NEWPORT NEWS, Va. — When children are missing or abducted, police need the right information to act quickly.
Today, Virginia Attorney General Jason Miyares rolled out new “National Child ID kits” at Passage Middle School in Newport News.
"It’s almost like insurance. You pray to god you never have to use it, but if you do, and you have a missing child, you can immediately take it and turn it over to police,” Miyares said. “When there’s a missing child, law enforcement are always looking for a photograph, they’re looking for DNA, and they’re looking for a fingerprint.”
This kit is something new for the Commonwealth. The kit will contain DNA from your child's saliva, photos, fingerprints, and basic information about them. Authorities say having this crucial information at the beginning of a missing persons case gives law enforcement a leg up and more time to locate a child.
“One of the first questions asked by media or communities: ‘Why does it take so long to get information to an AMBER Alert?’ All those things play a role," said Newport News Police Chief Steve Drew. "The quicker we obtain that information, the quicker we can get information out.”
Poquoson Police Chief Stephen Keatts added: “It allows that information to already be compiled in a place where they [parents] can put their hand on it and just pass it off without having to process a lot of questions from the officer that’s there.”
Law enforcement officers are distributing the kits to public schools across Virginia. School administrations are giving them out to parents of 6th, 7th and 8th graders.
Once all the information is filled in, parents hang on to the kit just in case.
“There is no national database. There is no state database. This is not turned over to police. This is not turned over to the government," Miyares said. "This is not turned over to anybody. You take this after you collect your child’s identifying information, you put it back in the envelope, and it’s yours."
Miyares said funding for the kits comes from corporate sponsors.
Authorities created the kits in the 1990s but they've never had them in Virginia. The kits started after someone abducted and killed Amber Hagerman in 1996. She’s also the reason for the AMBER Alert.
