Silver Alert

Reference Links:
Official Silver Alert Announcement
Newton Silver Alert Resolution
Silver Alert Signing Announcement
Governor Signs Silver Alert Bill

Description

Several states, now including Massachusetts, have established a Silver Alert Program to set-up a statewide alert for missing adults with Alzheimer’s, dementia or other serious memory impairment, modeled after the Amber Alert.

More than 120,000 people in Massachusetts have Alzheimer’s disease. According to experts, 60% of those individuals will wander and become lost at some point during the illness. About half of the people who wander off die or are seriously injured within 24 hours of their disappearance. With such a narrow window to find them, alerting the community and first responders to assist in the effort to bring them home as quickly as possible is crucial.

Solid Results. Sensible Solution:

In June 2010, Alderman Charlie Shapiro introduced a resolution in the Board of Aldermen to create a Silver Alert program for Newton, which will—with no additional cost–create specific procedures tying together Mayor Warren’s Reverse 911 System and existing city technology to establish a robust system where:

- A missing person’s photo is immediately electronically distributed to all police cruisers.

- A call will automatically go out to the immediate neighborhood using the Mayor’s new reverse 911 system; the area called can expand if the person isn’t found swiftly.

- Emergency messages will broadcast across the bottom of NewTV’s 3 channels.

- An email can be sent to an established database to ask people to look out for the missing person.

- A Twitter message can be sent out to everyone in the city who has signed up for City messaging.

The resolution passed unanimously, and the system began initial operations in November 2010, National Alzheimer’s Month

Newton is encouraging families who have an member with Alzheimer’s disease, dementia or memory loss to register with the Police Dept., so their photo and information is on file for immediate use in the event that the person goes missing.

The Newton example is being used a model for the Commonwealth and Alderman Charlie Shapiro accepted the invitation to join the Governor’s task force in the roll-out of the program.

“It was my privilege to join Governor Patrick for the signing of the the statewide Silver Alert legislation at Lasell Village in Newton”.  The Newton Silver Alert, passed unanimously by the Board of Aldermen, will helps saves lives and I’m very proud to be involved.” The Governor chose to sign the bill in Newton, in part, due to the leadership role Newton took in moving this program forward.

Here’s more information on the bill signing: Governor Patrick Signing the Silver Alert Bill.

NewTV covered the signing on Newton News:

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Jesse Kreitzer, Producer and Videographer with Alderman Charlie Shapiro sharing a lighter moment while on the set while the Silver Alert Public Service Announcement.