State Expands

Amber Alert Bulletin System

By Noreen Gillespie

Associated Press

MIDDLETOWN — Law enforcement officials are expanding the state’s Amber Alert bulletin system to help find missing and kidnapped children more quickly.

Parents will be able to obtain photo identification cards for their children under the program. The child’s name, height, weight, eye and hair color, and birth date also appear on the card.

That information will be put into a secure database maintained by state police, a system that state officials said is the first of its kind in the country. If a child is reported missing, authorities can send the child’s picture and description to media and local police in minutes.

“Being quick is essential in successfully recovering an abducted child,” said Lt Gov M. Jodi Rell.

Police say parents who have had a child kidnapped often do not have recent photos or information such as height and weight memorized. Because they are panicked when their child disappears, they may forget to tell police important details.

John Bish of Massachusetts lost his 16-year-old daughter, Molly, in June 2000 when she vanished near a pond in Warren, Mass., where she worked as a lifeguard. Her remains were found in a wooded area last year.

He and his wife, Magi, had a child identification kit for the blonde-haired teen. But the photos were outdated, he said.

“I can tell you I thought like I think most parents do: that this would never happen to us. And certainly not in our safe, small, central Massachusetts community,” Mr Bish said. “Maybe somewhere else, maybe to some other family.”

State police hope to enroll 550,000 children in the database during the next three years. About 1,200 children are already signed up, said Lt Wayne Rioux, who manages the state’s Amber Alert system.

Police are asking local Rotary clubs, civic groups, corporate sponsors, and others to purchase the photo equipment, which is made by Waltham, Mass.-based Polaroid Corp. Including startup materials, the equipment costs $6,400, Rioux said.

A website set to launch this week, www.amberid.org, will publish the fairs where parents can get the ID cards. The first card is free; extras are $2.

Connecticut has never used its Amber Alert program. If activated, information about the missing child is sent to cable systems and television and radio broadcasters. It is also printed on lottery tickets and on highway traffic signs.

The alert system originated in Texas in 1996. It is named for 9-year-old Amber Hagerman, who was abducted and killed near her Texas home. It is credited with helping find 134 children, according to the US Department of Justice.