|
 E-mail Story Print Friendly
Opinion editorials Handling of Pit Appeal Calls for a Time-Out |
Front Page 
opinion editorialsThis editorial first appeared in the Albuquerque Journal. It was written by editorial page staff and is unsigned as it represents the opinion of the newspaper rather than the writers
.
Thursday, June 11, 2009
Give Public Tools To Help Find the Missing
Someone you love goes missing.
In your grief you hope officials are doing everything they possibly can. That everything hasn't included letting average New Mexicans know about the case.
There are 1,142 active New Mexico missing persons cases entered into the National Crime Information Centers database — the tool law enforcement officials use. Around 400 are also entered into the New Mexico Missing Persons Clearinghouse, but a mere 18 are on the section the public can access.
So much for enlisting the help of the people who are driving, shopping, working, eating out, etc., across the state who might actually see your missing loved one.
Lt. Gov. Diane Denish says “we need the public's awareness and watchful eyes on these cases. If someone is out there, alive and walking around, the public needs that tool where they could recognize that missing person and report them.”
State law says all missing persons cases in New Mexico shall be entered into both databases. The Department of Public Safety oversees the state database and says all cases — except a few involving rapes and certain types of domestic violence that police don't want the public to see for safety reasons — should be available to the public. But lapses in training and paperwork have kept more than 700 cases from being entered.
Among them are the cases of the seven women found buried on the West Mesa who have been identified. Those cases prompted Denish to put together several working groups to come up with better practices. She says “going forward, there should be no excuse” for the databases not to match.
DPS Maj. Robert Schilling, who is responsible for the state database, says getting the public involved “generates tips for our investigations, and that is huge for missing persons cases.”
First things first: It would be huge to let the public know who to look for in the first place.
You also can send comments via our comment form
|
|
