USA: Silver Alert System Is 'Great Idea For Florida'

TAMPA, Florida (The Tampa Tibune), March 9, 2008: Florida has more people 65 and older than any other state but hasn't jumped on the bandwagon of the Silver Alert, a system like Amber Alert that spreads word broadly and quickly when someone disappears. Four states - Texas, Michigan, Illinois and Colorado - have adopted Silver Alert laws to help in situations such as the disappearance Feb. 26 of a Largo woman with dementia who drove off in her car. She was found dead Monday in the Intracoastal Waterway. Florida has no plans to implement a Silver Alert system, said David Bruns of the Florida chapter of AARP in Tallahassee. Still, Bruns said he hopes the matter is taken up by the state Legislature during its current session. Florida's 85-plus population is growing twice as fast as that of any other state, Bruns said, and half of people 85 and older have brain health concerns. "This is clearly an idea that is catching on all around the country," Bruns said. "The ball is definitely rolling, and this is a great idea for Florida." Ohio, North Carolina and Maryland are working on Silver Alert legislation. AARP national policymakers have looked at the emerging system and come up with recommendations for states working to adopt such laws. "The challenging part is to enact provisions that not only protect senior citizens' safety, but their privacy and dignity as well, " Bruns said. Before an alert could be issued, the system would require a go-ahead from law enforcement or other officials. Word spread through more traditional means about the disappearance of Mary Gill Zelter, an 86-year-old Largo woman who walked away from Regal Palms, an adult care center on Lake Avenue, and later drove away in her 2003 white Chrysler Sebring convertible. Police say Zelter's credit card was used at an Albertsons a half-hour after she left the senior center. Two fishermen found her body about 11 p.m. Monday in the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway near a boat ramp at 69 Bay Esplanade Road in Clearwater. Whether the immediacy and sweep of a Silver Alert might have helped in Zelter's case isn't clear. In other states, the system works like an Amber Alert, feeding data to law enforcement and other outlets when someone goes missing and is considered endangered. In Texas, A Fight For Bulletins The Silver Alert program was launched in Texas because of an El Paso missing person case last year, Texas state Rep. Joe Pickett said. The man may have been found if an alert had been issued. He was found dead four days later. "The question was raised, 'What if?'" Pickett said. "If we had a Silver Alert, would this person have been found before he died?" Picket researched and wrote legislation last year and proposed the bill that would cost Texas taxpayers about $100,000 a year. "It was not an easy go," he said. Public safety officials feared a flood of Silver Alerts. They thought having too many would desensitize the public. The program might be tweaked this year. The criteria for issuing a Silver Alert are strict, Picket said. "You have to be at least 65," he said. "You have to be a Texas resident, and you have to be under a doctor's care for mental dementia." He wants to ease those rules to allow law enforcement discretion in deciding which cases get on the alert system, he said. He said he has gotten calls from legislators and public safety officials in other states asking about it. From September through the rest of 2007, Texas had 13 Silver Alerts, and five safe recoveries were attributed to the system, Pickett said. Several other missing people were found a few days later by family or law enforcement. One was found dead. 12 Amber Alerts In 13 Months The Amber Alert system was established in Florida eight years ago as a way to immediately publicize a suspected child abduction. During the past 13 months, the Florida Department of Law Enforcement has issued 12 Amber Alerts, agency spokeswoman Trena Reddick said. FDLE, the Department of Community Affairs and the Florida Association of Broadcasters came up with the plan, which uses the state Emergency Alert System. Notices are broadcast on radio and television stations and through the Florida Highway Patrol, and are posted on digital message boards along highways. Alerts also appear on Florida Lottery machines. To have FDLE issue an Amber Alert, the case must meet certain criteria. The child must be younger than 18, and there must be a clear indication of an abduction. Investigators must think the child's life is in danger, and a detailed description of the child, abductor and vehicle must be available for broadcast. FDLE doesn't have a Silver Alert system in the works, but alerts can be issued, spokeswoman Kristen Perezluha said. For example, A Child Is Missing, a nonprofit group in Fort Lauderdale, has developed a system that also helps find older people who are missing, without the use of broadcast or message boards. The program has spread to other states since starting in Fort Lauderdale more than a decade ago, said A Child Is Missing spokesman Todd DeAngelis. The system works like this: A law enforcement agency notifies A Child Is Missing about a missing person - a child, a senior citizen, a disabled person or even a college student missing on campus, DeAngelis said. The organization mounts a far-flung, high-speed telephone alert campaign, calling all listed phone numbers in the area where a person disappeared and asking for help locating the person. The alert gives a detailed description of the person and tells where the person was last seen. The system has been credited with the safe return of more than 300 people, DeAngelis said, most since 2002, when the agency started keeping detailed statistics. "Unfortunately, we are very busy," he said. By Keith Morelli, The Tampa Tribune ©2008 Media General Inc