Authorities say an interagency operation conducted this week brought home 63 children and teens reported missing as runaways in the Capital Region.
Working out of a command center set up at a Latham motel, the first-ever Capital Region Missing Child Rescue Operation was coordinated by the New York State Department of Criminal Justice Services. Officials say it brought together the state and federal partners and the Albany, Schenectady and Troy police.
Albany Police Chief Brendan Cox says there are several group homes scattered across the city that house vulnerable children, already traumatized, that are easy marks for those who would victimize them.
"In today's world, you know, contacting somebody is text away, tweet away, another social media app away," said Cox. "Normally, when we're working those cases, we have investigators that are working those alone, and they're trying to track down information. But over the last three days, we've had representatives from 50 agencies out there. 50 agencies on the floor, working together from all walks of life. So from private industry, from social services, from Child Protection, from law enforcement, from probation, that are all able to talk, share information and learn real time where somebody's at."
National Child Protection Task Force CEO Kevin Branzetti said "The focus was the kids, and finding them. These are leading to investigations, and those investigations have started. I would say that the likelihood of arrests coming down the road high, very high. But it was first about that finding."
Branzetti stressed the importance of quickly locating missing children due to the ever-present danger posed by human traffickers.
Troy Police Department Chief Daniel DeWolf says he made invaluable networking bonds during the three-day operation.
"To have those connections, they just mean everything. I mean, you're sitting as a detective by yourself trying to figure something out, and you don't have all these other people that you can they can reach out to and have help you, and even the social services part of it where now you did find the kid, but now I need to find something better for this kid, right? You know, they need more resources. To be able to pick up the phone and call that person that you were sitting next to during this week now you have that connection, so you can call them and say, Hey, I have this kid, and they need more. And you know, how can, how can I help this kid," said DeWolf.
New York State Missing Persons Clearinghouse manager Cindy Neff says once missing kids are brought home, the collaborative effort is looking to provide them with the services and support they need.
"Last year, New York State had just a little over 12,000 missing child reports to law enforcement, and of those, 50% of those were reports were for children who had multiple missing episodes," Neff said. "So actually that's about 1,700 kids are responsible for 50% of those. So that's what we're really trying to focus on addressing, why are those children leaving? Why are they going missing?"
DCJS says the 63 children and teens ranged in age from 2 to 17 years old when they were reported missing, and from 6 to 21 years old when found. Albany Police Department closed 40 cases; Troy, 11; and Schenectady, five. The Colonie Police Department also located a 25-year-old missing vulnerable adult.
Neff hailed the three-day operation as "the most significant and meaningful event" yet.
"It's not just locating kids, we're changing the minds and perspectives of everybody involved in it, and every child, any child who goes missing, should be considered endangered until they're you can prove otherwise," said Neff.
