Newsletter - 33rd Edition

2005 Air Canada - RCMP Child Recovery Award

The recipient of this year's Air Canada award was the Peel Regional Police Vice Squad. It was presented to Peel Regional Police on September 15th, 2005 at the Annual our missing children Program Conference banquet which was held at the Delta Hotel in Ottawa.

Congratulations to the recipients! Cst. Todd Custance, Cst. Mark Dapat, Cst. Jason Watson, Det. Randy Cowan, and Cst. Sean Gormley. The photo on the left shows the recipients, surrounded on the left by Superintendent Blair Foley (Peel Police) and, on the right by Staff Sergeant Roger Martin (National Missing Children Services).

The Vice Unit's outstanding accomplishments in the search for and rescue of missing and exploited children were examples of dedication, initiative, and personal involvement; a goal for which we all strive.

2005 Our Missing Children - Program Award of Excellence

The Honourable Senator Landon Pearson presented the our missing children Program Award of Excellence to Constable Brenda Frederick from the Zebra Missing Persons Centre, Edmonton Police Service, Alberta.

"Having participated in the selection process, I was most impressed with Constable Frederick's passion and tenaciousness while facing issues involving children. Her timely decisions, initiation of the appropriate criminal investigation procedures, her perseverance, her empathetic and pragmatic approach to serving clients, as well as her ability to give positive feedback made her very deserving of this award." S/Sgt Martin.

2005 Annual Our missing children conference

Our Conference Sponsors

Wal-Mart and MPF

Presenter Steven O'Keefe informed the audience of two aspects of Wal-Mart operations: "Code Adam" and "The Road Trip" .

To explain further, if, for any reason, a child goes missing while shopping in a Wal-Mart, he suggested the caregiver inform any employee that a child has been lost. Subsequently, the employee will initiate a "Code Adam" . Then, all accesses to the store will be locked except for one. No one will be able to leave the store without going through security. No doubt, if the lost child is still in the store, he/she will be found.

"The Road Trip" is a service offered to travelers who are planning a vacation using a Recreation Vehicle. Wal-Mart provides parking areas at their stores across North America free-of-charge.

Investigating Cases of Missing Children

by Marlene Dalley, PhD.

Cpl. Johanne Bigonesse, Senior Operations Analyst, National Missing Children Services presented some investigative points at the national conference, as well as outlined the steps to follow when investigating a missing child case. She suggested that the primary investigator organize the search for the child and abductor, provide the family with the necessary support services, regularly update the family during the investigative progress, communicate with the media, and if applicable, verify the custody orders in parental abduction cases.

When investigating a case, the steps to follow were listed as follows:

1. Take the complaint seriously;
2. Enter the child on the national police systems CPIC (Canada) and NCIC (USA);
3. Gather research and establish the facts;
4. Process "ALERTS," like Border and Amber Alerts;
5. Review the Criminal Code as it applies to abduction and runaways;
6. Contact the media and communicate search reporting information;
7. Liaise with the not for profit searching agencies;
8. Process Interpol notices, when there is an international concern;
9. Verify all leads;
10. Create new leads;
11. Process extradition, if applicable;
12. Outline the value of contacting the services of partner agencies, and the recognized not for profit organizations;
13. After location, become involved with the reunification process involving both the child and the parent.

If you have any questions, please contact Cpl. J. Bigonesse at (613) 993 7860, Fax (613) 993 5430, or email at jbigones@rcmp grc.gc.ca .

Runaway Children

by Marlene L. Dalley, PhD.

In 2004, runaway children generated the greatest number of missing reports, 52,280. In addition to this group of missing children, there is another group referred to as "throwaways" who are living on the streets of our towns and cities. Their numbers are unknown, mainly because no one cares enough about their whereabouts or safety to report their absence to police.

Some children, but not all, run away to escape an intolerable home situation; homes characterized by family conflict, physical, sexual and emotional abuse, neglect, witnessing family violence, as well as other forms of prolonged and undue stress.

At the 2005 annual our missing children program conference, held on September 14 to 16, 2005, Thomas Sidney, Director of Strategic Development for Operation Go Home, Ottawa, Ontario, gave an interesting presentation on runaway youth. Based on his experiences, he overviewed the Sidney Model of Understanding. This model was designed to help understand the emotional breakdown of street youth. It is summarized as follows.

Level 1 Understanding The Foundation
Youth run away from home not because they want to, but because they view leaving home as the only way to escape from the pain and frustration of home life.

Level 2 Understanding The Present
Youth connect to the street culture; a life of fear and uncertainties. They experience continual emotional turmoil while trying to survive on the streets. Most often they are referred by others as dirty unclean lazy bums. These comments support their view of themselves as useless and unwanted. This perception severely affects their fragile self esteem.

