Policy Text
Policy Delano Police Department
317 Delano PD Policy Manual
Missing Persons
317.1 PURPOSE AND SCOPE
This policy provides guidance for handling missing person investigations.
317.1.1 DEFINITIONS
At risk - Includes, but is not limited to (Penal Code § 14215):
• A victim of a crime or foul play.
• A person missing and in need of medical attention.
• A missing person with no pattern of running away or disappearing.
• A missing person who may be the victim of parental abduction.
• A mentally impaired missing person, including cognitively impaired or developmentally
disabled.
Missing person - Any person who is reported missing to law enforcement when the person’s
location is unknown. This includes a child who has been taken, detained, concealed, enticed away
or kept by a parent in violation of the law (Penal Code § 277 et seq.). It also includes any child who
is missing voluntarily, involuntarily or under circumstances that do not conform to his/her ordinary
habits or behavior, and who may be in need of assistance (Penal Code § 14215).
Missing person networks - Databases or computer networks available to law enforcement and
that are suitable for information related to missing persons investigations. These include the
National Crime Information Center (NCIC), the California Law Enforcement Telecommunications
System (CLETS), Missing Person System (MPS) and the Unidentified Persons System (UPS).
317.2 POLICY
The Delano Police Department does not consider any report of a missing person to be routine and
assumes that the missing person is in need of immediate assistance until an investigation reveals
otherwise. The Delano Police Department gives missing person cases priority over property-
related cases and will not require any time frame to pass before beginning a missing person
investigation (Penal Code § 14211).
317.2.1 TELETYPE NOTIFICATIONS
When the missing person is under the age of 21,shall send a teletype to the Department of Justice
and the National Crime Information Center within four hours after accepting the report (42 USC
5779(a)). To assist the Department of Justice, the teletype must note if the case involves a person
at-risk or under 16 -years of age.
317.3 REQUIRED FORMS AND BIOLOGICAL SAMPLE COLLECTION KITS
The Investigation supervisor should ensure the forms and kits are developed and available in
accordance with this policy, state law, federal law and the California Peace Officer Standards and
Training (POST) Missing Persons Investigations guidelines, including:
Copyright Lexipol, LLC 2019/12/06, All Rights Reserved. Missing Persons - 1
Published with permission by Delano Police Department