Labour calls for early warning system to trace missing children

AN early-warning system to trace missing children feared abducted should be set up in Ireland, it was claimed yesterday.

Joe Costello, Labour Party justice spokesman, called for an emergency scheme to bring the public on side in the hunt for youngsters believed to be in danger.

Mr Costello said a programme, based on the American Amber Alert system, would ensure speed was of the essence in getting communities to work hand in hand with police.

“I think we certainly should have something like the Amber Alert,” Mr Costello said. “It’s time for greater cohesion between police and the community. Really the community are the eyes and ears of everything that goes on. It would be very desirable that the police would have much more support from the public.”

Mr Costello, however, praised the work of gardaí over the last 10 days in the hunt for Robert Holohan. The 11-year-old was found dead in scrubland about seven miles from his home in East Cork last Wednesday. Hundreds of locals and gardaí had been working together to trace the youngster for more than a week.

“The gardaí did a fantastic job and continue to do a fantastic job in Cork and, with an early alert, the public would be on the look out from the word go.” Amber Alert was set up in Texas following the 1996 kidnapping and murder of nine-year-old Amber Hagerman and later rolled out in other states.

A total of 188 children have been recovered since the alert system began in 1996.

Deborah Daniels, Assistant Attorney General for the Office of Justice Programmes and National Amber Alert co-ordinator, said anecdotal evidence showed the system could also deter abductions. “Amber Alert is a very successful tool for recovering abducted children. More than 185 children have been taken out of harm’s way, and hundreds of parents spared their worst nightmare,” said Ms Daniels. “Children who are abducted have the hope of being quickly and safely recovered.”

The potentially life-saving Amber Alert uses local radio and television stations to alert local communities that a child has gone missing.

Detectives pass on details to local newsrooms and appeals for help and information are broadcast.

Several police forces in Britain have adopted a missing child alert system in a bid to avert tragedy.

Surrey Police and Sussex Police brought in the Child Rescue Alert to interrupt television and radio programmes with appeals for missing or abducted children.

The Sussex system was set up after the abduction and murder of eight-year-old Sarah Payne in 2000.

Mr Costello said evidence showed local people could be the key to tracking abducted children.

“The public are the best means of seeing and providing information on something like this, the public is everywhere, speed is everything,” he said.

“There should be more and more communication between the public and police, in a collective and individual sense.”