NEWS RELEASE

New Orleans Field Office

Special Agent in Charge (SAC) James Bernazzani

The FBI will be handing out Child Identification Kits before Saturday’s Tulane vs. Memphis game at the New Orleans Superdome.  A table will be set up from 12:00 noon until 2:00 pm at the Gate C entrance of the Superdome.

In 1997, the American Football Coaches Association (AFCA) created the National Child Identification Program with the goal of fingerprinting 20 million children. In the program's first two years, nearly seven million I.D. Kits were distributed through stadiums, churches and community events. Today the National Child Identification Program is the largest child identification effort ever conducted. The goal of the program now is to reach all 60 million children in the United States. 

In December 2001, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) joined in partnership with the AFCA to help increase parents awareness regarding the need to improve child safety. The FBI has participated with the AFCA in numerous national, regional and local efforts to explain the problem of missing children and the importance of having a completed Child I.D Kit to provide to law enforcement in the time of need.

SAC Bernazzani stated “The FBI is firmly committed to ensure that parents have the ability to protect their children from predators.  It is imperative that in the event their child is abducted that law enforcement authorities have the necessary identification means to resolve potentially disastrous situations in a positive manner.  Parents are encouraged to keep in their personal files a current photograph, fingerprints, and other identification data of their children to aid law enforcement if the unthinkable happens.  These kits provide parents the means to record the fingerprints of their children to quickly aid law enforcement if necessary”. 

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