Level 3 Understanding The Response
Since these youth are affected by their experiences at Level 1 and 2 stages of understanding, they feel alone and unwanted. This perceived reality compels them to look for ways to dull the pain. To cope, they may become involved in drugs and other harmful actions, like cutting themselves. Fortunately their cuts heal but the emotional scars remain. As time passes and the hurt continues, they look for more potent ways to deal with their problems. Most often these activities are unlawful and dangerous.

Level 4 Understanding The Entrapment
Once the youth uses these numbing type activities, like drugs, they will go to any length to obtain what they require to deal with their emotional needs. These activities range from drug stealing to the act of selling themselves for sexual favors.

In summary, the ongoing and vicious circle of youth on the street tugs at the hearts of many, especially those who work with street children. For the most part, they are children who have fallen between the cracks . As one person described this group of vulnerable victims "Well, sometimes you win, and sometimes you loose." It seems all too common that runaway children are viewed and described as society's losers.

Sharing the Hurt

Victims of Violence Canada
Canadian Center for Missing Children
by Marlene Dalley. PhD

Gary and Sharon Rosenfeldt founded the not for profit organization, Victims of Violence after the tragic death of their 16 year old son, Daryn. While on an errand to a neighborhood corner store, he was brutally raped and murdered by the notorious serial killer, Clifford Olsen of British Columbia. Olsen is currently serving a life sentence for the murder of 11 Canadian children.

Sharon Rosenfeldt shared with the conference participants their family's tragic story as well as the pitfalls encountered in the search and recovery process. Equally compelling was her account of the difficulties experienced while trying to rebuild their lives. Today, Daryn is an integral part of special memories that the family cherishes.

Victims of Violence helps families deal with their personal tragedies, and provides advice to victims. The organization is also the victim's voice on issues ranging from crimes against children to DNA legislation. They also produce crime prevention materials for distribution.

For further information: email contact at http://www.victimsofviolence.on.ca/about.html or telephone (613) 233 0052 or fax (613) 233 2712.

Dina presented with a print

Dina's hard work planning and coordinating the conference could not be left unnoticed. To thank her for her efforts she was presented with a print.

David Janes (NCECC) and Dina Bellinger (NMCS) co-presented the Photo-age progression session.

LOCATER Program

presented by Kelly Rutherford of NCMEC

LOCATER is an advanced, web-based computer program offered by the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children (NCMEC) to law enforcement free of charge. It helps law enforcement create professional-looking posters and disseminate them locally, state (province) wide, and/or across the nation. The LOCATER program is used in more than 4,000 law enforcement agencies in the United States, and a few agencies in Canada.

How does the LOCATER program work?

Law enforcement agencies can use the LOCATER program to create and distribute posters. These posters can be hand distributed or sent via e-mail to other law enforcement agencies, the media, and the public.

The advantages of using LOCATER are:

• It is FREE to law enforcement;
• It can be used from existing computer systems;
• It is a secure system for law enforcement use only;
• It has assigned security certificates for safety and privacy;
• It has the capability to create posters in English and Spanish;
  Note: A request has been made for the capability to create posters in French.
• It has a spell check feature;
• A poster can be personalized to include department logo, patch, or image; and
• It is a searchable database which saves and retrieves cases.

International Social Service Canada

by Marlene Dalley, PhD.

International Social Service (ISS) Canada is a service dedicated to bridging the gap between domestic and international agencies for the protection of children and families all over the world. It principally helps resolve individual and family problems resulting from the movement of people across national borders.

Aggie Casselman, Executive Director for the organization gave an interesting presentation. She focused on the ways children can be separated from their families, including war, trafficking, sexual exploitation, abduction, and other forms of abuse as well as ways agencies can work together to deal with the ensuing problems.

To explain further, ISS manages inter country case referrals between Canada and other countries as they relate to child protection and child placement. They are also involved in custody and access processing, separated or unaccompanied minors issues and the "search for their roots." Other tasks include processing family reunifications, adult protection concerns, repatriation negotiations, and the processing of immigration related matters.

These services are invaluable in the search and recovery process in order to be sensitive to the child's rights, and also to act with the "best interest" of the child in mind.

Appreciation on behalf of the Our missing children program

Special appreciation is extended to all the speakers who helped make this missing children conference a huge success. The feedback from participants was very positive and encouraging as we plan for future conferences. As you will notice, a few articles were written on selected presentations. Unfortunately, we were not able to publish articles on all the presentations due to space restraints. However, I would like to extend an invitation to all the presenters to write an article for inclusion in the next Newsletter issue. If you wish to submit an article relating to your presentation, please forward the article to Dr. Marlene Dalley at marlene.dalley @ rcmp grc.gc.ca.

While attending the conference, I hope that you increased your working contacts, made friends and learned more about the missing child search, location and recovery process.

Thank you once again for your contribution!

Staff Sergeant Roger Martin

Child Safety: Community Service Recognition, 2005

by Marlene Dalley, PhD.

