Submitted by Oswego County Sheriff’s OfficeOSWEGO COUNTY, NY – The Oswego County Sheriff’s Office has partnered with the New York State Sheriffs’ Association, the New York State Police, the New York City Police Department, the NYS Association of Chiefs of Police, and the New York State Division of Criminal Justice Services and its Missing and Exploited Children Clearinghouse to bring an innovative child identification card to the citizens of Oswego County through a program called Operation SAFE CHILD.
Operation SAFE CHILD was created in 2005 to raise awareness about child safety by teaching parents and guardians the tools necessary in keeping their children safe in today’s world.
Through grant funding obtained through NYS Division of Criminal Justice Services (DCJS) the Oswego County Sheriff’s Office now has the equipment in place to take digital fingerprints and high resolution photographs, which will produce a SAFE CHILD identification card (for children under age 18) for parents and guardians to keep for themselves and with the option of having the information stored in a database at the Division of Criminal Justice Services in Albany.
The card contains information that is critical to expediting the return of a missing child; specifically, the child’s name, date of birth, gender, height, weight, hair color, eye color, etc. and a fingerprint image of both index fingers, which can be used to identify a child should that child go missing. Should the parent/guardian choose to give written consent to have the information stored in the database at DCJS, and should DCJS receive a missing child report, the fingerprints of that child would be included in a special search file and compared against all incoming fingerprints submitted to the agency.
The SAFE CHILD card stored in the database will also allow essential missing child information to be electronically disseminated and could dramatically increase the possibility of bringing a missing child home unharmed if used in conjunction with the New York State AMBER alert and Missing Child Alert programs.
Sheriff Todd urges parents and guardians to register their children’s identification information in the database, saying, “Whenever a child comes up missing, time is of the essence. To be able to get as much information out as quickly as possible, along with a picture and identification of the child, completely enhances our ability to locate the child.”
On June 5, 2008, the Oswego County Sheriff’s Office will be taking fingerprints and photos under Operation SAFE CHILD at the Skate and Bike Ride being held at the West Side Fire Station, 90 West First Street in Oswego, from 4:30 – 7:30 p.m. If you are interested in obtaining an ID card for your child, please feel free to attend.
To date, some local organizations that are participating in Operation SAFE CHILD are the Pinewood Head Start Program, Town of Volney; Phoenix Head Start Program, Town of Schroeppel; Mexico Pre-School, Town of Palermo; and Head Start Pre-K Oswego County Opportunities, City of Fulton. If you are interested in scheduling an appointment to have your child fingerprinted or if you are interested in scheduling a fingerprint event for a youth group, you may contact Sgt. Jeffrey Dunsmoor, Oswego County Sheriff’s Office, at 349-3333.
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