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Assemblymembers Nava & Cook Work to Prevent Future Child Abductions
August 18, 2010 (Sacramento)--A package of bills sponsored by Moe Dubois, father of slain Escondido Amber Dubois and founder of MoreKids, has been unanimously passed by the Senate Appropriations Committee recently and will be considered by the full Senate in the coming weeks.
The measures are Assembly Bill 33, the Peace Officer Missing Child Standards Act, AB 34, the Missing Child Notification Protection Act, and AB 1022, the Missing Persons Coordination Act. Jointly authored by Assemblymembers Pedro Nava (D-Santa Barbara) and Paul Cook (R-Yucaipa), these bills would enhance law enforcement training, response, and statewide coordination when children go missing.
”We believe that the time is now to implement thoughtful legislation that will make a real difference in the way we recover missing children," Moe Dubois said. "We want to use our loss to bring about real change so that no family has to go through what we did.”
Assemblymember Nava, a former prosecutor, observed, “I’m very pleased that these measures are moving forward. We have a duty to make sure that no family in the future suffers what the Dubois’ have suffered. My hope is that we can make a difference in the lives of all missing children and bring them back to their families alive.”
Assemblymember Cook added, “I’m thrilled these bills have made it this far in the Legislature. The Dubois bills have the potential to really protect our children by giving our law enforcement every resource to recover a child safely. The tragic case of Amber Dubois reminds us legislators that we must commit to protecting more children from experiencing the same fate.”
The measures now go to the Senate Floor for consideration.
Below are details of the proposed measure.
AB 33-Peace Officers Missing Child Standards Act
• This bill would:
• Require the Violent Crimes Information Center to make available, within 2 hours of a reported stranger abduction of a child, a list of persons required to register as sex offenders based on the sex offenders’ method of operation or the specified geographical location from which the child was taken.
• Highly encourage each law enforcement agency to adopt, promulgate, and offer training consistent with an agency’s specific policy regarding missing children and the reporting of missing children.
• Require the Child Abduction Task Force, under the California Emergency Management Agency, to submit its missing children course to the Peace Officers Standards Training Commission (POST) for certification.
AB 34 –Missing Child Notification Protection Act
• Missing Person Notification Timeframe:
o Upon the filing of a credible police report that an adult or child is missing, the law enforcement agency receiving the report shall, within 2 hours after the receipt of the report, transmit the report for inclusion within the California Violent Crime Information Center (CVIC) and the National Crime Information Center databases.
• NamUs Notification and Participation
o Federal law authorizes and funds the creation of the National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NamUs), to facilitate data sharing about missing persons to governmental agencies, non-profit organizations, and individual persons.
o AB 34 will allow the state to provide information about missing children to NamUs.
AB 1022-Missing Persons Coordination Act
• Creates the position of a Missing Persons Coordinator within the California Department of Justice. This new director shall:
o Assist law enforcement agencies, at the rest of said agencies, with the timely search and recovery of at-risk abducted children;
o Utilize existing resources and expertise within the Attorney General’s office to the extent possible; and
o Maintain up-to-date knowledge and expertise of protocols, best practices and technologies that are most effective for recovering missing children in a timely manner.
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