05-26 Child Abductions - Definitons

Question 1

AMBER Alert means:

Answer 1

a co–operative effort between police, the media and the Ministry of Transportation to provide early notification to the public where a person under 18 years of age is believed to have been abducted and where circumstances lead police to believe that the abducted person is in danger of serious bodily harm or death and there is enough descriptive information about the abducted person, and/or the abductor, and/or the abductor’s vehicle to believe an immediate broadcast alert will help in locating the person. An AMBER Alert will have a duration of 5 hours following activation, unless cancelled or extended.

Question 2

Custody Order means:

Answer 2

an order of the Court (Ontario Court of Justice), which sets out the particulars of who shall have custody or access to a child and under what circumstances.

Question 3

Non-Parental Abduction means:

Answer 3

the unlawful removal of a child by a person other than a parent, guardian, or person having lawful care or charge of the child.

Question 4

Parental Abduction means:

Answer 4

the unlawful removal of a child by a parent, guardian, or any other person having lawful care or charge of a person under the age of fourteen whether or not there is a custody order in relation to that child made by a court, with the intent to deprive a parent, guardian, or person having lawful care or charge of the person.

Question 5

Restraining Order means:

Child Abductions

Answer 5

an order of the Court (Ontario Court of Justice), which restrains one parent from having contact with the other parent and/or children. This could also include restraining both parents from having contact with their children.

Question 6

Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) Missing Child Registry means:

Answer 6

the national registry created and maintained by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) to compile data on missing and abducted children. The Toronto Police Service supports the registry and encourages officers to forward pertinent information to the RCMP to assist in matters of both parental and non–parental abduction.

Question 7

Search Management Team means:

Answer 7

the team from Emergency Management & Public Order (EM&PO), supported by the requesting division, responsible for
co–ordinating a Level 3 search for a missing person.

Question 8

Search Manager means:

Answer 8

the police officer in charge of Emergency Management & Public Order – Search Management Team.

Question 9

Window of Opportunity means:

Child Abductions

Answer 9

the interval between the time the missing person was last seen and the time they were believed to be missing.