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Declaring the week of October 29, 2005 through November 4, 2005 as Philadelphia Missing Persons Awareness Week and calling for a Philadelphia Missing Persons Awareness conference.
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WHEREAS, Recent missing persons cases such as those involving Latoya Figueroa and Natalee Holloway have generated National and Local attention to missing persons; and
WHEREAS, According to the FBI, as of June 1, 2005 there were approximately 48,000 missing persons in the United States ; and
WHEREAS, According to the FBI, nationally over 800,000 children under the age of 18 are reported missing each year; and
WHEREAS, In the City of Philadelphia, all missing persons are entered into a National/Local Database; and
WHEREAS, As of June 30, 2005, in the City of Philadelphia, 719 adults were reported missing and of that number, 100 are still missing; and
WHEREAS, As of June 30, 2005, in the City of Philadelphia, 2675 Juveniles under the age of 18 have been reported missing with 393 still reported as missing; and
WHEREAS, Involvement from family, friends, neighbors, civic groups and town watches give police the added help to try to find a missing person; and
WHEREAS, Many missing persons cases never make headlines or the evening news, and the general public remains unaware of the scope and seriousness of the issue; and
WHEREAS, The lack of awareness disproportionately occurs in missing persons case involving minorities and/or low-income individuals; and
WHEREAS, The Latoya Figueroa case has offered instruction and guidance to police, families, communities, and elected officials in methods for raising the awareness of missing persons; and
WHEREAS, City Council now has a timely opportunity to act on this instruction and guidance and raise awareness of missing persons in Philadelphia and its s...
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