On 27 March 2006, Warwickshire Police launched the Child Rescue Alert Scheme which is part of the National Centre for Policing Excellence (NCPE) document: Guidance on the Management Recording and Investigation of Missing Persons 2005. Click this link to open a PDF version of this document.
This aims to standardise and enhance the police response to reports of child abduction in line with the national criteria. The system looks to enlist your help by notifying you that a child has been taken. This so that you, and other members of the public, can be additional eyes and ears to look out for the child, the abductor(s) or any vehicle that was used in the abduction.
When to launch Child Rescue Alert
When a child is abducted, the speed at which the police responds is crucial. The abduction is measured against the four key criteria shown right and if these are met a senior investigating officer (SIO) is alerted and makes the decision to issue the alert.
Making the decision
Once the initial call has been received, a strict procedure is followed to decide whether or not to launch an alert based on the criteria mentioned ablove. The senior investigating officer makes the decision and then with the aid of a press officer and the progect manager, an email will be released including information available. An example of the information that may be contained in the email can be seen in the section right Circulation of Alert
Newsflash
This email is then sent to all the media (radio, television and newspapers) that have signed up to the Warwickshire Police Child Rescue Alert agreement. A list of partner organisations that have signed up to the agreement is shown right in the section Our Partners.
Radio stations will publicise the message every 15 minutes for 4 hours, TV stations may interrupt their programmes with a newsflash. The message will continue going out for 4 hours or until cancelled by the force. The information will also be highlighted on this and the new Online News website as an emergency homepage.
How can you help
It is hoped that by flooding the media with the information, you, the public, will be vigilant and help the police. The overriding aim of the police is to locate the child first and ensure their safety, secondary to this is the capture of any suspects.
If you see anything you should call the police on 999 immediately.
We hope that we will never have to initiate the Child Rescue Alert scheme. The strict criteria that has to be adhered to will ensure that there will not be an overuse of the system which may destroy confidence in the system.