RI Laws/Alerts in Place

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MissieMt

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Please post here any current laws/alerts in place relating to the Missing/UID.
 
TITLE 42. STATE AFFAIRS AND GOVERNMENT
CHAPTER 28. STATE POLICE
§ 42-28-3.1. AMBER Alert

(a) The division of state police, in consultation with other appropriate agencies, shall develop a voluntary partnership between law enforcement agencies, media outlets and other appropriate entities to send out emergency alerts entitled the Rhode Island America's Missing: Broadcast Emergency Response Plan ("AMBER Plan"). The AMBER Plan shall provide a pro-active emergency public alert plan as part of the response to serious child abduction cases that may be expediently triggered by law enforcement personnel in accordance with protocols and procedures established by the division of state police in consultation with appropriate law enforcement authorities, the Rhode Island emergency management agency, state and local officials and cooperating members of the broadcast media ("AMBER Alert").
(b) Once a law enforcement agency has confirmed that a child has been abducted and that the circumstances of the abduction indicate that the child is in serious danger of bodily harm or death, the confirming agency will obtain descriptive information for the AMBER Alert, contact the state police to provide the descriptive information to the state police and identify a point of contact within their agency.

§ 42-28-3.2. AMBER Alert procedures for protocol and implementation
The division of state police shall establish protocols and procedures to implement an AMBER Alert. The protocols and procedures shall be updated as may be necessary in consultation with the entities and agencies involved in the AMBER Alert process to provide effective and efficient procedures to assist law enforcement agencies, broadcast media and other cooperating agencies or entities in providing an emergency alert to the public in response to a serious child abduction case.


TITLE 11. CRIMINAL OFFENSES

CHAPTER 26. KIDNAPPING
§ 11-26-1.3. Missing child -- Duty to investigate

Whenever a parent notifies a local or state police department that his or her minor child and the child's other parent have been missing for at least one week and that their whereabouts are unknown, the police department shall immediately conduct an investigation to ascertain the location of the missing parent and child. However, there shall not be a duty to investigate when the notification is provided by a noncustodial parent denied visitation pursuant to an order of the family court and the parent in possession of the child has custody of the child pursuant to an order of the family court.

TITLE 16. EDUCATION
CHAPTER 60. BOARD OF REGENTS FOR ELEMENTARY AND SECONDARY EDUCATION
§ 16-60-6. Commissioner of elementary and secondary education

(applicable section)
(12) To receive from law enforcement agencies a list periodically of the names of Rhode Island missing children and to disseminate these lists to local school districts.

TITLE 23. HEALTH AND SAFETY
CHAPTER 3. VITAL RECORDS
§ 23-3-5.Duties of state registrar of vital records
(applicable section)
(8) (i) Flag birth certificates of missing children and perform all other acts and duties required to be performed by him or her pursuant to chapter 28.8 of title 42.
(ii) Upon receipt of information pursuant to § 42-28.8-3, provide the local registrars of the several cities and towns with that information.

TITLE 23. HEALTH AND SAFETY
CHAPTER 3. VITAL RECORDS
§ 23-3-7. Duties of local registrars
(applicable section)
(6) Flag birth certificates of missing children and perform all other acts and duties required to be performed pursuant to chapter 28.8 of title 42.

TITLE 42. STATE AFFAIRS AND GOVERNMENT
CHAPTER 28.8. PROTECTION OF CHILDREN


§ 42-28.8-1. Missing children's information center
There is hereby established in the division of state police under the jurisdiction of the superintendent of state police a missing children's information center.

§ 42-28.8-2. Scope of responsibilities
The missing children's information center shall be charged with the responsibility of the following:
(1) Coordinate, file, and promptly investigate all missing children cases in the state and create a central office on missing children.
(2) Collect and maintain data on missing children in the state and throughout the United States.
(3) Coordinate with other states and with the federal government in investigating cases of missing children and unidentified bodies.
(4) Provide special training to law enforcement officers and medical examiners to help them expeditiously handle cases of missing children and to prohibit any regulation requiring a twenty-four (24) hour waiting period prior to conducting a preliminary investigation of a complaint of a missing child.
(5) Developing recommendations for better reporting and use of computer systems.
(7) Providing the necessary equipment for the use of the national crime information center by state and municipal police departments.

§ 42-28.8-2.1. Investigation
No municipal police department of the state shall have in force any regulation or policy that requires a twenty-four (24) hour waiting period prior to conducting an investigation of a complaint of a missing child.

§ 42-28.8-3. Reporting and distribution of information
The police departments of the various towns and cities of the state shall immediately enter the information on the missing person into the national crime information center computer of the federal bureau of investigation and inform the national center for missing and exploited children. Police departments shall provide to the parents or guardians of the missing child information release forms from the national center for missing and exploited children and advise them of the services of the national center for missing and exploited children. The missing children's information center shall send a report to the missing children's information center of the state police. The missing children's information center shall distribute the names of and other descriptive information about these children to the state registrar of vital statistics in the department of health, the commissioner of education, the school districts of the state, all branches of the United States postal service in the state, and all law enforcement agencies in the state.

