AboutJack Toomey Expertise U.S.: I am an expert in this category for the purpose of giving young people an idea what the hiring process for the position of police officer involves.
Please do not ask me about potential jail sentences that you, your friends, or family might receive in court. There is no way for me to know that. I am NOT a probation officer so I cannot answer questions about probation and parole matters. I am a retired police officer with 26 years experience.I worked in a variety of assignments including investigations, homicide, sex crimes, runaway investigations, missing persons, and fraud.I also dealt with the general public during that time giving a wide range of advice on matters such as domestic disputes, problem solving, teenage problems, civil/criminal matters, and dealing with the mentally ill. I am available to give sound and reasonable advice which can solve most problems.
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Experience Worked as a police officer/detective for 26 years.
Graduate of the University of Maryland.B.S. in Law Enforcement.Attended numerous schools and training courses involving investigations, interviewing, interrogations, crime detection, domestic violence, and others.Recognized as an expert court witness.
Received numerous awards during my police career for expert investigations. Handled the most sensitive and confidential investigations. In 1999 I won an award for my work with high school students while working in my new career in a large suburban high school.
Expert: Jack Toomey Date: 7/2/2008 Subject: Procedure on kidnapping
Question Hi Jack Toomey
I was wondering if you could answer some questions for me please. I am writing a book ( I am not a published author ) however I have started writing this book and its flowing quite nicely for me so far.
In the story there is a 3 and a 1/2 year old girl who gets kidnapped from her bed at night. There is no forced entry, as the kidnapper came through the back door before it was locked for the night. No one saw or heard anything, the little girl was taken while her younger brother and sister were left behind in the same room untouched.
What would the police procedure be for this case?
Who would be sent round to the house after the 911 call that the little girl was missing?
There is no note, ransom, or sign of a struggle, she is just merely gone, what would the police do?
Who would be called in as backup or for help?
How long would it be investigated when the only bit of evidence/witness that was found was a neighbour saw a black car parked up for a few hours but she cant remember what type or a registration number, just that it was there and she assumed it was someone's car who was visiting?
How would the investigation start and finish etc?
And what would the time scale of it all be when nothing is found?
I would really appreciate your response and look forward to hearing from you soon.
Thank you
Karen
Answer Karen,
I'll try to help you but you have to understand that when you ask things like "what would the police do" or "what is the police procedure" that is a very general question and almost impossible to answer. That is because every case is different, every officer is a different person who is thinking and acting independantly on his own, and police departments work independantly of each other and there are no national standards or procedures. It would be like writing a book about a doctor and asking me what the doctor would do if someone complained of a headache. If you took ten doctors they might do ten different things.
Having said all of that I want to tell you that your plot is rather over the top. In all of my years in law enforcement I have never been involved, never heard of, or had any experience with a case like you describe. In other words it wouldn't happen in real life. But I realize that your book is fiction so I will give this a try.
1. police procedure? Search the house. Most missing children turn up somewhere in the house. Either hiding or choosing a different place to sleep. If the child is not in the house then obviously interview the parents (I presume that there are parents present), the other children, and interview the parents again. If the child is truly missing then a radio lookout would be placed and then other police officers would become aware of the case by this lookout.
Detectives and forensic people would come to the house and do their work. More interviews, check for forced entry, things out of place, take photographs, look for disturbances in other rooms, seize the bed clothing of the child, fingerprint the bedroom, interview neighbors, and many other things.
2. a uniformed officer would answer the original 911 call. You are British?
3. revert back to question #1 for the answer.
4 s/a
5. how long would it be investigated? Are you asking me the number of days or weeks? Of course it would be investigated until the child was found, either alive or dead.
6. I don't understand what you mean. Are you asking me to predict how the investigation would end? I have no idea. I think that is probably your job to write that part.
