The Center shall do all of the following:

(1)        Assist local law-enforcement agencies with entering data about missing persons or missing children into the national missing persons file, ensure that proper entry criteria have been met as set forth by the FBI/NCIC, and confirm entry of the data about the missing persons or missing children.

(2)        Gather and distribute information and data on missing children and missing persons.

(3)        Encourage research and study of missing children and missing persons, including the prevention of child abduction and the prevention of the exploitation of missing children.

(4)        Serve as a statewide resource center to assist local communities in programs and initiatives to prevent child abduction and the exploitation of missing children.

(5)        Continue increasing public awareness of the reasons why children are missing and vulnerability of missing children.

(6)        Achieve maximum cooperation with other agencies of the State, with agencies of other states and the federal government and with the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children in rendering assistance to missing children and missing persons and their parents, guardians, spouses, or legal custodians.

(6a)      Cooperate with interstate and federal efforts to identify deceased individuals.

(7)        Develop and maintain the AMBER Alert System as created by N.C. Gen. Stat. § 143B-1021

(8)        Forward the appropriate information to the Police Information Network to assist it in maintaining and publishing a bulletin of currently missing children and missing persons.

(9)        Maintain a directory of existing public and private agencies, groups, and individuals that provide effective assistance to families in the areas of prevention of child abduction, location of missing children and missing persons, and follow-up services to the child or person and family, as determined by the Secretary of Public Safety.

(10)      Annually compile and publish reports on the actual number of children and persons missing each year, listing the categories and causes, when known, for the disappearances.

(11)      Provide follow-up referrals for services to missing children or persons and their families.

(12)      Maintain a toll-free 1-800 telephone service that will be in service at all times.

(13)      Perform such other activities that the Secretary of Public Safety considers necessary to carry out the intent of its mandate. ?(1985 (Reg. Sess., 1986), c. 1000, s. 1; 2002-126, s. 18.7(b); 2003-191, s. 2; 2011-145, s. 19.1(g), (w), (zz); 2019-90, s. 1.)