And WE know this. They HAVE to take your report when you call to make it.
Unfortunately the parents who are actually told this, often do not.
Police are a bit like doctors. If they say it, then it must be true right?
When my sister in law was finally pregnant after IVF... she had a sky high blood pressure and her kidneys were failing.
She was less than two weeks from her due date. They were giving her all sorts of drugs to bring down her blood pressure, prevent seizures...
I was telling anyone who would listen that they need to get that baby out NOW or they were both going to die. Begging them to listen to me.
I was told "This doctor has 25 years of experience. You, are not a doctor. I am quite sure that he knows what he is doing."
They almost let this mother and her IVF baby DIE because they refused to doubt a doctor! And these are college educated people!
My sister law had all sorts of psychological issues after the birth, because she thought they were both going to die, she got hooked on Xanax.
SHE tells me, that the doctor should have taken the baby when her blood pressure went up. I swear, I talk to WALLS. :banghead:
I see it over and over again. The girl waking up in the middle of the night puking that isn't diagnosed with a brain tumor for two months.
Would that two months have made a difference in prognosis? We will never know.
The child who is on antibiotics for 8 months straight for "an infection" they can't locate, when it's clear to regular people he has Lymphoma.
Fortunately, that 8 month delay didn't prevent him from being successfully treated.
These are obviously, immediately life threatening issues. No gray area.
A missing 13 year old COULD have just gone to a friends or run away. Huge gray area.
If you hear from a cop that she will come home tomorrow, many parents think "he knows better than I do." Even though they are the parent.
It.Drives.Me.Nuts. :banghead:
http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/42/5780 has the wording of the US code stating that law enforcement agencies are not permitted to establish waiting periods before accepting missing child reports.
Each State reporting under the provisions of this section and section 5779 of this title shall—
(1) ensure that no law enforcement agency within the State establishes or maintains any policy that requires the observance of any waiting period before accepting a missing child or unidentified person report;
So does this mean that a police department that forces a parent to wait before they will accept the missing person information is in violation of federal law?
The following is quoted from literature on the NCMEC website (missingkids.com).
Remember no matter what you have been told,
there is no law requiring a waiting period for
reporting a missing child, who is younger than
21, to law enforcement or for entry into NCIC.
Law enforcement is not allowed to observe a waiting
period before taking a report from you. This means
when you call law enforcement to report your child
is missing, law enforcement cannot tell you to wait
a certain amount of time to see if your child returns
home before they take the report (42 U.S.C. § 5779)
