Iowa’s state child abduction-response unit has gotten little use, so far

DES MOINES - That state has deployed a mobile response unit designed to assist local law enforcement in child abductions only twice in almost a year, Iowa officials said Monday.

In both instances, the state's mobile response unit was deployed to assist in missing children cases, not abductions, an official said.

Iowa's Child Abduction Response Team, or CART, was unveiled last May. The mobile unit contains technology and equipment for state law enforcement agencies to help local officials in child abduction cases.

The unit was created and paid for with $25,000 in federal grant funds plus state assets from civil forfeitures.

'We have not had to use it in the last year (for child abductions), and we're thankful for that,” state Public Safety Commissioner Roxann Ryan said during a news conference Monday.

Each year the department receives 15 to 30 abduction reports, and three to five arrests are made.

Ryan and Gov. Terry Branstad used the governor's weekly news conference to speak about measures families can take to prevent child abductions and noted steps the state has taken to handle reported abductions more quickly, including creation of the CART unit.

Iowans should pay attention to 'things that look unusual,” Ryan said. If an abduction is suspected, they should gather and remember as much information as possible, such as physical descriptions of the children and the suspected abductors, and a description of the vehicle involved and its license plate number.

Ryan and Branstad said many of the plans were developed after child abduction cases in Evansville and Dayton, Iowa.

'After the experiences in Evansville and Dayton, we have certainly made a much greater effort to try and prepare for the actual abductions,” Ryan said.

Ryan and Branstad cautioned that spring and fall are 'particularly difficult” times because children's routines are disrupted, sometimes leading to less adult supervision.

'That's when they are at their most vulnerable,” Branstad said.