|
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 investigation 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. |
