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CHARLESTON, Ill. (AP) — Police need "every tool" they can get when a child is missing, and that means more than a photograph.
That's why identification kits assembled for Carl Sandburg Elementary School first-grade students also included other items and materials.
Detective Marlon Williams of the Charleston Police Department said it is important for the kits to include such things as video recordings of the students. That not only shows what the children look like but also how they act, he explained.
"We want every tool available," Williams said. "There may be something distinctive. A child's appearance can change but mannerisms are typically consistent."
The kits assembled included videos, photographs, fingerprints and DNA samples from cheek swabs. The children's families then got the kits as an all-in-one packet that would be readily available if the need arises, Williams said.
The Charleston Masonic Lodge has sponsored the ID kit program for about the last five years.
Larry Drake, the program's director, said it's good to target younger students so their families will have the kits for all the years they're in school.
The goal is to have the children's identification materials immediately available so families don't have to take the time to search for photographs or come up with other information, he said.
The kits were offered at Carl Sandburg on Wednesday and that was to continue Thursday if enough students signed up. The program's also scheduled for Ashmore Elementary School, the only other school in the Charleston district that has first grade.
Drake encouraged parents to make copies of the disk with the videos and give them to other family members who care for their children.
Parents of 80 of Carl Sandburg's 180 first-graders signed permission slips to allow their children to receive the kits.
Drake said that's close to the response rates for the program during past years but organizers would like to see more participate.
"It seems a shame for those kids to miss out," he said, adding that all parents have to do is sign the permission slips.
Williams said police would also like to see more families take part in the program.
He said some parents might be hesitant because they think it's time consuming, but they need only provide a minimal amount of information "and we take care of the rest."
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Source: Journal Gazette & Times-Courier, http://bit.ly/1L7narS
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Information from: Mattoon Journal-Gazette, http://www.jg-tc.com
This is an AP-Illinois Exchange story offered by the Journal Gazette & Times-Courier.
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