This section is devoted to major child safety issues. We encourage you to review this information.

• Rules Parents Must Teach Their Children
• A Parent's Guide To Preventing Child Abduction
• Child Access -- Storage Of Firearms
• Eddie Eagle Firearms Safety Program From The NRA
• Child Identification And Fingerprinting 
  

 

Rules Parents Must Teach Their Children

• Children must always check first with parents or the person in charge before they go anywhere or get into a car, even with someone they know.
• Children must always check first with their parents or a trusted adult before they accept anything from anyone, even from someone they know.
• Children must always take a friend with them when they go places or play outside.
• Children must know their name, address, telephone number, and their parents' names.
• Children must say no if someone tries to touch them or treat them in a way that makes them feel scared, uncomfortable, or confused.
• Children must know that they can tell their parents or a trusted adult if they feel scared, uncomfortable, or confused.
• It's OK for children to say no, and they must know that there will always be someone who can help them.
• Children must be strong, smart, and have the right to be safe.
• CHILDREN MUST CHECK FIRST, TAKE A FRIEND, TELL SOMEONE THEY TRUST IF SOMETHING IS WRONG, STAY STRONG, SMART, AND SAFE

 

A Parents Guide For Preventing Child Abduction

Thousands of children are reported missing every year in America. Some Children will be found and returned home. Some will not. Child abduction is a tragedy that devastates parents and touches all of us. This information tells you how to keep your children safe.

What To Do

• Know where your children are at all times.
• Never leave children alone in cars.
• Establish strict procedures for picking children up at school, after movies, at friends' homes, etc. Don't let your children accept rides from people with whom you haven't made prior arrangements, even if they say they are police officers, teachers or close friends of the family.
• Teach your children their full names, your full name, address, and telephone number. Teach them how to reach either you or a trusted adult and how to call for assistance. Make sure they know how to make local and long-distance telephone calls. Even small children can learn to dial 9-1-1 or 0 for an operator to get help.
• Tell your children about the abduction problem in a calm and simple way, as if you were teaching any other important coping skill.
• Listen attentively when your children discuss anyone they've encountered in your absence.
• Have photographs taken of your children four times a year (especially for preschoolers). Make note of birthmarks or other distinguishing features.
• Have fingerprints taken of your children. (Note: The Madera Police Department has an on-line form, below, for this purpose).
• Establish a family code word. Tell your children never to go with anyone who does not know the code word.

 

Teach Your Children:

• Never leave the yard without your permission. Very small children should play only in the backyard or in a supervised play area.
• Not to wander off, to avoid lonely places, and not to take shortcuts through alleys or deserted areas.
• They are safer walking or playing with friends.
• Always to come straight home from school unless you've made other arrangements.
• Never to enter anyone's home without your prior approval. (Exception: A block parent or safe house.)
• To scream, run away and tell you or a trusted adult if anyone attempts to touch or grab them.
• Never to go anywhere with anyone who does not know the family code word.
• To keep all doors locked and admit only authorized people into the house.

 

The Safe House Program
A safe house is a temporary haven for children who find themselves in emergencies or frightening situations such as being bullied, followed or hurt while walking in the neighborhood. Individuals who volunteer their homes for a safe house program agree to make emergency phone calls for children in trouble and watch out for neighborhood children going to and from school. A safe house is not a medical-aid station, a restaurant or public rest room. The program is not an escort service or a place for long-term protection. It is a short-term interaction between an adult helper and a child needing help. It is also an effective way for a community to protect children.

 

Criminal Storage Of A Firearm

In light of recent child related gun violence, recent changes in California law have been enacted and are intended to help prevent the access of firearms to children. For those families who maintain firearms in the home in the presence of children, this statute should be read and fully appreciated. The law now states:

Penal Code §12035. (a) As used in this section, the following definitions shall apply:

(1) "Locking device" means a device that is designed to prevent the firearm from functioning and when applied to the firearm, renders the firearm inoperable.

(2) "Loaded firearm" has the same meaning as set forth in subdivision (g) of Section 12031.

(3) "Child" means a person under 16 years of age.

(4) "Great bodily injury" has the same meaning as set forth in Section 12022.7.

(5) "Locked container" has the same meaning as set forth in subdivision (d) of Section 12026.2.

(b) (1) Except as provided in subdivision (c), a person commits the crime of "criminal storage of a firearm of the first degree" if he or she keeps any loaded firearm within any premise which is under his or her custody or control and he or she knows or reasonably should know that a child is likely to gain access to the firearm without the permission of the child's parent or legal guardian and the child obtains access to the firearm and thereby causes death or great bodily injury to himself, herself, or any other person.

(2) Except as provided in subdivision (c), a person commits the crime of "criminal storage of a firearm of the second degree" if he or she keeps any loaded firearm within any premise which is under his or her custody or control and he or she knows or reasonably should know that a child is likely to gain access to the firearm without the permission of the child's parent or legal guardian and the child obtains access to the firearm and thereby causes injury, other than great bodily injury, to himself, herself, or any other person, or carries the firearm either to a public place or in violation of Section 417.

