WHEREAS, over 600,000 individuals go missing in the United States every year, with as many as 85,000 active missing person cases open at any given time, and it is estimated that 4,400 unidentified bodies are recovered each year, with approximately 1,000 of those bodies remaining unidentified after one year; and

WHEREAS, the National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NamUs)1 is the national information clearinghouse and resource center to support missing, unidentified, and unclaimed person cases, and the NamUs program is used as a comprehensive tool for state and local law enforcement agencies and medical examiners and coroners to help resolve these cases; and

WHEREAS, the NamUs program provides international resources for missing or murdered migrants, and provides the ability to include relevant data and case information related to the investigation of missing and/or unidentified indigenous persons cases to address the number of missing and murdered American Indian and Alaska Native men and women; and

WHEREAS, as of October 1, 2019, since being reported to NamUs, 18,563 missing person cases and 3,955 unidentified person cases have been resolved, and there are currently 16,696 open/active missing person cases and 12,989 open/active unidentified person cases published in the NamUs database; and

WHEREAS, the NamUs program is managed and administered by the National Institute of Justice (NIJ) and brings together people, information, forensic science, and technology to help resolve missing and unidentified person cases across the United States, with all NamUs resources and services provided at no cost through funding by the NIJ; and

WHEREAS, through NamUs, NIJ provides comprehensive support and technical assistance to state and local law enforcement agencies, including analytical support and data mining, forensic services (such as DNA, fingerprint coding and examination, dental examination and coding, and anthropological assessments), technology upgrades, user training, and victim services; and

WHEREAS, NamUs professional user registration is provided for law enforcement, medical examiners and coroners, and other allied professionals sponsored by criminal justice agencies to allow access to sensitive case data, and NamUs Regional Program Specialists monitor and validate new case information to protect sensitive information, prevent fraud, and improve case management; and

WHEREAS, NamUs provides public user registration to family members of missing persons, victim advocates, media representatives, and other members of the general public to enter new missing person cases, contribute relevant information to  NamUs, and view and search  non-sensitive information  in NamUs; and

WHEREAS, the NamUs program is a powerful investigative tool that enables agencies to better manage, share, and compare case information to help resolve cases, foster better communication, and work more effectively with the public and stakeholder partners across tribal, local, state, and federal jurisdictions. Now, therefore, be it

RESOLVED, that the International Association of Chiefs of Police recommend and promote the routine use of the NamUs program in the United States or other similar programs with global reach, such as the INTERPOL Notices program, to help resolve missing and unidentified persons cases; and be it

FURTHER RESOLVED, the International Association of Chiefs of Police recommends that state and local law enforcement agencies support agency activities to gain the maximum benefit from the NamUs program, such as facilitating professional user access to NamUs, entering missing person case information to the NamUs database in a timely manner, and support the use of NamUs resources; and be it

FURTHER RESOLVED, that the International Association of Chiefs of Police recommends that NIJ’s resources be maintained at sufficient levels to enable the continued federal support for this program and to assist state and local law enforcement agencies nationwide to utilize the NamUs program and its services and to enter cases and provide biometric samples.

Submitted by: Forensics Committee

Co-Sponsored by: Police Investigative Operations Committee, Victim Services Committee, Communications & Technology Committee, Criminal Justice Information System Committee, Juvenile Justice & Child Protection Committee, and Indian Country Law Enforcement Section

FOR.05.19

1 National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (website), https://www.namus.gov/.