'Time Is Of The Essence' In A Child Abduction, Somerset County Police Hone Response Skills

BRIDGEWATER, NJ — In a child abduction, minutes matter. That's why Somerset County authorities came together to hone their response skills this week at Duke Island Park.

"Time is of the essence when looking at an actual abduction so we are trying to get everyone on board working together to find the child," said Somerset County Prosecutor’s Office(SCPO) Chief of County Detectives Frank Roman Jr. to Patch.

On Tuesday, the SCPO conducted an exercise for certification for the Child Abduction Team at Duke Island Park in Bridgewater.

The purpose of this mock exercise is to make sure all of the SCPO Child Abduction Response Team's policies and procedures are up to date and hone their skills in the event of an actual child abduction in Somerset County.

Different response methods include a neighborhood canvas, interviewing witnesses, seeing how the police drone team operates, search and rescue, working with local police departments, and setting up roadblocks with the Somerset County Sheriff.

"If a child was actually abducted or came here missing, how would we respond to this area?" said Roman.

The exercise involved Prosecutor’s Office detectives, Bridgewater Township Police, Somerset County Sheriff’s Office, Somerset County OEM, Somerset County Communications, and Somerset County Parks Commission/Park Rangers.

"We make sure we are doing everything that we can possibly do to find this child. And when I say everything, I mean everything," said Roman.

This includes using a computer technical team if the child had a phone, working with the FBI CARD(Child Abduction Response Deployment), and New Jersey State Police.

The exercise also was a way for Somerset County to be assessed to receive national certification with the Amber Alert Training and Technical Assistance Program through the National Criminal Justice Training Center at Fox Valley Technical College (United States Department of Justice Program).

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