The Computer Paper

Ottawa Web Developer & RCMP Start Missing Children Site

By Trevor Horsley

NB -- The Royal Canadian Mounted Police, in cooperation with Ottawa-based World Wide Web site developer Child CyberSearch Canada Inc., has officially opened the flrst nationwide Web site dedicated to locating missing children and preventing missing child incidents.

MarketAccess managing partner, Duane Yeager, told media representatives and dignitaries gathered for the official ribbon-cutting ceremony, "Child CyberSearch Canada provides an opportunity for all missing child agencies to benefit from the information highway."

Available at the new site are the RCMP's own official tips on street-prooflng your kids. In addition, the Chlld CyberSearch Canada site offers links to other "child-safe" Web sites

The RCMP recognizes six non-profit agencies in Canada dedicated to the location and prevention of missing children: Victims of Violence, Missing Children Society of Canada,

National Missing Children's Locate Centre, Operation Go Home, Missing Children's Network of Canada, the RCMP's own Missing Children's Registry, and Child Find Canada.

MarketAccess, along with CS Coop, an Ottawa government employees' credit union, has underwritten and developed Weh sites for the first five of those agencies and the RCMP registry, and established a direct link to Child Find's own Web site.

The central resource, which Child CyberSearch Canada will make available to the estimated three million Canadians using the Internet, is detailed information, including photographs, on all RCMP missing children cases. International missing children cases being looked into by the RCMP will also be hosted at the site.

All of Canada's more than 1,400 police forces have been made aware of the new site and have been invited to participate, either by providing related literature or supplying information on missing children cases. International missing children cases being looked into by the RCMP will also be hosted at the site.

Yeager says one of the main advantages of the Web site approach in this application is the immediacy of the information provided. "The information can be updated and made available to police and the public as quickly as it's received," he noted.

Foremost among the support resources available at the new site are the RCMP's own official tips on street-proofing your kids. In addition, the Child CyberSearch Canada site offers links to other "child-safe" Web sites.

"Child CyberSearch Canada is a great place for parents to start introducing their kids to the Internet," Yeager announced. "As a service to our audience, we are providing over 30 links to child-safe sites throughout the Internet, from the Ontario Science Centre to Juggling to the Electronic Zoo. We will continue to increase the number of links as we screen more sites around the world."