HOLBROOK — Deputy Director of Communications Lauren Mielke of the Holbrook Regional Emergency Communications Center and Chief William Smith of the Holbrook Police Department are pleased to announce their departments’ respective involvement with the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC).
Monday, May 25, is National Missing Children’s Day. HRECC telecommunicators and HPD officers are currently undergoing training through the NCMEC’s Missing Kids Readiness Project, in order to be better prepared in the event of an incident involving a missing child.
More than 300 law enforcement agencies and communication centers nationwide are recognized by the Missing Kids Readiness Project. As part of the program, NCMEC staff provide training, technical assistance and resources to law enforcement personnel and others who investigate crimes against children.
Through a variety of online training modules, the program promotes best practices for responding to calls of missing, abducted and sexually exploited children. Agencies will be recognized by the NCMEC for meeting essential training and policy elements demonstrating preparedness for responding to a missing child incident.
The Holbrook Regional Emergency Communications Center has been a partner with the Missing Kids Readiness Project since 2017. While certification lasts for five years, the HRECC is re-certifying two years early to demonstrate their dedication and commitment to NCMEC and to ensure their team of telecommunicators are prepared should they receive a call for a missing child.
All HRECC telecommunicators are required to take the online courses through NCMEC relative to their role within the department, with supervisory-level staff taking additional courses.
“Part of working at the HRECC is that our telecommunicators never know what call could come in next, and because of that they must be prepared for every possible incident,” Deputy Director Mielke said. “Every second counts in the case of a potentially missing child, and our staff must know exactly how to respond so that we can best assist our law enforcement partners in their investigation.”
The Holbrook Police Department is currently going through the initial certification process with the Missing Kids Readiness Project. Patrol officers, sergeants, detectives and command staff will all become certified.
“A missing or abducted child is one of those cases you never want to think about, but must be fully prepared to deal with should it come up,” Chief Smith said. “Certification through the Missing Kids Readiness Project will give our officers much-needed training in this area.”
In addition to the online training modules, police chiefs and directors are also required to attend the Missing Children’s Chief Executive Officer training course at the NCMEC headquarters in Alexandria, Vir., which Deputy Director Mielke, HRECC Director Steve Hooke and Chief Smith have all completed.
For more information on the NCMEC’s Missing Kids Readiness Project, click here.