Training Webinars

Register Today: Search and Canvass Legal Issues

April 12, 2023 | 1:00 PM - 3:00 PM CST

On Demand: View Recorded AMBER Alert Webinars

Child Sex Trafficking Investigations: 5 Things to Strengthen Law Enforcement and Advocacy Partnerships

Investigating a child sex trafficking case while recognizing the need for advocacy throughout the process can be a challenge both for law enforcement and for advocates. Explore the different perspectives each bring to their contacts with victims. Identify 5 core values of partnership which will enable you to have a successful and productive team as you serve the most vulnerable of victims. Examine a victim’s perspective of a law enforcement-led advocacy team and hear how it impacted her life.

AMBER Alert Essentials for First Responders

Law Enforcement Officers and Telecommunicators are AMBER Alert First Responders during the critical initial stage of a child abduction. This webinar will review the criteria for an AMBER Alert and identify tools and resources which enhance first responder capabilities in cases of endangered missing and abducted children, with detailed considerations for those where AMBER Alerts are issued.

Leads Management in a Child Abduction: Framing the Problem and Understanding the Critical Components

One of the most important and pivotal components of a child abduction response is the ability to effectively manage information during an incident. Learn the importance of using a leads management system and provide guidance regarding the implementation, organization, and dissemination of leads using various systems.

AMBER Alert Essentials for Community Members

AMBER Alert Essentials for Community Members will enable members of the public to recognize the history and essential components of the AMBER Alert Program. The criteria for an AMBER Alert will be examined as well as how to support law enforcement efforts during an AMBER Alert activation.

Dispatch, Detectives and Line Personnel Working Together on Missing Child Cases

How important it is that everyone working these cases understands roles and responsibilities? Discuss having a plan in place, ahead of time, to outline what will happen and who will do what -- and why that's important. Time is the enemy in these cases; a seamless initial intake with a clear understanding of what is needed will ultimately make the difference when seconds matter.

Cultural Considerations when Working within Indian Country – Part 2

Through this second webinar of a 2-part webinar series on "Cultural Considerations when Working within Indian Country," you will gain a better understanding of tribal jurisdictions and its impact on investigations in Indian Country. Examine the history of tribal communities' and how cultural values can impact interactions when working with victims of exploitation. Review best practices to recognize, identify and assist high-risk children living on tribal lands.

Crucial Digital Follow-Up and Recovery Techniques in Missing/Runaway & Endangered Missing Children Cases

Today when a child or adult goes missing, there are many digital avenues of follow-up that are necessary in a timely recovery. During this webinar, we will address follow-up items that are often time sensitive and crucial if the case becomes a long-term investigation. Learn how to follow-up on Internet activity, social media accounts, device usage, application data, important “usage” on cell phones or tablets and more.

Investigative Strategies and Best Practices for Cold and Historical Child Homicides, Unidentified Human Remains and Long-Term Missing Children

Examine effective strategies and best practices for the reinvestigation of cold and historical child homicides, unidentified human remains and long-term missing children investigations when there is no body. This webinar illustrates how children can be the perfect victim, and as such, how their cases can become historical and unresolved. Investigative strategies for establishing that a crime has been committed, identifying those responsible for the crime, and for proving or disproving facts and circumstances in the original unresolved investigation will be discussed. Learn how an MDT response can result in a successful resolution.

Cultural Considerations When Working Within Indian Country – Part 1

When working on missing and exploited children’s cases within Indian Country, it is important to value the differences, understand and adapt to the culture, and recognize that various dynamics exist. Through this webinar, you will obtain a better understanding of the tribal community and its system of shared values, beliefs, and rituals that are learned and passed on through generations. You will also gather best practices and examples to reduce barriers and increase trust when working on missing and exploited children’s cases on tribal lands.

AMBER Alert in Indian Country 101 – Community Response

AMBER Alerts are activated in the most serious child-abduction cases. The goal of an AMBER Alert is to instantly galvanize the community to assist in the search for and safe recovery of a missing child. These alerts are broadcast through radio, TV, road signs, cellphones, and other data-enabled devices. During this webinar, tribal community members consider law enforcement's response to missing and abducted children, and when an AMBER Alert is an effective tool. The importance of bridging the gap between law enforcement and the community is discussed, as are ways community members can assist during and before a missing or abducted child situation.

