Fingerprinting for Safety

It is a parent’s worst nightmare—you turn your back for a second and your child has disappeared. According to the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children, the FBI’s National Crime Information Center took 876,213 reports of missing persons (adults and juveniles) in the year 2000. The FBI estimates that some 85-90% of missing persons are juveniles which amounts to some 750,000 cases of missing children per year or 2,100 per day. Many can be recovered with quick reporting by parents.

One way to help protect your child in the unimaginable event that they were to become missing, is to have their fingerprints on file. There are a number of do-it-yourself fingerprinting kits available. The kits allow you to take a fingerprint of your child as a permanent record that can be used should they ever become missing. In addition, local law enforcement organizations often conduct fingerprinting sessions at area shopping malls and other community venues making the process that much easier.

Identification cards for your children are available including a picture and complete description which parents can keep in their wallet or purse at all times. If your child were to become missing, you have a complete description immediately available at your fingertips and preparedness and prompt action greatly increase the chances that your child will be recovered safely.

Remember too, that you can help other families protect their children. Work with your area schools and law enforcement to organize a child identification day where fingerprinting and other identification programs can be conducted for all of the children in your area. If just a few minutes of work beforehand can help recover just one lost child, the effort is well worth making.

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