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BPD Implements "A Child Is Missing" Program

The Bellevue Police Department has begun to work with a national organization designed to help speed recovery of missing children, the elderly or disabled people. A Child Is Missing (ACIM) is a national non-profit which provides free and fast assistance to police departments when a report of a missing person is received. The department has been using the system for about six months. Currently, every member of the Bellevue Police Department is being trained in how to use it.

Sergeant Tim Melvin supervises the Family Crimes Unit and has organized the training for the department. He said the ACIM system is similar to Amber Alert but for situations that are less intense, he explained "Amber Alert has pretty strict criteria. You have to know who the abductor was and a vehicle description, whereas with a child is missing, we can use it for a variety of situations where a child or senior with Alzheimer’s has just wandered off."

When a person is reported missing, the ACIM system sends a prerecorded message to telephone numbers within one mile of the last-seen location. ACIM continues to work with the police department until the missing person has been found. ACIM is funded by federal and private donations.