The legislature finds a compelling need to address the problem of missing children, whether those children have been abducted by a stranger, are missing due to custodial interference, or are classified as runaways. Washington state ranks twelfth in the nation for active cases of missing juveniles and, at any given time, more than one thousand eight hundred Washington children are reported as missing. The potential for physical and psychological trauma to these children is extreme. Therefore, the legislature finds that it is paramount for the safety of these children that there be a concerted effort to resolve cases of missing and exploited children.

Due to the complexity of many child abduction cases, most law enforcement personnel are unprepared and lack adequate resources to successfully and efficiently investigate these crimes. Therefore, it is the intent of the legislature that a multiagency task force be established within the Washington state patrol, to be available to assist local jurisdictions in missing child cases through referrals, on-site assistance, case management, and training. The legislature intends that the task force will increase the effectiveness of a specific case investigation by drawing from the combined resources, knowledge, and technical expertise of the members of the task force.

Short title—1999 c 168: "This act may be known and cited as the Teekah Lewis act." [ 1999 c 168 § 4.]