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The Fraternal Order of Police Supports Child Safety Campaign

Since 2007, the Fraternal Order of Police has partnered with the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children® (NCMEC) on the Take 25 campaign, a grassroots initiative aimed at heightening awareness about children’s safety issues. With a focus on prevention, Take 25 encourages parents, guardians, and other trusted adult role models to spend time talking to kids and teaching them ways to stay safer.

Take 25 was created in commemoration of National Missing Children’s Day, which is annually honored on May 25th. First proclaimed by President Ronald Reagan in 1983, this day serves as a reminder to the nation to renew efforts to reunite missing children with their families, remember those who are still missing, and make child protection a national priority. It’s a time of reflection and renewed hope for millions of families in communities across the country.

Since it was launched in 2007, the Take 25 Campaign has grown exponentially with support from local and national organizations, including the Fraternal Order of Police. In fact, more than 11,200 events were hosted across 1,900 cities in 2012.

Why Is Take 25 Important?

The National Center for Missing & Exploited Children conducted a study and analyzed more than 7,000 attempted abduction cases for the 7-year period from February 2005 to January 2012 and found:

Out of over 7,000 confirmed attempted abductions, analysis shows:

  • 69% of victims are female
  • 41% are between the ages of 10 and 14
  • 35% occur while a child is walking alone to/from school, the school bus or riding a bicycle
  • 35% occur between the hours of 2pm and 7pm on a weekday
  • Suspects: 96% are male, 48% are white
  • 72% involve a vehicle
Of the confirmed incidents:
  • 53% walked or ran away from the suspect and had no physical contact
  • 19% involved either a Good Samaritan or parent becoming involved in rescuing the child
  • 28% reported some type of reaction such as yelling, kicking, pulling away, or otherwise attracting attention
This shows us that children have been taught what to do if they ever come across this type of situation.

How Can I Become Involved?
Take 25 encourages law enforcement to host their own child safety events. You can help by providing child ID kits to children in your community, hosting a school safety presentation, or distributing important safety information to parents and children. The resources provided by Take 25 include child ID kits, safety tips, and discussion guidelines, all of which help parents to begin an on-going conversation with their children about safety. All Take 25 child safety materials are available free of charge.

Each Take 25 event organizer receives an outreach kit which includes a campaign overview, sample outreach documents, event planning resources, and other materials that can be distributed at each event.

The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) provides a wide array of training topics to law enforcement personnel pertaining to the investigation of exploitation, abduction, safety and victimization of children. NCMEC has offered the FOP an unprecedented training partnership. They will allow state lodge presidents to recommend qualified candidates for selected training courses. These openings will be awarded on a first come, first served basis. NCMEC's complete 2013-2014 Course Calendar is not yet available; however, some courses are available and are listed on their website: http://www.missingkids.com/Training/CEO. For more information you can email the Training Team at jrletc@ncmec.org.

Join this grassroots movement and help keep our nation's children safe! To learn more about Take 25 or to register an event, please contact Jenna-Lyn Ryckebusch at (703) 837-6112 or jryckebusch@ncmec.org or visit www.take25.org. To learn more about the FOP's involvement, please contact Grace Lynch at (202) 547-8189 or glynch@fop.net.

Additional Resources
Child ID Kit
For Parents Emergency Contact Form
Safety Tips
Event Organizer Kit