The Greenwood Police Chief, William C. Dawson, will take advantage of training offered to him by the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, according to a news release from the Greenwood Police Department.
According to the U.S. Department of Justice, an estimated 800,000 children are reported missing each year. On average, 2,000 children are reported missing to law-enforcement agencies daily.
“The numbers are terrifying to me as a parent and a police officer. We need to do everything in our power to educate our children about the dangers they may encounter and educate our officers on the best practices and techniques to utilize during our investigation,” Dawson said.
“The two day seminar, hosted by the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children in Virginia, familiarizes participants with issues related to missing child cases including effective policies and practices, technical assistance, training, and available resources. Topics include Missing Children (nature of the problem), Policies and Practices for CEO’s, Strategy Development, Media Issues and Use, Community Self-Assessment, Training and Resources, and Survivor Impact,” the news release stated.
Dawson is scheduled to attend the seminar Feb. 23 and 24.
“I am very excited about the opportunity to attend this beneficial training provided by the Center. Anything we, as law enforcement, can do to protect the children of our community must be a top priority to us. I pray that our community never has to endure a missing child case, but should it happen, I know training like this will have us the most prepared we can be to bring the child home safe,” Dawson said.
