Child Rescue Alert

The new nationally co-ordinated Child Rescue Alert was launched on International Missing Children's Day, May 25 2010.

It is a partnership between the police, the press and the public. Its aim is to locate abducted children and bring them to safety by using the media to promptly publish details about an abducted child's disappearance to the public. If the public have information that may help locate the child, they will be asked to call 0300 2000 333.

Only calls about a current CRA should be made to this number.  The number is kindly donated by Cable and Wireless and will only be available when a CRA has been activated.

The CRA system is compatible with other European Child Alert systems, so that concurrent alerts can be launched across EU country borders.

The Missing Persons Bureau has developed the nationally co-ordinated CRA system. We currently offer advice and operational support, in conjunction with the Child Exploitation and Online Protection centre (CEOP) to help investigate and publicise cases where a child has been abducted. We have been working with police forces by running practice exercises that cover several police force areas and even European countries.  This is an ongoing programme of exercises and helps to ensure that in the event of a launch, a Child Rescue Alert can be managed efficiently, having refined any issues that may have arisen at the practice stage.

The management of the CRA will soon become the responsibility of CEOP.  We will continue to work with CEOP to ensure that the management of the CRA remains efficient.

Not all cases will result in a CRA being launched.  The decision is an operational one made by the Senior Investigating Officer for the police force concerned.

The four criteria for launching a CRA are:

• The child is under the age of 18
• There is reasonable belief that the child has been kidnapped or abducted (which includes being taken under the influence of a third party)
• There is reasonable belief that the child is in imminent danger of serious harm or death
• There is sufficient information available to enable the public to assist the police in locating the child

N.B. all four of these criteria need to be met before a launch is activated.

Police officers considering issuing a Child Rescue Alert should consult the CRA protocol 2010 for further guidance and information on how to access 24 hour NPIA assistance.  This, and all relevant documentation, is available from the Missing Persons Bureau community on POLKA 24 hours a day or contact the Bureau for a copy on 0845 000 5481 (Mon-Fri 9-5).  You will also find the special police-only phone number on POLKA, where you will be able to speak to an on-call advisor, 24 hours a day.

The Child Rescue Alert is based on the AMBER alert system which has been in use in the United States since 1997.  AMBER stands for "America's Missing Broadcasting Emergency Response" and was named after nine year old Amber Hagerman who was abducted, raped and murdered in January 1996.  It was later discovered that local law enforcement had information that might have helped to locate her shortly after she was abducted, but had no means to distribute this information and this is why the AMBER alert system was developed.  The national programme is dedicated to all children nationwide, who have been abducted.

In the United Kingdom, Sussex Police first introduced a Child Rescue Alert system for their force on 14 November 2002.  Surrey and Hampshire quickly followed.  Since then, there has been a gradual introduction throughout England and Wales and by 2005, every force had their own alert system.  The 2010 re-launch of the Child Rescue Alert on International Missing Children's Day marked the development of a nationally co-ordinated system which enables police forces to work together in the most efficient manner in the event of an Alert launch.

Please see the  UK Missing Kids website for details of current missing child appeals.  The Missing Kids website is used to publicise cases of missing children and the UK site is part of a global network of similar sites.  It can be updated by nominated users within police forces, known as Hub Forces.  Management of the website will soon be transferred to CEOP, but the Missing Persons Bureau will continue to have involvement in the site.  If you require more details about the site, please contact us.