CONGRATULATIONS: Camden County Child Abduction Response Team Receives National Certification ..
Sunday, February 26, 2023
through the U.S. Department of Justice
Camden, NJ- During an activation, members of the Camden County Child Abduction Response Team work together as one team, with one goal—the safe recovery of a child. On Friday, March 10, 2023, at the Camden County Prosecutor’s Office, the Camden County Child Abduction Response Team (CART) will receive National Certification presented by members of the National Criminal Justice Training Center (NCJTC) through the U.S. Department of Justice, announced Camden County Prosecutor Grace C. MacAulay.
In October 2022, the Camden County CART completed a strategic and demanding process to meet all the national requirements for this certification. The Camden County CART was reviewed, observed, and tested during the mock CART Activation on October 11-12, 2022. Members of the NCJTC were present and reviewed all policies and procedures, toured the Camden County Child Advocacy Center, interviewed CART members, and observed the CART team in action during a large-scale mock CART Activation (as though a real child was abducted). All standards were met, and the Camden County CART was recommended for National Certification. The Camden County CART is the second CART team in New Jersey to be Nationally Certified.
The Camden County CART includes team members from the Camden County Prosecutor’s Office, the Camden County Sheriff’s Office, the Camden County Office of Emergency Management, Land Search and Rescue, Central Communications, 37 municipal police departments, the Rutgers University Police Department, and the Delaware River Port Authority Police Department.
CARTs are a multi-agency, multi-jurisdictional composite of community professionals who are trained and equipped to respond in the search and recovery of an abducted or endangered child. The goal is to ensure a rapid and comprehensive community response to a child abduction. Under a 2008 directive from the New Jersey State Attorney General, each county is required to create a CART.