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This week, Spano and the Yonkers Police Department established the Yonkers Missing Child DNA Program. This self-administered program will allow parents to collect vital information that can be immediately turned over to the police in the event their child goes missing.
The kits – which are among the first of their kind in the state – are free and voluntary for parents to fill out with their children’s information. The kits include an updated photo, key medical and dental information, DNA swabs and a hair sample.
According to Spano, the kits should then be stored in the freezer, where the sample can be preserved and available “God forbid anyone needs it.” He added that it is an initiative he will participate in with his own children.
“The idea here is that if you are aware one of your loved ones could be missing, it’s better to have more information than less,” he said. “People don’t have to be nervous about the DNA swabs, because they remain safely in the home, this is just in case a loved one goes missing. You put the pertinent information in the bag and hope you never need it.”
Spano was joined by members of the Yonkers Police Department’s Community Affairs Division on Saturday morning at Stew Leonard’s in Yonkers, where they held a drive to hand out the kits. After less than an hour, nearly half the kits were gone and the mayor already anticipated that the city would need to order more.
Yonkers Police Commissioner Charles Gardner said that when it comes to a missing child, every second counts, and this is another way for his department to be proactive in trying to keep the community safe.
“When a child goes missing, we need to gather descriptive information and get it out there. This allows the parents to have it readily available,” he said. “It’s another tool for us, and a chance for us to get ahead of the case.”
The Yonkers Missing Child DNA Program may be just the beginning of a new paradigm of protecting missing children. Spano said that he is in the process of discussing the implementation of a statewide DNA database, similar to that of the felony database, that would drastically increase response time when children are reported missing.
Detective Lt. Patrick McCormack said that such a database would be invaluable for departments across the state.
“That’s something we would like to see the state begin transitioning toward. The technology is there, and we have the components to make a missing children database,” he said. “This is something the mayor just asked for, so we’ll see how it goes. He’s a former state assemblyman, he knows how these things work.”
Any Westchester County parents are welcome to register in the Yonkers Missing Child DNA Program. For more information, call 914-377-7375.
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