When receiving or responding to a report of a missing child, officers should determine the level of risk associated with the missing child. The risk assessment will help determine the potential danger posed to the missing child and the type and urgency of police response required. The assessment should attempt to identify how the child went missing, why the child went missing, if the child has a disability, and whether there are any additional elevated risk factors to be considered.

A child who is missing or unidentified shall be considered at risk of danger and treated as such until sufficient information to the contrary is confirmed.