TECHNOLOGY AIDS IN LOCATING MISSING CHILDREN

A CHILD IS MISSING ALERT, A National Organization

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“This is an urgent message from the Millis Police Department. We are currently looking for a missing child in your area. The missing child’s name and description is…”

This is a message you could hear when you answer your phone through a service available in your area.

1,000 telephone alert calls placed within 60 seconds can help save a life.

(November 18, 2004) – The Millis Police Department has recently formalized their relationship with a national program that assists in the search of missing children, the elderly (often with Alzheimer’s), and the disabled in the first critical hours of their disappearance. A Child Is Missing Alert, Inc. (ACIM) is the only program of its kind in the country offered FREE to law enforcement.

A Child Is Missing Alert is a non-profit organization that uses a high technology telephone alert system to canvas a neighborhood with calls describing the missing person and asking anyone with leads to call their local law enforcement. Alert calls are launched within 15 minutes from request for assistance at a rate of 1,000 calls per 60 seconds.

A Child Is Missing Alert can work in tandem with the Amber Alert. ACIM relays information to the public immediately. Its only criteria is that a child or elderly person is missing. However, there are incidences where both programs could be activated.

A Child Is Missing Alert has been serving law enforcement since 1997 and to date, nearly 7 million alert calls have been made to help find missing individuals. A Child Is Missing Alert has been credited by law enforcement with 69 safe recoveries in the last 32 months.

For further information call Chief Peter McGowan of the Millis Police Department or A Child Is Missing Alert, Inc at 954-763-1288 or visit www.achildismissing.org.

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A CHILD IS MISSING ALERT
A National Organization

WHAT WE DO:

Assist law enforcement in the search and early recovery of missing children, the elderly (often with Alzheimer’s), and the disabled in the first hours of their disappearance.

HOW WE DO IT:

A Child Is Missing Alert (ACIM) program uses a high technology telephone alert system to canvas a neighborhood with personalized phone messages, describing the missing person and asking anyone with leads to call the police (at the local number given). Computer mapping and satellite imagery help determine the calling area. ACIM alert program can place 1000 calls in 60 seconds. ACIM technicians are on call 24/7, 365. The alert calls are placed within 15 minutes after having received a call from the police asking for assistance. To date 7,500 requests for assistance have been received, resulting in nearly 8 million alert phone calls placed.

WHY WE DO IT:

Everyday nearly 3,000 children and elderly are reported missing. A program was needed to notify a community that a child was missing and last seen in their neighborhood. Because of the need, A Child Is Missing Alert (ACIM) program was founded in 1997.

WHAT DOES IT COST?

The program is FREE to law enforcement. The program is funded by federal and state grants, corporate and private donations and fundraising activities.

WHAT STATES ARE CURRENTLY PARTICIPATING?

The program was founded in Florida in 1997 and has expanded to Rhode Island, Alaska, Ohio, Georgia, Nevada, Indiana, Oklahoma, Michigan, West Virginia, Alabama, Massachusetts, Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont and parts of Califoria.

OTHER USES FOR THIS PROGRAM

The most common use of this program is to help find a missing child, elderly (often with Alzheimer’s) and the disabled. However, the program can also be used in the same way to locate a parent or guardian of a found individual that may be injured, unconscious, or disabled and unable to communicate adequately. The program is also used to notify neighborhoods that a Sexual Offender/Predator is living within a designated radius of their residence. State law requirements very.

IS THIS PROGRAM THE SAME AS THE AMBER ALERT?

A Child Is Missing Alert can be activated within 15 minutes from receiving a call from law enforcement. ACIM is used to find any missing person: children up to 18 years, elderly that are disabled or suffering from Alzheimer’s, injured or unconscious. The Amber Alert is designed to aid in the search of abducted children (younger than 18) when it is presumed that their life is in danger.

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