Enacts "Lamont Dottin's Law"; relates to reporting duties with respect to missing children and adults; establishes uniform standards for searching for missing persons; expands state databanks to approach not only the problem of missing children but missing adults as well; requires police departments to establish a trained missing person specialist.
NEW YORK STATE ASSEMBLY MEMORANDUM IN SUPPORT OF LEGISLATION submitted in accordance with Assembly Rule III, Sec 1(f)
BILL NUMBER: A9734
SPONSOR: Barron TITLE OF BILL:
An act to amend the executive law, in relation to reporting duties with
respect to missing children and adults
PURPOSE OR GENERAL IDEA OF BILL:
To amend the executive law in relation to requiring police agencies to
take reports of missing adults whenever the adult is reported to be
missing.
SUMMARY OF SPECIFIC PROVISIONS:
Section 1 sets forth that this act shall be known and may be cited as
"Lamont Dottin's law".
Section 2 provides if a police agency receives a report that an adult
person is missing from his or her ordinary place of residence who cannot
be located by a person whose relationship with such adult person would
place them in a position to have knowledge of the missing person's
whereabouts, and that such missing person: has a proven disability, may
be in physical danger, is missing after a catastrophe, may have disap-
peared involuntarily, or is missing under circumstances where there is a
reasonable concern for his or her safety (and such missing adult person
does not qualify as a missing child or vulnerable adult pursuant to the
executive law), the police agency shall collect information necessary to
file an electronic report and submit such electronic report to the
National Crime Information Center Register.
Section 3 provides this act shall take effect on the sixtieth day after
it shall have become a law.
EXISTING LAW:
Police agencies are not currently required to take and submit reports of
missing adults under the conditions described in this legislation.
JUSTIFICATION:
Anita Fowler's son, LaMont Dottin, was a freshman at Queens College
(CUNY) when he disappeared on October 18, 1995 after leaving his grand-
mother's house to mail a package to his mother, who was in California.
Dr. Fowler returned immediately to New York and began searching for her
son. She tried to report him as missing, but due to police regulations
she was unable to file a report until November 13, 1995. Dr. Fowler
searched for five years, when she found that her son's body was found
six days after she reported him as missing and lay unidentified in a
grave at Potter's Field since February 1996.
This legislation seeks to prevent future confusion and heartache by
requiring law enforcement to take a report whenever a person is reported
missing and send such report to the National Crime Information Center
(NCIC) Register.
This will create a permanent record of all reports of missing persons.
This will assist law enforcement in searching for such person if it is
determined subsequent that such person is indeed missing. Further, in
the event the missing person is located in either a hospital or a
morgue, this registry will assist in identifying the person and will
reunite the missing person with his or her family or, if the person is
deceased, it will help the family some semblance of closure.
The previous version of this bill was vetoed by the governor, citing
compliance concerns with the NCIC database because reports were to be
filed even when circumstances did not indicate a missing adult was in
danger. This version of the bill delineates the several situations a
report shall be filed, including but not limited to physical danger,
mirroring the parameters of the NCIC database.
PRIOR LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:
2015-16: Vetoed by Governor
2015-16: A7468 Passed Assembly
2015-16: S3790 (Sen. Sanders) Passed Senate
2013-14: A10149 Referred to Governmental Operations
2013-14: S7864 (Sen. Sanders) Passed Senate
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:
None
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act shall take effect on the sixtieth day after it shall have
become a law.
