MENU TITLE: Jimmy Ryce Law Enforcement Program. Series: OJJDP Published: March 1997 4 pages 7,298 bytes Jimmy Ryce Law Enforcement Training Center Program by Michael Medaris The Jimmy Ryce Law Enforcement Training Center (JRLETC) is a training and technical assistance program authorized by the Omnibus Appropriations Act of 1996. The program was designed to enhance the investigative response to missing children cases. With the advocacy and input of Donald and Claudine Ryce, whose 9-year-old son Jimmy was abducted and murdered in southern Florida in 1995, the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP) worked with the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) and the FBI to establish the JRLETC. This program offers multitiered training and promotes awareness of and encourages the use of existing FBI and other Federal resources to assist law enforcement agencies investigating missing children cases. Each training element complements the others in an overall implementation structure as described below. Training Chief Executive Officer Seminars at the Jimmy Ryce Law Enforcement Training Center. These 2-day, intensive seminars will highlight the most current research and practices related to missing children issues. Specifically, they will focus on broad coordination and policy concerns, comprehensive response protocols, liability issues, Federal resources available to assist law enforcement, and the new National Crime Information Center (NCIC) flagging system. The seminars are restricted to policy-level law enforcement executives, and attendance is by invitation only. Prospective seminar candidates will be nominated by national police organizations, U.S. Attorneys, State's Attorneys, FBI field offices, OJJDP, and NCMEC. Travel and lodging expenses will be reimbursed for those who attend the seminar. Responding to Missing and Exploited Children Cases (REMAC). Held on a regional basis, this 5-day course emphasizes investigative issues for Federal, State, and local law enforcement representatives working on missing children cases. It offers modules that focus on investigative techniques for all aspects of missing children cases. The course also provides detailed information pertaining to lead and case management, child homicide solvability factors, the impact on victims, and Federal resources that can provide assistance in missing children investigations. REMAC is offered at no cost to law enforcement agencies. In addition, lodging expenses incurred while attending REMAC will be reimbursed. NCIC Control Terminal Officer (CTO) Course. The FBI Criminal Justice Information Services Division will provide training at NCMEC for each State CTO with regard to the new NCIC flagging system and available Federal technical assistance. The NCIC flagging system immediately alerts NCMEC and the FBI Child Abduction and Serial Killer Unit (CASKU) to cases where the investigating agency has reason to believe that a child is missing under life-threatening circumstances. This alert allows NCMEC and CASKU to offer assistance as needed. Available Federal Technical Assistance Child Abduction and Serial Killer Unit. CASKU is a specialized rapid-response unit based at the FBI facility in Quantico, Virginia, that works closely with FBI field offices and State and local law enforcement authorities. CASKU provides investigative support through violent crime analysis, forensic resource coordination, interview and interrogation strategies, behavioral science profiling of unknown offenders, trial preparation and prosecutorial strategies, and expert testimony. CASKU also provides onsite assistance to law enforcement agencies upon request and can facilitate access to other FBI services such as Rapid-Start (major case management support system), Evidence Response Teams, and laboratory services. Federal Bureau of Investigation Field Offices. The FBI maintains 56 field offices throughout the United States. Federal statutes and agency guidelines authorize the FBI to immediately investigate reported or suspected kidnappings/child abductions and certain other crimes against children. The FBI also routinely supports State and local law enforcement authorities by providing a variety of FBI resources to assist with non-Federal investigations of crimes against children. FBI Laboratory Division. The FBI Laboratory routinely provides direct forensic support to child abduction investigations. FBI Evidence Response Teams, located at field offices throughout the country, can deploy immediately to all types of crime scenes and disaster sites and can bring highly sophisticated laboratory techniques directly to the field to assist Federal, State, and local law enforcement agencies. Morgan P. Hardiman Task Force on Missing and Exploited Children. Created by the 1994 Crime Act, the Hardiman Task Force assists State and local law enforcement with the most difficult missing and exploited children cases. The Task Force is comprised of at least two agents from each of these Federal agencies: U.S. Marshals Service; U.S. Secret Service; Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms; U.S. Customs Service; Drug Enforcement Administration; and the U.S. Postal Inspection Service. Through the Task Force, local law enforcement will have access to Federal specialized forensic and investigative resources. The FBI manages the Task Force, which is co-located with CASKU. National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. Since 1984, NCMEC has served as the national resource center and clearinghouse dedicated to issues involving missing children and to carrying out the following statutorily mandated functions: o Providing a toll-free hotline. o Providing technical assistance to parents, law enforcement, and other agencies working on missing and exploited children issues. o Promoting information sharing and providing technical assistance by networking with regional nonprofit organizations, State clearinghouses, and law enforcement. o Developing publications that contain practical, timely information. o Providing information on programs with free or low-cost transportation services that assist in reuniting children with their families. NCMEC is electronically linked with 49 State clearinghouses. Information and images can be transmitted instantly through this online network. NCMEC promotes active information sharing with State clearinghouses, provides pictures of missing children and possible leads for local law enforcement, and responds to technical information requests. NCMEC has developed a substantial publications list on missing and exploited children issues. Topics range from advice for parents selecting babysitters to the Case in Point series that examines case histories of convicted serial child molesters. Thousands of copies of NCMEC's Missing and Abducted Children: A Law Enforcement Guide to Case Investigation and Program Management have been distributed to Federal, State, and local law enforcement personnel. Michael Medaris serves as Program Manager of OJJDP's Missing and Exploited Children's Program.