By Maudlyne Ihejirka and Fran Spielman
Chicago Sun-Times
CHICAGO — The Chicago Police Department will review its “priority” policy governing missing persons in the wake of a controversy stirred by the case of a missing 12-year-old girl later found strangled, Police Supt. Jody Weis said Thursday.
But he defended his detectives against the assertion of a prominent national missing children’s agency that police classified Jahmeshia Conner as a runaway.
“How we classify something is almost immaterial in terms of what we did. We had detectives jump immediately on this case,” Weis said. “We made an all-out effort for this young girl to try and find her.”
However, police also admitted Thursday they had failed to issue a missing-person bulletin to the media -- as is protocol for priority cases.
Police spokesman Roderick Drew said he didn’t know “if it was a computer glitch or human oversight” that led to the failure.
Jahmeshia’s family has accused police of being less than aggressive in searching for the Englewood girl and were angry that she was listed as a “runaway” by the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children.
Police had blamed the “runaway” label on the center, but this week the center said police listed the Chicago Public Schools fifth-grader in a federal database classification generally reserved for runaways.
“People are getting a little bit too hung up on the classifications,” Weis said. “We worked this aggressively. Our guys did a good job on this case. They really did. And for anyone to say that they did not -- they’re just wrong.”
Weis said he will be looking at the the Police Department’s missing-persons policy -- long criticized by advocates -- that sets priority for children under 10, the elderly and those deemed endangered, such as disabled people.
Advocates assail the so-called “tender age” cutoff of 9 years, asking why 10-, 11- and 12-year-olds are lumped with teens considered able to fend for themselves.
Weis said he, too, questioned the cutoff.
“When I was in the FBI, ‘tender age’ was viewed as 8 years old. I always thought that was kind of young. . . . I mean, how is a 9-year-old more street-savvy than an 8-year-old?” he said. “Do we need to adjust years of how we view it as ‘tender age’? We’ll look at all protocols in place.”
Meanwhile, Rep. Bobby Rush offered a $10,000 reward for information leading to a conviction in the case. Donations toward the reward and the family’s expenses can be sent to: the Jahmeshia Conner Fund, c/o Gonzalez, Saggio & Harlan, 35 E. Wacker, Suite 500, Chicago 60601.
Funeral services are scheduled for 11 a.m. Dec. 12 at New Covenant Baptist Church, 754 E. 77th St.
Copyright 2009 Chicago Sun-Times