FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

PR03-034
Contact:

Date:
Lieutenant Clarence Huber

December 9, 2003
(404) 730-4148
  

 
 Fulton Sheriff to Activate “A Child is Missing” Alert System
 

The Fulton County Sheriff’s Office is about to add a new tool that will quickly notify local law enforcement, and the public, when a child, elderly, or disabled person is reported missing. On Thursday, December 11, 2003, deputies from Fulton County and other departments across the state will participate in a special training program at the Georgia Public Safety Training Center, to activate “A Child is Missing” (ACIM) in their communities.

Several law enforcement agencies across the country are now using this valuable rapid communications tool to help find missing persons when the unthinkable happens. Unlike Levi’s Call, which is restricted only for missing children under the age of 17, the “A Child is Missing” alert system is devoted to protecting the young, old and disabled. When deputies confirm a missing person report, the ACIM system is activated. Within minutes of the report, ACIM places 1,000 calls in ONE minute in the geographical area where the missing child/person was last seen.

Locating a missing person is crucial within the first hours of disappearance. While Levi’s Call utilizes television and Radio Emergency Alert Systems, the ACIM rapid communications technology places telephone calls to thousands of homes, alerting residents and communities of the missing person, including a physical description.

Fulton County Sheriff Jackie Barrett is extremely excited about this technological breakthrough, and feels the ACIM will generate tremendous community support anytime a person is reported missing.

A Child is Missing, Inc. has been credited by law enforcement with 49 safe recoveries in the last 23 months due to the alert calls. The ACIM training is co-sponsored by the Georgia Sheriff’s Association, A Child is Missing, Inc., and the Georgia Public Safety Taining Center.

For more information, please contact Lieutenant Clarence Huber at (404) 730-4148. Lieutenant Huber can also be reached on his digital pager at (404) 742-6798.