Abductions are not common in York County, but that doesn’t mean that local law enforcement isn’t prepared for them.
Members of the Pennsylvania-based York County Sheriff’s Department, along with several other agencies, recently conducted a missing child exercise.
“It doesn’t happen often in York County, it’s important for us to keep our skills up, know what we will do for that one call for that child that’s abducted,” Sgt. Samuel Shipley, of the York County Sheriff’s Department, told Fox 43.
The exercise brought together the agencies and students from Delone Catholic High School, Fox 43 reported.
Sgt. Shipley oversees the York County Missing Child Task Force drill. The exercise brings together law enforcement officers from several agencies, such as the FBI.
After their friend is “kidnapped,” students provide information to law enforcement officers who then use the information to locate the missing student. The idea is to find the missing child as quickly as possible.
“Once a child abduction begins that National Center for missing child say that if a child’s going to be murdered it usually happens in the first three hours of the abduction, so it’s important to get out here and work quickly with our law enforcement, partners and make sure we bring the child back safely,” Shipley told Fox 43.