NEWBURGH ADDS SYSTEM FOR MISSING PERSON ALERTS

The search for missing persons in Newburgh will get a high-tech boost. The town’s police department has formalized an agreement with A Child Is Missing, an alert program that uses rapid telephone calls to help find not only lost children, but also missing elderly, college students and those who may be mentally or physically disabled.“A lot of times we have one officer working, and if there is a missing child or someone with Alzheimer’s out that we cannot find, it is easier if we have 1,000 eyes looking rather than just one officer,” said Newburgh assistant police chief Howard ‘Tiger’ Williams. “This thing can be used community wide. I hope the county applies for this as well, and I think the Chandler and Evansville police will apply as well. It will be a great tool for law enforcement.”When a police officer in Newburgh takes a report of a missing person, that officer will in turn call the A Child Is Missing (ACIM) center in Fort Lauderdale, Fla.A technician will take the specifics, such as a physical description, type of clothing worn, and last known whereabouts.That technician can then record a customized message with those details.Then, using mapping systems, ACIM will place telephone calls to homes in the area, up to 1,000 calls in 60 seconds.
The message will tell local residents who to call if they have information regarding the missing person.“If you have 1,000 people going outside to look for an individual, it will help you,” said Williams. “And, if it calls your house and an answering machine kicks on, it will still go ahead and leave a message so you can listen to it when you get home.”To date, ACIM has helped with more than 370 safe recoveries. That includes a 9-year old boy who went missing in Muncie on Aug. 27, a missing elderly man who’d become lost in the woods behind his Bloomington home on Aug. 17, and a 6-year-old boy who’d gone missing in Monticello on July 14.ACIM is staffed 24-hours-a-day, seven-days-a-week. Multiple cases can be worked simultaneously, and the program can work across jurisdictional boundaries. If a person does go missing in Newburgh, those living outside the town could also receive telephone calls.Williams isn’t sure how much the ACIM program will be used in Newburgh, which has fewer than 4,000 residents.National statistics, however, show that a child goes missing once every 40 seconds in the United States.“I hope it is something that we never use,” said Williams. “But you know, with Alzheimer’s patients and things like that, there is probably a bigger chance we will use it.”