When it comes to abductions and amber alerts, a child's life can change in an instant. So today, local and federal law enforcement came together to train and to prepare for missing child cases.
Police K-9s, role players from the community and an influx of officers poured into Weston today for a child abduction training. It was only a drill held by FBI Miami, but the simulated scenarios even included a fake abduction script with witnesses and a mock press conference.
Police from over 16 departments participated in the exercise. The main purpose was to be ready for a real life situation and improve communication and response time between agencies - as every minute counts in an emergency, especially when it involves a missing child.
"Time is of the essence in these sorts of cases and we're really racing against the clock,” said the FBI’s James Lewis. “We’re trying to preach to these detectives to have a plan in place in the event of an emergency."
"Speaking as a mother of three children, it's extremely important because getting things done in a timely measure is crucial to solving these cases,” said Teri Lewis, one of the community members who participated in the drill.
This drill also stressed the importance of the public's role in keeping an eye out during a child abduction.
