Alexandria, Va. – The Association of Public-Safety Communications Officials (APCO) International received final approval from ANSI on January 8, 2015 for an American National Standard (ANS) that identifies standard practices for responding to calls of missing, abducted and sexually exploited children.

APCO ANS 1.101.3-2015 was developed in conjunction with the membership of the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children’s (NCMEC) Missing Kids & 9-1-1 Readiness Project Executive Committee (formerly named the Joint Steering Committee on Call Center Best Practices in Cases of Missing, Abducted and Sexually Exploited Children).

“It is important for PSAPs to recognize the need to follow specific procedures when responding to calls of missing, abducted and sexually exploited children,” said APCO President John Wright. APCO is very pleased to be able to assist PSAPs around the country by delivering this most important standard to our industry. It is our hope that this standard will make a difference in the investigation of serious crimes impacting our nation’s children.

This standard is a reference designed for public safety telecommunications personnel. The standard attempts to present the missing, abducted and/or sexually exploited child response process in a logical progression from the first response (initial call intake and information entry) through ongoing incident and case support (data query, entry and management in support of field/investigative work).

For questions regarding APCO Standards, please email standards@apcointl.org.
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