ID Kits for child saftey
By Terry Jorden
As the May 25 National Missing Children's Day approaches, police are renewing efforts to promote the Kidz Printz program.
The Kidz Printz Child Identification Kit is an investigative tool for police when trying to quickly locate a child. Parents fill out the information and then keep the kit in a safe place to be used if their child goes missing.
Across Canada, thousands of children go missing each year, ranging from runaways to stranger and parental abductions, accidents, and lost children. While the vast majority of cases are solved and the number of stranger abductions has declined, police are still encouraging parents to use the kit.
"K Division has a large supply of the kits in stock and distributes them at events our members attend," said RCMP Assistant Commissioner Bill Sweeney in a letter to the Alberta Solicitor General. "The kits are well received by the public and our Community Policing Branch will continue to distribute them."
The kit provides an area inside for a child's information to be entered, as well as an area to attach a recent photo and DNA sample. Most importantly, there is a forensic ink strip and a designated area for the child's fingerprints to be recorded.
Police services worldwide recommend that families hold on to these kits and keep the information up-to-date. In Alberta, the RCMP has distributed "Kidz Printz" or similar kits since 2001. Businesses like London Drugs have also been distributing the kits since the 1980s.
The kits will also be distributed to individuals and organizations planning events during this year's Alberta Crime Prevention Week May 8-15.
