Trenton – In an effort to help retrieve high risk missing residents, the Senate Law and Public Safety Committee today advanced legislation sponsored by Senator Linda Greenstein that would expand the authority of the State Police’s Missing Persons and Human Trafficking Unit.
“Under current law, the process to recover a missing person can be lengthy, and in high-risk situations, every second matters,” said Senator Greenstein (D-Mercer/Middlesex), chair of the Law and Public Safety Committee. “Through this legislation, we will be able to determine more quickly if a missing person is high risk, allowing the appropriate units to start handling the case sooner rather than later.”
The bill, S-2081, would allow the Missing Persons and Human Trafficking Unit to create a rebuttable presumption of criminal activity if a missing person is determined to be a high risk missing person.
Under the bill, there would be various specifications as to whether a missing person would be considered high risk, including; if the circumstances in which they are missing indicate to be involuntary, if they have been missing for more than 30 days and if the person is missing under known dangerous circumstances.
The bill was released from committee by a vote of 5-0.