(c) Subdivision (b) shall not apply whenever any of the following occurs:

(1) The child obtains the firearm as a result of an illegal entry to any premises by any person.

(2) The firearm is kept in a locked container or in a location that a reasonable person would believe to be secure.

(3) The firearm is carried on the person or within such a close proximity thereto so that the individual can readily retrieve and use the firearm as if carried on the person.

(4) The firearm is locked with a locking device that has rendered the firearm inoperable.

(5) The person is a peace officer or a member of the armed forces or national guard and the child obtains the firearm during, or incidental to, the performance of the person's duties.

(6) The child obtains, or obtains and discharges, the firearm in a lawful act of self-defense or defense of another person, or persons.

(7) The person who keeps a loaded firearm on any premise which is under his or her custody or control has no reasonable expectation, based on objective facts and circumstances, that a child is likely to be present on the premise.

(d) Criminal storage of a firearm is punishable as follows:

(1) Criminal storage of a firearm in the first degree, by imprisonment in the state prison for 16 months, or 2 or 3 years, by a fine not exceeding ten thousand dollars ($10,000), or by both that imprisonment and fine; or by imprisonment in a county jail not exceeding one year, by a fine not exceeding one thousand dollars ($1,000), or by both that imprisonment and fine.

(2) Criminal storage of a firearm in the second degree, by imprisonment in a county jail not exceeding one year, by a fine not exceeding one thousand dollars ($1,000), or by both that imprisonment and fine.

(e) If the person who allegedly violated this section is the parent or guardian of a child who is injured or who dies as the result of an accidental shooting, the district attorney shall consider, among other factors, the impact of the injury or death on the person alleged to have violated this section when deciding whether to prosecute an alleged violation. It is the Legislature's intent that a parent or guardian of a child who is injured or who dies as the result of an accidental shooting shall be prosecuted only in those instances in which the parent or guardian behaved in a grossly negligent manner or where similarly egregious circumstances exist. This subdivision shall not otherwise restrict, in any manner, the factors that a district attorney may consider when deciding whether to prosecute alleged violations of this section.

(f) If the person who allegedly violated this section is the parent or guardian of a child who is injured or who dies as the result of an accidental shooting, no arrest of the person for the alleged violation of this section shall occur until at least seven days after the date upon which the accidental shooting occurred.

In addition to the limitation contained in this subdivision, a law enforcement officer shall consider the health status of a child who suffers great bodily injury as the result of an accidental shooting prior to arresting a person for a violation of this section, if the person to be arrested is the parent or guardian of the injured child.

The intent of this subdivision is to encourage law enforcement officials to delay the arrest of a parent or guardian of a seriously injured child while the child remains on life-support equipment or is in a similarly critical medical condition.

(g) (1) The fact that the person who allegedly violated this section attended a firearm safety training course prior to the purchase of the firearm that is obtained by a child in violation of this section shall be considered a mitigating factor by a district attorney when he or she is deciding whether to prosecute the alleged violation.

(2) In any action or trial commenced under this section, the fact that the person who allegedly violated this section attended a firearm safety training course prior to the purchase of the firearm that is obtained by a child in violation of this section, shall be admissible.

(h) Every person licensed under Section 12071 shall post within the licensed premises the notice required by paragraph (7) of subdivision (b) of that section, disclosing the duty imposed by this section upon any person who keeps a loaded firearm.

Firearm locking devices include:

• Trigger lock
• Locking Gun Storage Boxes/Safes
• Cable lock (secured through the barrel or other moving mechanism designed to prohibit use of the weapon)

For further information there is a very valuable pamphlet distributed by the California Rifle and Pistol Association entitled, Know Your California Gun Laws & It's A Matter of Safety. 

You can contact this organization at:
California Rifle and Pistol Association, Inc.
271 East Imperial Highway, Suite 620
Fullerton, California 92835
(714) 992-CPRA

 

Child Identification And Fingerprints

Below, there is an easy form which you can use to fingerprint and identify your child to law enforcement. You should maintain the completed form and all of your children's personal records and photographs in a secure and safe location in your home. It is important that you periodically review the information (at least annually) to insure that it and your child's photograph are current. Should your child be missing, these records may be invaluable in assisting law enforcement in recovering your child in an expeditious manner. Older forms you have completed should NOT be discarded. Rather, complete a new form and attach an updated, more recent photograph and other relevant information to the new form.

Form Instructions
Use one form for each child. Please print the form using a white, smooth surfaced, heavy 8½ x 11 card stock that your printer can accommodate. You may use an inked stamp pad to transfer your child's prints to either transparent tape or to the form, itself. You may use plain paper should card stock not be available although fingerprints may lack some detail if transferred directly to the paper itself. Make sure that your fingerprints are clear and well defined. Smudges, black blotches or faint fingerprints can hamper proper identification. Your child's photograph should be a close-up color photograph of wallet size. School photographs are normally ideal for this purpose.