Politics & Government
Menendez Fights for Bill Supporting Child Alert System
Proposed by Sen. Robert Menendez, D-NJ, legislation would grant funding for A Child Is Missing, specializing in rapid response for missing children and senior citizens.
New legislation proposed by Sen. Robert Menendez, D-NJ, would provide millions in grant funding to A Child Is Missing, a non-profit organization that specializes in rapid response telephone system alerts about missing children and senior citizens.
This would be the third time the Democratic senator proposed this legislation. Previously, it passed in the House of Representatives but was blocked in the Senate.
"It is a small amount of money with a tremendous impact," Menendez said Monday during a press conference at Burlington County College.
A Child Is Missing, a Florida-based group, became nationwide in 2007 and provides police departments with a free service—phone calls made to at least 1,000 households and businesses within the radius of where a child or elderly person was reported missing.
The group said it has been a part of 890 safe recoveries, and the average time a person is found is 60 minutes.
To use the service, a law enforcement official calls an 800 number and provides information on the child or senior citizen—hair color, age, clothing, place seen last, etc.
Within minutes, an automated phone call is made alerting neighbors and business owners there has been a missing person reported and a number to call with any information.
After the Senator touted the alert program, a training session was held at BCC's Laurel Hall and dozens of South Jersey law enforcement officers and chiefs listened to Mark Brey, a trainer with the organization, educate them on the program.
"As law enforcement become aware of these tools, we keep growing and growing," Brey said.
Funding for the program comes from grants and other funding. Sherry Friedlander, founder and CEO of A Child Is Missing, said the $5 million grant proposed by Menendez would mean a lot.
"It would mean we could expand further into every state," she said.
The group started in 1997 but it took 10 years to get into every state. The grant also would help fund more educational programs for law enforcement officials—exactly what went on at BCC Monday.
"We are going to save lives because what we do works so great," Friedlander said.
