WASHINGTON – Congressman Spencer Bachus (AL-6) today commended officials in Chilton County for their decision to participate in the “A Child Is Missing Alert Program.”
Bachus has encouraged law enforcement agencies in the district to use the national service, which sends out instant telephone alerts on missing persons to residents in surrounding areas asking them if they have seen the individual. At the request of Chilton County EMA Director Bill Collum, Congressman Bachus and his staff provided assistance to help local agencies submit an application to join the program. The service can distribute as many as 1000 telephone alerts in one minute. The tips have been credited with helping to find more than 340 missing children, college students, disabled individuals, and elderly patients with Alzheimer’s in the State of Alabama and across the country.
“This program will provide an extra level of safety for residents in Chilton County and neighboring localities, and I applaud our local officials for their initiative. This is a great tool for our law enforcement agencies. Timing and coordination can make all the difference in finding a missing person. As time elapses, it is much harder to locate an individual who has unexplainably disappeared or been abducted. The average recovery time with these instant alerts is a remarkable 90 minutes. The ‘A Child Is Missing Alert Program’ helps our citizens serve as the eyes and ears for law enforcement officials, bringing relief to worried parents and families,” Bachus said.
Bachus was the keynote speaker for the original launch of the program in the Sixth District, and said that it complements the “Ambert Alert” system that Congress authorized in 2003.
The “A Child Is Missing Program” is based in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. The service is available at no cost to law enforcement agencies. Funding is provided through federal government grants and private contributions.