Consideration and Approval of Intergovernmental Agreement: Consideration of an Intergovernmental Agreement (IGA) with the City of Williams, City of Page, Northern Arizona University, Coconino County, City of Flagstaff, Town of Fredonia, City of Sedona, Arizona Department of Public Safety, and Arizona Game and Fish Commission for the creation and participation in the Arizona Child Abduction Response Team (CART), Coconino Region.

The Child Abduction Response Team (CART) program is a multi-disciplinary approach to responding to a missing or abducted child incident. Team composition is critical to a CART's implementation and long - term success. Commitment from the Chief Executive Officer(s) CEO(s) is required before a team will be reviewed and accepted for placement in CART training.

Each jurisdiction is different in its approach to responding to missing and abducted children; some jurisdictions have more resources than others. Forming a coalition as part of a Department of Justice (DOJ) component of the Amber Alert Program will provide valuable resources. The CART program is an organized, rapid, and planned response to an abducted child or other missing child incident. When time is a critical element of success, and success means the safe rescue of a child, the CART could make a difference in the outcome of the investigation.

CART is a new approach to conducting child abduction investigations that can save precious time in the first few hours following the incident. Because team organization and planning activities have occurred prior to the incident, CART can bring a tool box full of resources ready to deploy to any location. This includes pre-identified assets, prearranged multi-agency commitments, pre-established criteria and protocols and pre-trained resources.

By creating a team for the Coconino Region, guidelines are established for the agencies to work together to come to a successful end. Our working team consists of representatives from the Flagstaff Police Department, Coconino County Sheriff's Department, Williams Police Department, Northern Arizona University Police Department, Sedona Police Department, Fredonia Marshall's, Page Police Department, Arizona Department of Public Safety, Arizona Game and Fish Department, Adult Probation, Victim Witness and Coconino County Search and Rescue. This partnership is critical to the successful recovery of a missing or abducted child.

This agreement is the first step in the program. All agencies will attend training in the areas of Basic Forensic Response, Canvassing and Search Strategies, Investigative Strategies, CART team training, Specialized Investigative Techniques, and Leadership. Training is currently being conducted.

With a CART response, properly trained and exercised team members bring not only their expertise, but organization and coordinated skills, as well as team continuity to the situation. CART members provide ready access to any needed equipment such as mobile command posts, all-terrain vehicles, search dogs, communications equipment, computers, or any other specialty equipment that may be needed to safely rescue a child. Because of the pre-established planning, teams are accessible and able to immediately assemble as many or as few assets as required by the specific situation. Those agencies with limited resources will benefit significantly from the program.

In the case of any missing or abducted child, time is a critical factor to a successful resolution. The ability to bring together a "working team", specifically trained under one program so protocols remain consistent across agencies, is expected to provide the best opportunity for the safe return of a child.

Currently, there are eighteen teams in the nation that have been certified by the Department of Justice in the CART program. In order to be certified, the teams must attend training and complete an actual child abduction exercise to test the proficiency and capabilities of the CART programs. Teams are intensely evaluated in response, policy compliance, operational capacity and overall performance. Teams successfully completing the training, policy compliance standards and other certification requirements are certified for performance.

One team in Arizona has obtained their certification and the team members are Apache Junction Police Department, Chandler Police Department, Federal Bureau of Investigation, Gilbert Police Department, Glendale Police Department, Town of Maricopa Police Department, Maricopa County Attorney's Office, Mesa Police Department, Paradise Valley Police Department, Phoenix Police Department, Pinal County Sheriff's Office, Scottsdale Police Department, Tempe Police Department, and United States Department of Justice.

The Yavapai County Sheriff’s Office has created and implemented a CART program and will train throughout this year and certification by the Department of Justice is expected early next year. Having a team in Yavapai and in Maricopa bolsters our resources and abilities, especially during a sustained event.

There is no financial impact with this agreement. Each agency funds their own activities. If Grant funds are obtained for this program, some or all of these expenses may be reimbursed to the parties incurring such costs. The only anticipated cost to the City of Flagstaff is in allowing Flagstaff Police Officers and participants to attend training. The current Flagstaff Police Department budget can cover any of these costs which should be minimal.

Effective governance.

No

By entering into an agreement to participate and create a CART team, the City of Flagstaff will help ensure a more positive resolution in the event a child is missing or abducted. Without this agreement resources to respond to a child abduction will be limited to only those provided by the Flagstaff Police Department.

The Flagstaff Police Department plans to discuss the formation of the CART Team in the media at community support meetings and Blockwatch programs.