On June 3rd, the Mounted Police Foundation held its 10th Anniversary Gala dinner at the Ottawa Congress Centre, Ottawa, Ontario. This was an evening of fund raising to support "Child Safety". Staff Sergeant Roger Martin, NCO i/c of National Missing Children Services was the guest speaker at this event.

Also, among the list of special guests were Canadian born actor Leslie Nielson, Master of Ceremonies Jessica Holmes of the Royal Canadian Air Farce, and RCMP's Commissioner Zaccardelli.

In his speech, Staff Sergeant Roger Martin overviewed National Missing Children Services (NMCS), its programs, partnerships and crime prevention undertakings. He emphasized that "a decade ago, parents had to educate their children about strangers who could abduct and harm them while walking to school, playing in a park or riding a bicycle around the neighborhood. Now, strangers enter our homes through a computer internet connection and talk secretly with our children. Predators can expose children to images and sexual solicitations they do not want and in many instances, do not understand. National Missing Children Services and the National Child Exploitation Coordination Centre are prepared to take on these new challenges to protect and keep Canada's children safe from harm."

The Mounted Police Foundation recognized the service contribution of NMCS toward child safety by presenting Staff Sergeant Roger Martin with a plaque.

AMBER Alert Cross-Border Working Group

by Cst. Marie-France Olivera

I recently accepted to be part of the USA/MEXICO/CANADA Amber Alert Working group on cross-border issues chaired by the U.S. Assistant Attorney General Regina Scholfield.

I encourage OMC and Amber Alert coordinators to share their division's specific concerns with me so I may address them at the next working group meeting on February 9, 2005. This is an opportunity to improve cooperation between our respective countries as well as encourage a working relationship between the provinces and the National Missing Children Services, particularly when it comes to the reporting of any Amber Alert activations.

Clearly the Amber Alert is taking on new dimensions in Canada since 2002. It has become a subject of great interest with law enforcement and the public. Consequently, I have received and keep receiving more and more calls for advice, assistance and to take a leadership role in enhancing its effectiveness throughout Canada and the US. I am pleased with the way the Amber Alert program has grown in Canada but there is still a lot of work to do to get all Canadian law enforcement agencies on "top of things."

So far there have been seven activations in Ontario, two in Alberta, two in British Colombia, and two in Québec.

I also encourage all law enforcement agencies to sign-up with the NCMEC LOCATER program. This program will greatly enhance and facilitate the dissemination of posters during AMBER Alerts.

For more information, you can contact Cst. Marie-France Olivera, Operations Analyst and National Amber Alert Coordinator at 613-993-8656.

Dina Departs Missing Children

Dina has accepted a position with the Strategic Policy and Planning Directorate. She departed National Missing Children Services effective November 14th, 2005.

Dina gave 11+ years to Missing Children. Her departure will be noticed by all of us, especially people she has dealt with over the years. The expertise and extensive knowledge gained over the years will be missed. We all wish her the best in her new job.

Canada Border Services Agency

Border Recoveries

by Suzanne Mole, National Coordinator

During the third quarter of 2005, CBSA officers recovered 12 missing children; runaways accounted for five of the missing children and seven were victims of parental abduction. Nine children had Canadian citizenship, two children were American and one child was from the Netherlands.

Throwaway Returns to Canada

In September 2005, a 15 year old arrived at a Canadian airport. The child was intercepted as a result of a lookout by his mother who had called and reported that her son was coming back to Canada but she did not want anything to do with him. When interviewed, he stated that he had been out of the country attending his Aunt's funeral. When asked if anyone was meeting him he stated that probably his mother or his aunt. The officer checked the contacts and no one was scheduled to meet him. The officer called the mother but was told she did not want him. She was advised that the Children's Aid Society would be contacted. She also reported to the officer that the father did not want the teenager either. Children's Aid came and interviewed the child, and it was determined that a cousin living in the city would take care of him for the night. The cousin came and picked up the child. Later, the Children's Aid Society advised us they were taking responsibility for the youth.

Wife flees Mexico to Protect Children

In September 2005, a Canadian mother and her two children arrived at a Canadian port of entry from Mexico. She advised the officer that she had purposely taken the children from Mexico. She had found out that her husband was involved in narcotics and had him committed to a rehabilitation center. While she was in transit, he had escaped the Center and managed to contact his wife. He threatened to kill her if she removed the children from Mexico. Although they shared custody, the father was Mexican and the mother and children were Canadians. The mother specified that she would be living with her sister-in-law in a nearby town and she would stay as long as it took for her husband to get well. The local police were called to become involved in the case due to the fact that there were threats to the wife, and the subjects were Canadian citizens.

Follow-up: The police will interview the mother and attempt to contact her husband to determine his version of the story. Depending on the outcome, and for the safety of the mother and children, her husband may not be allowed to enter Canada in the future.