Arizona law directs police reporting and alerts for missing people

Police agencies must report missing-child information, maintain records, and conduct or help with searches. These duties cover missing, kidnapped, or runaway children. Police must coordinate with child welfare agencies and the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. They must let the state's national crime-system operator add information learned during the investigation. Crime-center reports must include identifying details, the date and place of last contact, and the category under which the child is reported missing. Within 24 hours after receiving the report and all necessary and available information, police must send the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children identifying details, the missing-child category, and a recent photograph if available. Police must make reasonable efforts to obtain that photograph. Within 30 days after receiving the report, police must enter all required and available information in the National Missing and Unidentified Persons System. This includes medical and dental records and a photograph taken in the previous 180 days, if available. Within 30 days after the original record entry, police must verify and update it with additional information. This includes medical and dental records and a photograph taken in the previous 180 days, if available. Entries cannot be removed until the child is found or the case is closed. Reports to the Arizona Crime Information Center and National Crime Information Center are due within two hours after police receive the report and all necessary and available information.

Police agencies must provide missing-child information to appropriate news outlets and post it on their official social media platforms. Notices cover missing, kidnapped, or runaway children. They include a complete physical description, the last known location, clothing last worn, current photographs if available, and the agency's telephone number. Police may withhold the information if they determine that sharing it would interfere with finding the child or compromise the child's safety, an ongoing investigation, or catching a suspect. A public notice may call a child a runaway only if police determine that doing so is necessary to protect the child's safety or further an active investigation. Police must document all decisions about providing this information under their documentation policies. Public information is due within 24 hours after police receive the report.

The state department responsible for alerts must request emergency alert system activation and immediately issue a seek-and-find alert when all requirements are met. Seek-and-find alerts are public notices to help locate missing people. They cover people with developmental or cognitive disabilities, Alzheimer's disease, or dementia, regardless of age, and people age 65 or older. An authorized person at the investigating police agency must request the alert. Police must have used all available local resources, determined that the person disappeared under unexplained or suspicious circumstances, and believe the person is in danger. Information that could help the public find the person safely must be available. The department must also be designated to use the federal emergency alert system. Alerts cannot be denied or delayed because of administrative steps, previous missing episodes, or discretionary judgments unrelated to the immediate risk to the person's safety. The department must act immediately when the request and all requirements are met. Once it issues an alert, it must share the information with other organizations providing similar notifications in Arizona.

Police agencies must develop, carry out, and regularly update training on missing-child requirements and seek-and-find alerts. The relevant training covers employees directly involved in missing-child or missing-person cases, their supervisors, and communication dispatchers. Training must thoroughly explain the legal rules and required steps and review agency and state policies for locating missing people. Seek-and-find training must specifically cover the steps for issuing timely alerts. Covered employees must receive the relevant training when hired and once every two years.