Child Abduction and Exploitation Investigations During Disasters and Emergencies

Improve response and recovery for endangered missing, child abduction and exploitation investigations during disasters and emergencies. Through case studies, review past disasters to explore and develop response strategies for protecting children during periods of restricted movement, social distancing or shelter in place.

Initiation of a Child Abduction Response Team (CART): Concept to Fruition

Explore how to take the CART concept and bring it to life in your department. Is there a standard template for gaining acceptance from stakeholders? Does my department need CART? Is it feasible? What if my CART doesn’t look like other programs? This webinar will address these questions and provide clarity on how to form an effective CART tailored to the specific needs of the agency/jurisdiction/region it serves.

Identifying and Utilizing CART Resources for an Effective Collaborative Response

Examine resources that are crucial to implement during a missing child incident. Hear about the importance of accumulating these resources before a call comes in for a missing or abducted child. The successful recovery of a missing or abducted child is dependent on organization and team work. Understand at the end of this webinar, how important a Child Abduction Response Team is in these high priority, time sensitive cases.

AMBER Alert Best Practices - Law Enforcement Field Guide

The AMBER Alert Best Practices – Law Enforcement Field Guide is a companion to the AMBER Alert Best Practices Guide and is aimed at law enforcement agencies and first responders. It is designed to provide administrators with a document on what to expect in the event of an endangered missing or abducted child investigation, as well as provide their personnel with a reference manual to help jump start an effective response and investigation. The webinar focuses on raising awareness of areas that are consistently shown to be relevant and have an operational impact in these types of cases as well as how the guide can assist.

Sex Trafficking: Current Trends in Technology

This webinar provides law enforcement and service providers with information on how technology (cell phones, phone chat lines, social networking sites, and internet advertisements) are used to seduce, lure, and control child victims of sex trafficking.  The presenter discusses how to develop successful investigative techniques to proactively identify and locate child victims and corroborate the technology facilitated commercial sexual exploitation investigation.  Case studies are used to facilitate the discussion. Pitfalls and challenges to these investigations are also discussed to help agencies identify them within their strategies and approaches to combating this crime.

Search and Canvass in Missing and Abducted Children Cases

Explore the importance of an immediate search and canvass when a child goes missing. Statistics show that the quicker responders can organize a search and canvass, the more likely that the child will be recovered. In addition, this webinar will examine the most effective search and canvass strategies. Demonstrate examples of actual cases, which will compare and contrast an effective versus a flawed response where search and canvass was utilized.

Prosecuting Child Sex Trafficking Cases

Learn how a team approach to investigations allows all members of a multidisciplinary team to work together to investigate cases involving child sex trafficking, and to gather the evidence necessary to make a successful case. The presenter will discuss charging decisions, trial preparation, accomplice testimony, defense strategies, and witness preparation.

Forced Criminality of CST Cases

Criminal records of sex trafficking victims are known barriers to exiting sex trafficking situations. The link between committing crime while being a victim of sex trafficking, called forced criminality, has received little research attention. One aspect of forced criminality in sex trafficking situations includes ‘trick rolls’ which are the robberies of sex buyers. With the purpose of exploring forced criminality, this study examined 467 trick roll cases which are robberies conducted in a prostitution situation perpetrated by the sex seller, during one year in Las Vegas, Nevada. Using crime databases and working knowledge of the LVMPD Vice and Sex Trafficking Investigations Unit, 36 percent of the identified suspects in the trick roll cases were found to be known victims of sex trafficking. Trick roll cases involving sex trafficking victims were found to be more likely to involve multiple suspects (including their sex trafficker), begin at a bar/club or casino floor, involve the theft of more valuable items, more likely involve a weapon, and more likely to involve the injury of the sex buyer.

The Importance of CART Training: A Family Perspective

Gain a family's perspective on the importance of Child Abduction Response Team training. David Smither will share his experience of losing his own sister to a serial offender, in a small town that was unprepared to deal with such a catastrophe. Having witnessed first-hand his own community’s lack of preparedness, and subsequently growing up in close proximity to missing children’s cases through his family’s nonprofit, the Laura Recovery Center Foundation, David has a unique perspective on the importance of disaster preparedness. This presentation will combine a high level introduction to CART (and related training resources) with a powerful personal testimony of the impact of the abduction of a child on a family’s life.

Boys - The Forgotten Sex Trafficking Victims

This webinar highlights the current system response to young boys victimized through child sex trafficking, demonstrates how boys are trafficked, and discusses the profiles of the traffickers and buyers. Participants can use this information to consider current challenges and next steps toward addressing these challenges for an effective response.

