NEW ALBANY POLICE DEPARTMENT - New Albany, Ohio

Obtain the missing child’s basic information such as height, weight, hair and eye
color, clothing, and last known location.
Obtain any information on possible abductors, including family members.
Document all pertinent information and communications.
Upon receipt of a Missing Persons report, enter the information into the Law
Enforcement Automated Data System (LEADS) and National Crime Information
Center (NCIC) computers. Cancel the entries when the missing person is found
or voluntarily returns.
Teletype Franklin and adjacent county law enforcement agencies about the
missing child or, if applicable, activate Franklin County’s Stranger Abduction
Alert/Amber Alert protocol (Addendum A).
3. If unusual circumstances do not exist, the Dispatcher shall obtain all pertinent
information necessary for a prompt response by an officer.
D. Officer(s) Procedures
The officers dispatched on a report of a missing child shall:
1. Respond promptly to the scene of the report
2. Interview the parent(s) making the report to gain insight into the circumstances
surrounding the disappearance
3. Obtain a physical description of the missing child and relay that information
immediately to the Dispatcher and other officers
4. Verify that the child is, in fact, missing. Officers should never assume that
searches conducted by distraught parents or others have been performed in a
thorough manner. Always check the home and grounds including places where
children could be trapped, asleep, or hiding. Special attention should be paid to
enclosures like refrigerators, freezers, and the interior of parked vehicles and
trunks.
5. If the child is older, officers should ask parents if they checked with the child’s
friends or perhaps forgot or overlooked something that would explain the child’s
absence.
6. If the child is missing from home, conduct a thorough search of the residence.
Search the missing child’s home even if the child was reported missing from a
different location.
7. Confirm the child’s custody status and whether or not custody could play a part in
the physical location of the child.
8. Determine when, where, and by whom the child was last seen.
9. Make an initial determination if the type of incident qualifies as an “unusual
circumstances” case
10. Obtain pertinent information from witnesses and possible abductor/suspect
information.
11. Provide as much detailed information to the Dispatcher for broadcast updates.
12. Identify and hold everyone at the scene and determine their relationship to the
missing child.
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