| Releases
& Statements
FOR
IMMEDIATE RELEASE May 23, 2007
Contact: John Collins
(212) 669-4193; (917) 496-4587
Release #: 028-2007
Public
Advocate Gotbaum Calls for Expanded Fingerprinting Program to
Protect Children
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Public Advocate Gotbaum Distributes Child ID Kits to Observe National
Missing Children’s Day -
MANHATTAN
– Public Advocate Betsy Gotbaum today distributed child
identification kits to observe the National Missing Children’s
Day tomorrow. Gotbaum distributed the kits to parents and called
for expanded efforts to fingerprint children. The child ID kits,
produced by the National Child Identification Program (NCIP),
contain inkless fingerprint kits, laminated wallet cards and DNA
collection swabs – tools that can be essential to finding
abducted or missing children. Every year in New York City alone,
approximately 5,000 children are reported missing.
Public
Advocate Gotbaum visited students at a Head Start program in Washington
Heights and urged the city and state to increase efforts to protect
children.
Public
Advocate Gotbaum said, “All of us want to make sure that
children are safe and protected. But, in the case of an emergency,
we need to make sure that parents and law enforcement officials
have the tools they need to find and protect a child. Basic information
like fingerprints can make the difference, and the city and state
need to work with parents to help collect this essential data.”
In
addition to many police precincts, the city and state currently
have 33 special sites where parents can go to get their child
photographed and fingerprinted. Public Advocate Gotbaum emphasized
the need to expand these fingerprinting efforts and give them
greater publicity.
As
part of their national campaign to protect children, NCIP urges
that parents teach their child to:
1. Know his/her full name, as well as the parents’ name,
address and telephone number, including area code. Children should
also know how to use the telephone;
2. Move away from cars that pull up beside them; and
3. Know that no one should touch any part of his or her body that
a bathing suit would cover.
Parents should also know that the majority of children are abducted
by relatives or family friends. Extra care should be taken to
check the backgrounds of baby-sitters, accompany children to the
bathroom in public places and let children know they can always
talk with parents about problems.
The
child ID kits also include forms for parents to provide recent
photos, physical descriptions of their children and information
regarding the location of medical and dental records. More than
10 million children have been protected nationwide through the
ID program, the ultimate goal of which is to have 60 million children
fingerprinted.
National Missing Children’s Day was started in 1983 in honor
of Etan Patz, a six year old child from SoHo who went missing
while walking to his bus stop on May 25th, 1979. Despite national
media attention to the case, Etan was never seen or heard from
again. Elected officials and community leaders across the country
are distributing the ID kits in commemoration of the day.
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