child’s
physical descriptions—including
abody map for pointing out scars,
birthmarks, and other identifying
features;
- A place to keep current photos;
and
- More recently, an easy-to-use
swab to take and store a small
DNA sample.
Recording your child’s
fingerprints is particularly important. Why?
Not only because everyone’s
fingerprints are unique, but also
because they don’t change
over time like physical appearances.
We also recommend that you update
the photos of your kids in the
kits at least once a year.
Are the fingerprints or
other information in the kits kept
by the FBI? No! You keep
the kits and fingerprints yourselves
in a safe place…and provide
the information to us only in case
of emergency. Even then, we don’t
keep the information in our records
permanently without your permission.
Where can you get a kit? You
can order one—for a small fee—through
the National
Child Identification Program website.
The kits are also distributed free
at select college football games
across the country in partnership
with local FBI offices. Check with
your local
FBI office to see if they are
sponsoring a game this fall.
This year, we are working with
the National
Night Out organization, which
helps communities nationwide hold
anti-crime activities once a year.
Along with the coaches association,
we hope to set a new single-day record
for distributing free identification
kits during National Night Out events
on August 1.
“It’s a neat program,” said
Thomas E. Bush III, our assistant
director for Criminal Justice Information
Services, which coordinates the FBI’s
involvement in the program. “It’s
a great tool for parents have at
their disposal to help protect their
children.”
Links: Crimes
Against Children |
The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children
