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| 2 | 2 | | HOUSE DOCKET, NO. 1672 FILED ON: 1/15/2025 |
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| 3 | 3 | | HOUSE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No. 2671 |
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| 4 | 4 | | The Commonwealth of Massachusetts |
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| 5 | 5 | | _________________ |
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| 6 | 6 | | PRESENTED BY: |
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| 7 | 7 | | Frank A. Moran and Manny Cruz |
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| 8 | 8 | | _________________ |
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| 9 | 9 | | To the Honorable Senate and House of Representatives of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts in General |
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| 10 | 10 | | Court assembled: |
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| 11 | 11 | | The undersigned legislators and/or citizens respectfully petition for the adoption of the accompanying bill: |
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| 12 | 12 | | An Act relative to Massachusetts policy and procedures for missing and abducted children. |
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| 13 | 13 | | _______________ |
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| 14 | 14 | | PETITION OF: |
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| 15 | 15 | | NAME:DISTRICT/ADDRESS :DATE ADDED:Frank A. Moran17th Essex1/15/2025Manny Cruz7th Essex1/15/2025 1 of 2 |
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| 16 | 16 | | HOUSE DOCKET, NO. 1672 FILED ON: 1/15/2025 |
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| 17 | 17 | | HOUSE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No. 2671 |
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| 18 | 18 | | By Representatives Moran of Lawrence and Cruz of Salem, a petition (accompanied by bill, |
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| 19 | 19 | | House, No. 2671) of Frank A. Moran and Manny Cruz relative to missing and abducted children |
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| 20 | 20 | | investigations. Public Safety and Homeland Security. |
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| 21 | 21 | | The Commonwealth of Massachusetts |
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| 22 | 22 | | _______________ |
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| 23 | 23 | | In the One Hundred and Ninety-Fourth General Court |
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| 24 | 24 | | (2025-2026) |
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| 25 | 25 | | _______________ |
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| 26 | 26 | | An Act relative to Massachusetts policy and procedures for missing and abducted children. |
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| 27 | 27 | | Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court assembled, and by the authority |
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| 28 | 28 | | of the same, as follows: |
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| 29 | 29 | | 1 SECTION 1. Chapter 22A of the General Laws is hereby amended by adding the |
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| 30 | 30 | | 2following section:- |
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| 31 | 31 | | 3 Section 10. The executive office of public safety and security shall develop a guide |
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| 32 | 32 | | 4entitled the Massachusetts policy and procedures for missing and abducted children |
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| 33 | 33 | | 5investigations that shall establish comprehensive minimum standards for law enforcement |
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| 34 | 34 | | 6agencies in the commonwealth. Such agencies shall reference the guide and implement the |
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| 35 | 35 | | 7policy and procedures in agency practices and the training of law enforcement officers. |
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| 36 | 36 | | 8 The executive office shall reference, but shall not be limited to, the law enforcement |
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| 37 | 37 | | 9policy and procedures for reports of missing and abducted children, developed by The National |
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| 38 | 38 | | 10Center for Missing and Exploited Children. The executive office shall ensure that policies |
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| 39 | 39 | | 11promulgated are comprehensive and inclusive to different categories of missing children, 2 of 2 |
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| 40 | 40 | | 12 including, but not limited to, children under 10 years of age, children under 17 years of |
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| 41 | 41 | | 13age, children with mental and physical limitations and dependent adults with mental and physical |
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| 42 | 42 | | 14limitations. |
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| 43 | 43 | | 15 The municipal police training committee shall include in their 2025 training year, a |
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| 44 | 44 | | 16mandatory 2-hour in-service training program for veteran police officers on the Massachusetts |
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| 45 | 45 | | 17policy and procedures for missing and abducted children investigations. The municipal police |
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| 46 | 46 | | 18training committee shall include training on the Massachusetts policy and procedures for missing |
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| 47 | 47 | | 19and abducted children investigations for new police officers attending the police academy. The |
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| 48 | 48 | | 20training shall be conducted in each local police department at least once every three years. |
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| 49 | 49 | | 21 The executive office of public safety and security shall ensure internal policies and the |
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| 50 | 50 | | 22missing child clearinghouse intake form to reflect the Massachusetts policy and procedures for |
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| 51 | 51 | | 23missing and abducted children investigations. The missing child clearinghouse intake form shall |
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| 52 | 52 | | 24be available in, but not limited to, the following languages: English, Spanish, Portuguese, |
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| 53 | 53 | | 25French, Chinese, Haitian Creole, Vietnamese, Russian, German, Albanian, Khmer or |
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| 54 | 54 | | 26Cambodian. |
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| 55 | 55 | | 27 SECTION 2. Section 1 shall take effect on January 15, 2026. |
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| 56 | 56 | | 28 SECTION 3. By January 15, 2027, law enforcement agencies in the commonwealth of |
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| 57 | 57 | | 29Massachusetts shall adopt the Massachusetts policy and procedures for missing and abducted |
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| 58 | 58 | | 30children investigations as the minimum protocol in investigations of missing children. |
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