McCanns: Police Unveil Abducted Child Alert Scheme

8:37am UK, Sunday April 04, 2010

Mark Langford, Sky News Online
Police will unveil a new nationwide alert system for enlisting the public to help them rescue abducted children next month.





The Child Rescue Alert system has the backing of the parents of Madeleine McCann

The network, comparable to the amber alert system in the United States, will be compatible with other European countries for the first time.
As a result a continent-wide alert could be issued in circumstances where youngsters may be taken across national borders.
Kate and Gerry McCann have campaigned for such a system to be introduced since their daughter Madeleine disappeared in Portugal in May 2007.
Although some 100,000 children are reported missing to police each year, senior officers expect the national alert to be used extremely rarely.
Regional and national television and radio stations will broadcast messages, in some cases interrupting scheduled programmes.
Those behind the system hope to eventually use internet and text messaging as well as motorway information signs.
The system is being co-ordinated by the National Police Improvement Agency (NPIA) and any national abduction will be led by Greater Manchester Police.


Chief Constable Peter Neyroud


Chief Constable Peter Neyroud, who heads the NPIA, said the new alert will be launched on May 25, International Missing Children's Day.
He said: "Child Rescue Alert is a powerful tool in the fight against child abduction in the UK.
"By establishing a powerful partnership between the police, media and the public, Child Rescue Alert allows information about the child and the suspect to be shared in just a few hours of a disappearance when the criteria for such an alert are met.
"These are often the vital hours which could literally mean the difference between life and death."
Work on the improved system began after the NPIA won a share of one million euros (£886,000) from the European Commission alongside France, Holland and Belgium.
Portugal, Spain and the Czech Republic have already introduced their versions of child abduction alerts that link with the European network.
The previous national alert system was established in 2006 and has only been used on a handful of occasions.
They included an incident when a six-year-old girl was found under a bed after being missed in a search and a child left strapped into a car stolen by thieves.
Investigators believe about 700 child abductions are reported each year, the vast majority of which involve the break-up of their parents.

http://news.sky.com/skynews/Home/UK-News/Child-Rescue-Alert-Scheme-Unveiled-Backed-By-Kate-And-Gerry-McCann-Parents-Of-Madelaine-McCann/Article/201004115593207?lpos=UK_News_First_Home_Article_Teaser_Region_0&lid=ARTICLE_15593207_Child_Rescue_Alert_Scheme_Unveiled%2C_Backed_By_Kate_And_Gerry_McCann%2C_Parents_Of_Madelaine_McCann

More about this on Joana's site

http://joana-morais.blogspot.com/2010/04/eu-child-abduction-alert-system-to-be.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+JoanaMorais+%28Joana+Morais%29

Anything which helps to prevent children being abducted and moved across borders is a good thing, but I will be interested to see what evidence of abduction is required to activate the system.

For this system to be of any use there would have to be something to broadcast such as registration no, description or some info about suspected abductor. It would have been more appropriate had the McCanns involved themselves in raising public awareness about the dangers of leaving young children unattended rather than campaingning for a system which I doubt very much would have been used following Madeleine's disappearance.

Hi
Excellent that something like this will be put into place but still feel a little that the McCann's use it like a door being shut after the horse has bolted.

I feel a little like Autumn, better they had banged on about the danger of leaving children alone rather than promote something that can find your children for you after you have left them alone and they have been abducted, if they are abducted.

Take care

Extract
"By establishing a powerful partnership between the police, media and the public, Child Rescue Alert allows information about the child and the suspect to be shared in just a few hours of a disappearance when the criteria for such an alert are met.

Here it states clearly that info about child and suspect ...........when the criteria for such an alert are met.....
In short, it does not apply to the mccanns at all because there was no 'suspect', and their case did not fall within the criteria.

Basically, this is the launch of a project already in developing process prior to mccanns. The mccanns just happened to jump conveniently onto this gravy train, hijack it in mid-way so to speak.

What is shameful is that the UK press had penned in their name to a project which initiation had nothing to do with them. Saying they support the project is all very well (anyone can support it) but it must not be construed as they were responsible for the initialisation, or had anything to do with the decision for the final launch, nor had anything to do with the entity.

The detail in the criteria/conditions to qualify for such an alert is besides the point. The mccanns are least concerned about those, nor do those apply to their case as there was no abduction. Tout simplement, it's just another publicity stunt to make them look good. Nothing more should be read into it.

I cannot understand why the McCanns have been able to push themselves to the forefront of this new system in the way they have done.

It is a fact that Amber Alert was being established before they came on the scene. If the organisers wanted an example of a suitable case to highlight the need for the system in the UK, they could surely have found a more suitable one than a case where there is no evidence that a child has been abducted.