HARTFORD, Conn. -- Families of missing persons are calling on Connecticut lawmakers to require police departments to follow specific protocols when they investigate cases involving adults who have disappeared.

Relatives said too many police officers are not trained to use the latest technologies to identify human remains.

Missing People's Families: Give Police Protocols

The bill would require officers to take missing persons reports immediately, lays out exactly how to respond and even indicate when it's appropriate to use helicopters to search by air.

The Connecticut Police Chief's Association opposes the bill. Association members said it takes away discretion in how to best allocate resources, especially when training indicates that a search would be fruitless.

"I'm not going to risk live people to find a body, so we have to be able to make calls that are reasonable under the circumstances," West Hartford Police Chief James Strillacci said.

The head of the Police Standards Council said changes have already been made and that many departments go beyond the new guidelines.

"To the best of my knowledge, every single law enforcement agency is following it in one form or another," Cromwell Police Chief Anthony Salvatore said.

In 2007, the General Assembly required the state Police Officer Standards and Training Council to develop a policy on how municipal departments should handle missing persons cases as of January 2008.

But not every department is participating.

Janice Smolinski, of Cheshire, whose 31-year-old son, Billy, disappeared in August 2004 from Waterbury and remains missing, said there needs to be mandatory participation in a standard protocol for handling missing adults.

"He may have been found by now, I'm sure," she said. "At least it would have relieved our anxiety. We've been working hard for the past five years to find him."

Billy Smolinski was last seen by a neighbor he told he was going on a short trip. His truck never left the driveway and his wallet and keys were found inside the house, where his dog was left alone, police said.

Four years after later, investigators conducted a forensics analysis on the truck.

Based on new developments, police said they decided to look at the truck for possible clues, including DNA evidence.

The case is still under investigation.