§ 42-28.8-4. Hotline
The division of the state police shall establish a statewide 1-800 telephone line to receive reports on missing children.

§ 42-28.8-5. Contents of report on a missing child
A law enforcement agency in which a complaint of a missing child has been filed shall prepare a report on a missing person. That report shall include, but is not limited to, the following:
(a) All information contained in the complaint on a missing person on forms prescribed by the superintendent of the Rhode Island state police.
(b) All information or evidence which shall be gathered by an immediate preliminary investigation.
(c) A statement by the law enforcement officer in charge, setting forth that officer's assessment of the case based upon all evidence and information received.
(e) An explanation of the next steps to be taken by the law enforcement agency filing the report.

§ 42-28.8-6. Public education and information
The director of the department of children, youth, and families shall provide statewide educational and public informational seminars for the purpose of developing public awareness of the problems regarding missing children and encourage the development of community programs to aid law enforcement agencies to locate missing children.

§ 42-28.8-7. School records -- Flagging required
(a) Upon notification by the missing children's information center of a person's disappearance, the commissioner of education shall cause any school in which the person is currently or was previously enrolled to flag the record of that person in such a manner that whenever a copy of or information regarding the record is requested, the school shall be alerted to the fact that the record is that of a missing person.
(b) In response to any inquiry, the school shall not provide a copy of the school records or other information concerning the person whose record is flagged pursuant to this section except as approved by the missing children's information center.
(c) When a copy of the school record of a person whose record has been flagged is requested in person, the school personnel accepting the request shall immediately notify his or her supervisor. The person making the request shall complete a form supplying his or her name, address, telephone number, social security number, and relationship to the missing person and the name, address, and birth date of the missing person. The driver's license of the person making the request, if available, shall be photocopied and returned to him or her. He or she shall be informed that a copy of the records shall be mailed to him or her. The school personnel shall note the physical description of the person making the request, and, upon the latter's departure from the school's office, his or her supervisor shall immediately notify the missing children's information center as to the request and the information obtained pursuant to this section. The school shall retain the form completed by the person making the request unless the missing children's information center requests otherwise.
(d) When a copy of the school records of a person whose record has been flagged is requested in writing, the school personnel receiving the request shall immediately notify his or her supervisor. The supervisor shall immediately notify the local law enforcement authority or the missing children's information center as to the request and shall provide a copy of the written request. The school shall retain the original written request unless otherwise requested by the missing children's information center.

§ 42-28.8-8. Birth certificates -- Flagging required
(a) Upon receipt of information by the missing children's information center that a person born in this state is missing, the state registrar of vital statistics shall transmit such information to the local registrar. Both the state registrar and the local registrars shall flag the birth certificate records of the missing person in such a manner that whenever a copy of the birth certificate or information regarding the birth record is requested, the registrars shall be alerted to the fact that the certificate is that of a missing person. Upon notification by the missing children's information center that the missing person has been recovered, the state registrar shall remove the flag from the person's birth certificate record and shall notify any other previously notified local registrar to remove the flag from his or her records.
(b) In response to any inquiry, a registrar or his or her employees shall not provide a copy of a birth certificate or information concerning the birth record of any person whose record is flagged pursuant to this section except as approved by the missing children's information center.
(c) When a copy of the birth certificate of a person whose record has been flagged is requested in person, the registrar's personnel accepting the request shall immediately notify his or her supervisor. The supervisor shall inform the person making the request that the birth record is not available at that time but that the copy will be mailed to the requestor's address. The supervisor shall immediately notify the missing children's information center as to the request and the address given by the person making the request.
(d) When a copy of the birth certificate of a person whose record has been flagged is requested in writing, the registrar's personnel receiving the request shall immediately notify his or her supervisor. The supervisor shall immediately notify the missing children's information center as to the request and shall provide a copy of the written request. The custodian shall retain the original written request unless the missing children's information center requests otherwise.

http://www.amber-net.org/Statutes/ari.pdf



Rhode Island Amber Alert Criteria

• Law enforcement confirms a child has been abducted.
• Law enforcement believes the circumstances surrounding the abduction indicate that the child is in danger of serious bodily harm or death.
• There is enough descriptive information about the child, abductor, and/or suspect's vehicle to believe an immediate broadcast alert will help.
If these criteria are met, alert information must be put together for public distribution. This information can include descriptions and pictures of the missing child, the suspected abductor, a suspected vehicle, and any other information available and valuable to identifying the child and suspect.

http://www.risp.state.ri.us/amberalert/
 
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