An abducted child does not care about jurisdiction issues. Federal, state, local and Tribal law enforcement officers are also making sure no issue gets in the way of finding a missing child. Representatives from state Child Abduction Response Teams (CART) and the FBI Child Abduction Rapid Deployment (CARD) teams have met twice since 2006 at two regional training conferences to coordinate working together.
The FBI CARD Team deploys four to six experienced agents to provide investigative, technical and resource assistance after a child is abducted. A CART usually involves representatives from federal, state, local, and Tribal enforcement agencies and responds when a child is missing or abducted.
Phil Keith, AMBER Alert Program Director for Fox Valley Technical College, attended the three-day training session in April 2006, held in Phoenix. “There were questions about whether there was any duplication between a CARD and a CART,” says Keith. “The statistics, research and outcomes consistently show the more resources you can bring during the first hours after an abduction the more likely you will have a successful recovery.”
Intelligence Analyst Stephanie Crews-Jones from the FBI's Crimes Against Children Unit was also at the Phoenix training. “As we deploy on more child abduction cases together, we will need to work harder to coordinate and communicate,” said Crews-Jones. “Down the road we will see more cooperation and communication.”
The FBI hosted another training for CARD team members on June 5 in Knoxville. Donna Uzzell, Director of Criminal Justice Information Services for the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, spoke in Knoxville about the role of CART. “I told the FBI that a CART is a tool. It is not a competition with what the FBI is already doing,” said Uzzell. “The first couple of hours you need as many people to the scene as possible.”
“Fortunately, law enforcement has been more aware of the seriousness of child abduction cases and how quickly we need to respond,” said FBI Supervisor/Special Agent Terri Patterson. “We have so many entities pulling together, we need to coordinate those responses and know what each entity brings to the table.”
The training sessions also included in-depth training on the AMBER Alert program and a presentation from Team Adam. Representatives from CARD, CART, and Team Adam are exchanging contact information so they can all work together in the future.
“Not only can we work together but we must work together,” said Patterson. “Everyone recognizes that. These cases take an emotional toll on investigators who recognize that we need to do whatever it takes to bring a child home safely.”
Keith said the FBI CARD should be a supplemental resource to a CART. “We hope we can get as many people as possible to respond to any child in crisis.”