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The Importance
of Having a Good Photo of Your Child
One of the most important tools for law enforcement to use in the case
of a missing child is an up-to-date, good-quality photograph. Noted below
are some tips for parents and guardians regarding
such a photograph.
- The photograph should be a recent, head-and-shoulders color photograph
of the child in which the face is clearly seen. It should be of "school-portrait"
quality, and the background should be plain or solid so it does not
distract from the subject.
- When possible the photograph should be in a digitized form, and available
on a compact disk (CD), as opposed to just a hard copy. This minimizes
the time necessary to scan, resize, and make color corrects before
disseminating it to law enforcement.
- The photograph should be an accurate depiction of the child, not
overly posed or "glamorized."
Nor should other people, animals, or objects be in the photograph.
The photograph should not be taken outside, out of focus, torn, damaged,
or very small.
- The photograph should have space for accurate, narrative description
useful to identify the child such as name, nickname, height, weight,
sex, age, eye color, identifying marks, glasses, and braces.
- The photograph should be updated at least every
six months for children
6 years of age or younger and then once a year, or when a child's appearance
changes.
- All copies of child's photograph and information
should be maintained in an easily accessible, secure space by the parents
or guardian. The photograph and data should not be stored in a public
database.
Download the Best
Practices Guide for Child ID Kits.  |
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