Free DNA Lifeprint Child Safety Event
Andrews Cadillac/Land Rover Nashville will double the number of fingerprinting stations at this year’s DNA Lifeprint Child Safety Event, after hundreds of families lined-up for hours to have their children fingerprinted at the 2007 event.
The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children recommends that parents keep current, easily accessible information about their children, such as fingerprints, digital photographs, DNA samples, and medical records.
Middle Tennessee parents can create free child identification kits for their children at the DNA Lifeprint Child Safety Event at Andrews Cadillac and Land Rover Nashville at 1 Cadillac Drive in Maryland Farms/Brentwood from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Saturday, September 6, 2008.
The event is a partnership with United Way of Williamson County. A D.A.R.E. officer with Brentwood Police Department will be available to answer parents’ questions about child safety. The Governor’s Books from Birth Foundation will be on-site to sign-up children for the free book program. Children can tour a Brentwood Fire Department fire truck and get free tattoos, face painting and goody bags from Monkey’s Treehouse.
“The big turnout at last year’s child safety event showed us that parents are eager to have a child identification kit that would allow them work quickly with law enforcement if their child were reported missing,” said Nelson Andrews, General Manager of Andrews Cadillac and Land Rover Nashville. “We will have two fingerprinting stations on-site instead of one, so that we can speed-up the process for families.”
The cost of the DNA Lifeprint kit (dna-lifeprint.com) is underwritten by the dealership at no cost to parents and includes:
FBI certified 10 digit Biometric Fingerprint Profile, which is the newest and most advanced technology for obtaining fingerprints.
DNA Identification Kit which parents use at home to preserve a child’s DNA sample, which can be distributed immediately to law enforcement agencies nationwide if a child is reported missing.
High resolution, full-color digital photograph of child.
Child Safety Journal to record vital information that law enforcement officials need immediately after a child is reported missing, such as height, weight, eye and hair color, date of birth, and unique physical attributes such as eyeglasses or braces.
“Law enforcement can respond faster to a report of a missing child if we have a recent photo to distribute to local media and the public,” said Brentwood Police Officer Sam Bady.
Added Bady, “If we have your child’s fingerprints and DNA sample, we can check a suspect vehicle for a fingerprint match or hair sample to see if there’s a match. It really helps to have immediate access to information, so we know who we’re looking for and can get mobilized to find the child.”
Officer Bady recommends that parents carry the identification kit when they travel with children, so they are prepared if a child gets lost at an amusement park or other public place. He suggests updating the photographs regularly as a child’s appearance changes with age.
United Way of Williamson County will distribute information about the event to child care providers to encourage families in Williamson County to take advantage of this opportunity to protect their children.
“Our children’s well-being has always been a top priority for United Way, our volunteers, and contributors,” said Ann Buchanan, CEO of United Way of Williamson County. “Partnerships, like we have with Andrews Cadillac, are valuable because they allow us to bring special services to our community.”
The DNA Lifeprint kit was developed by Joe Matthews, a retired Miami Beach Police who served as lead detective on the nationally-publicized “Baby Lollipop” and Adam Walsh cases. DNA Lifeprint is endorsed by John Walsh, host of the television program “America’s Most Wanted.” His 6-year-old son, Adam Walsh, was abducted from a shopping mall in Florida in 1981. Since the DNA LifePrint program started in 1998, it has gone into communities across the country with local sponsors.
Only the parents keep the information from the DNA Lifeprint Kits. There’s no central data base and the event sponsor keeps no records on file. It’s recommended that parents update their child’s statistical information every six months.
Andrews Cadillac and Land Rover Nashville are located at 1 Cadillac Drive in Maryland Farms, Brentwood. For more information, call 615-373-3800 or visit andrewscadillac.com.
