Title 52. Police (State)
Chapter 7.1:1. Virginia Critical Operation for a Disappeared Child Initiative (Codi) Alert Program
§ 52-34.3:3. Activation of the Virginia Critical Operation for a Disappeared Child Initiative (Codi) Alert Program upon incident of a missing or endangered child. (2024 updated section)
A. Upon receipt of a notice of a missing or endangered child from a law-enforcement agency, the Virginia State Police shall confirm the accuracy of the information and provide assistance in the implementation of the Codi Alert Program as the investigation dictates.
B. Codi Alerts may be local, regional, or statewide. The initial decision to make a local or regional Codi Alert shall be at the discretion of the local or regional law-enforcement officials. Prior to making a local or regional Codi Alert, the local or regional law-enforcement officials shall confer with the Virginia State Police and provide information regarding the missing or endangered child to the Virginia State Police. The initial decision to make a statewide Codi Alert shall be at the discretion of the Virginia State Police. The Missing Children Information Clearinghouse operated by the Virginia State Police shall serve as a central repository for information related to a missing or endangered child.
C. In those situations where appropriate, the Virginia State Police shall send the Codi Alert to Virginia's emergency alert system. Participating media are encouraged to issue the Codi Alert at designated intervals as specified by the Codi Alert Program.
D. In those situations where appropriate and an existing system is available, the Virginia State Police shall contact the operator of the existing automatic dialing-announcing device system to target residents in the geographic location where the missing or endangered child was most recently seen. For purposes of this section, "automatic dialing-announcing device system" means a device that (i) selects and dials telephone numbers and (ii) working alone or in conjunction with other equipment, disseminates a prerecorded or synthesized voice message to the telephone number called.
E. The Codi Alert shall include such information as the law-enforcement agency deems appropriate that will assist in the safe recovery of the missing or endangered child.
F. The Codi Alert shall be canceled under the terms of the Codi Agreement. Any local law-enforcement agency that locates a child who is the subject of a Codi Alert shall notify the Virginia State Police immediately that the child has been located.