AMBER Alert in Indian Country

Participants will gain an understanding of the Ashlynne Mike AMBER Alert in Indian Country Act of 2018 and the ongoing efforts by the AMBER Alert Training and Technical Assistance Program (AATTAP) to support the implementation of this Act. During this webinar, participants will learn from past child abduction and exploitation events on tribal lands and the challenges facing tribes in protecting children; review best practices for collaborating with the state AMBER Alert program to bring AMBER Alert to Indian Country, and discuss current resources available for through AATTAP.

Global Perspectives on Missing Children

This webinar provides participants the opportunity to learn how missing children issues are addressed around the world, the importance of multi-stakeholder approach, and gain an insight on the available resources for international child abductions.

Building a Sex Trafficking Case Without the Victim

Prosecuting sex trafficking of minor cases is difficult, in part because victims are unstable. Join us for this webinar to discuss building an investigation that allows the prosecutor to go to trial, even if the victim is unable to testify.

Sex Trafficking in Hawaii: Stories of Survivors

The purpose of this webinar is to present the findings of Part II of a series of studies on sex trafficking in Hawaii. This study explores the experiences of 22 victims of sex trafficking in Hawaii. Information presented will include their experiences of childhood maltreatment, recruitment into sex trafficking, violence, sex buyers, descriptions of the sex traffickers, and the structural barriers to providing necessary prevention and intervention to victims of sex trafficking in Hawaii.

Missing and Abducted College Students

The purpose of this webinar is to introduce the viewer to the vulnerability of college students as potential targets of abductions and of being a missing person. It will be specifically targeting campus law enforcement, campus administrators, and other campus stakeholders as the intended audience. The webinar will focus on three case studies which are the basis for federal law. The webinar will also discuss obstacles to reporting and investigating cases of missing persons as well as initial steps in the investigative process. The impact to Institutions of Higher Education and ways in which to encourage preventative education and “target hardening” will also be explored.

Project STARFISH: Sex Trafficking Awareness for Schools

This webinar will provide the participants with information regarding a specific school-focused sex trafficking awareness website. The information presented will include a review of current awareness programs for school aged youth and details about the development and use of this website, "projectstarfish.education". Examples of sample policies for schools and tools for key members of school communities will be included.

Prosecuting Sex Traffickers: Trial Preparation

This webinar is designed to assist prosecutors and investigators who are preparing child sex trafficking cases for trial. We will discuss preparing a case for trial, charging decisions, expert witnesses, and defense strategies. Trafficking cases require thorough case preparation of complex evidence. Analyzing potential charges early in the case allows for the collection of evidence and the consideration of what witnesses are required. Expert witnesses are necessary to help the jury understand both pimp subculture and victim issues. Anticipating defense strategies helps prosecutors stay focused on their case to achieve a successful prosecution.

Prosecuting Sex Traffickers: Strategies for Witnesses in Child Sex Trafficking and Exploitation Cases

During this webinar, you will learn how to prepare child sex trafficking cases for trial and how to effectively work with witnesses, including issues of delayed disclosure and complicity. Working with victims, witnesses, and accomplices requires an understanding of the recovery process and bridging gaps with people who have little trust for law enforcement or the prosecution process.

2017 Youth Experiences Survey: Studying Homeless Youth and their Experiences with Human Trafficking

Gather information regarding the risks and resiliencies of homeless young adults (ages 18 to 25) with a specific focus on sex and labor trafficking experiences. Learn about the issues facing homeless young adults including their medical and mental health needs, family relationships, and childhood maltreatment. Leverage new knowledge about sex and/or labor trafficking experiences of homeless young adults in Arizona.

Child Abduction Response Team (CART) Overview

Thinking of starting a Child Abduction Response Team (CART) in your jurisdiction? Learn how building a CART can assist in the search and recovery of an abducted or endangered child. During this webinar, you will learn about the guidelines for developing, implementing, and sustaining a CART program within your community, and examine the CART certification process for agencies and CART programs pursuing formal certification.

Partners and Resources During an AMBER Alert

When activating an AMBER Alert, the investigating agency relies upon their partners and stakeholders to share the abducted child's information to the public and assist in locating the child. During this webinar, you will learn about the multiple partners, stakeholder groups, and resources available to law enforcement during the AMBER Alert activation process and how they may be able to assist.