CHILD PROTECTION LEGISLATION CHAMPIONED BY
STATE SENATOR GROSS SIGNED INTO LAW
JEFFERSON CITY - Legislation sponsored and advanced by Sen. Chuck Gross, R-St. Charles, designed to expedite emergency agency communications following abductions was signed into law today by the governor.
"The Legislature has made an important step forward in the fight to protect our children from those who seek to prey on them," Gross said. "I applaud my colleagues in the General Assembly for joining me in the passage of this important safeguard. With the passage of this bill, the legislature has fulfilled its duty to help protect the most vulnerable among us."
Established by Senate Bill 30, Missouri's Amber Alert System is patterned after similar communications programs now successfully in place around the nation. These alert systems quickly distribute information on radio, television, the Internet and electronic traffic signs when a person is discovered missing.
Amber Hagerman, a 9-year-old Texas girl tragically kidnapped and murdered in 1996, was the inspiration behind AMBER: America's Missing: Broadcast Emergency Response.
Senator Gross's legislation calls on Missouri's Department of Public Safety (DPS) to develop the alert system, which will involve dividing the state into regions and then coordinating efforts between local law enforcement agencies and local media within and among the regions to aid in the identification and location of abducted persons. The DPS will notify local media in communities without a formal alert operations base in place.
Missouri's Amber Alert System will include any state entity capable of providing information to the public such as the Highway Patrol, the Department of Transportation, the Department of Health and Senior Services and the Missouri Lottery.
"One of the primary strengths of this program is its focus on cooperation with and enhancement of current child recovery programs in Missouri and the enthusiastic support it has received by those in Missouri's broadcast industry," Gross said. "In the uncertain world in which we live, having a state-of-the-art emergency alert system is essential."
Now signed into law, Gross's statewide abduction communications plan takes effect August 28th.
"I want to thank Rep. Vicki Schneider (R-O'Fallon) who handled SB 30 in the House of Representatives, and succeeded in passing the identical House bill (HB 185)," Gross said. "Getting this legislation approved was a team effort, and I appreciate the hours of time she dedicated to this issue."