Fingerprinting the Innocent
Masons' program, with taped interviews, provides law enforcement officials with useful information on children if they go missing!
BY: Mary Beth Casper
(Mary Beth Casper is a freelance writer.)
July 5, 2004
The three 7-year-old girls were on their way to a friend's birthday party, but they had one important stop to make first.
They had to be fingerprinted and questioned.
Were twin sisters Chantal and Brianne Meggett and their friend, Tasha Merchant, in trouble with the law?
Hardly. The Rego Park children have responsible parents who understand the importance of ensuring their safety.
The girls were three of thousands of New York youngsters who participated in a free child identification program recently conducted in Jamaica Estates by The Grand Lodge of New York Free and Accepted Masons (The Masons), the world's oldest and largest fraternal organization.
The Masonic Child Identification Program (CHIP) began in New York in 1991. Nearly 190,000 children have participated since its inception. Masonic Lodges in 17 other states have launched similar programs based on the one in New York.
The program provides parents with valuable identification information that can be turned over to law enforcement officials should a child ever go missing.
Like many other child ID services, it works with volunteers from local police departments to take fingerprints of children that can be given to parents for safekeeping. But this program provides two other valuable ID tools as well.
"We conduct short videotape interviews with each child," said Clarence Eckoff, a Mason and the chairman of the New York State child identification program.
The videos, which also are given to parents, provide close- up images of children's faces and profiles, as well as vocal patterns and movement mannerisms. "I've heard of at least three cases where the videos were helpful in finding missing youngsters in upstate New York," said Eckoff, who resides near Syracuse.
Most missing turn up
Although some people may fear a child could become a victim of a random abduction, the state Division of Criminal Justice reports that the majority of missing children are either runaways or caught in custody battles. Recently, dental professionals volunteered their services to the child identification program to make tooth imprints of the children.
"It's a painless and quick procedure," said Karen Lewkowitz, a Little Neck orthodontist and member of the Queens Dental Society, the site for the Queens child identification program.
Children were asked to bite down on a mouth-size wax wafer. The wafer with the imprint was then placed in a plastic bag. The bag was labeled with the child's name and the date on which the imprint was made, and given to the parent.
"We tell parents to store the bag in a cool, dry place and leave it sealed," Lewkowitz said.
The tooth imprint serves two purposes should a child go missing. A child's DNA, present in saliva, continues to give off the child's scent for a few years, if the bag remains sealed.
Should the child go missing, police canines trained to follow human scent may be able to pick up the trail of a missing child from an opened bag.
The tooth imprint also can also be used to help identify a deceased child.
Kenneth Buniak, program manager for the state Division of Criminal Justice Services Missing and Exploited Children's Clearinghouse, said it's important for every parent to have a recent photograph of all their children with them at all times. The photo should be immediately turned over to law enforcement when the child is reported missing. Police can then transmit it to alert other police agencies and media outlets to be on the lookout for the youngster.
Cheryl Meggett, the twins' mother, always carries photos of her daughters with her. She also wears a pin with their photos each day.
A Web site is available
Buniak stressed the importance of instilling caution, not fear, in children when it comes to keeping them safe. "Valuable advice is offered on our Web site," he said. The site is www.criminaljustice.state.ny.us.
Tasha Merchant's mother, Tasneem Merchant, was pleased to participate in the program. "This is a dangerous world. It's good such programs exist," she said.
Both she and Cheryl Meggett were glad the program was conducted in a child-friendly manner. "It's nice that they had a juggler and clown there to entertain children," Meggett said.
As an orthodontist and a mother, Lewkowitz wanted to offer her dental expertise to the program. "I realize parents may have a difficult time thinking about things like this," she said. "But it's a positive way of showing your children that you care for them."
