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"Silver Alert" to become law under House/Senate bills

By Lynn Hatter

http://stream.publicbroadcasting.net/production/mp3/wfsu/local-wfsu-966665.mp3

Tallahassee, FL – Three years after Florida began its tracking system for missing seniors, the state is looking to put the program into law. Lynn Hatter reports, the "Silver Alert" program is one area where partisanship is laid aside for a common cause.

Silver Alerts are issued when seniors who have dementia, Alzheimer's or other brain diseases go missing. The program was created through an Executive order by then-governor Charlie Crist in 2008. Since its creation, Florida Department of Law Enforcement Commissioner Gerry Bailey says there have been almost 300 Silver Alerts issued.

"And we note that of those 300- 43 were the direct responsibility of recovering that senior. It's created an effected partnership; we've connected Florida Law Enforcement with an army of caring citizens. If it only saved one, it would be worthwhile, but we're satisfied that it's saved many more."

The Silver Alert program posts information about the missing person on road signs, and through emails. According to the Alzheimer's Association, 95-percent of people with the disease who wander away are found within a quarter-mile of the place they left. Mary Barnes is the head of Alzheimer's Community Care in West Palm Beach.

"Unfortunately, we've heard too many horror stories, to many people being lost, listening to law enforcement officers having someone in their car, going all day in shifts so we felt we had to give tools, some sort of standard approach to g
Barnes says the program has been important in helping different agencies coordinate to locate a missing senior.

\\"We felt we had to give tools, some sort of standard approach for the law enforcement agencies to come together and have a system in place, and that's exactly what happened."

Barnes, Law Enforcement Commissioner Gerry Bailey, and Attorney General Pam Bondi are backing efforts to get the Silver Alert program into state law. There are bills to do that in both the House and Senate. The upper chamber's proposal is Senate Bill 664 and is sponsored by Republican Senator Lizabeth Benaquisto.

"It's a labor love to protect those in our community who are the most vulnerable, and when you know that those men and women have shaped our communities, it's the least we can do to make sure if they go missing, they're returned home safely."

"A motion by Senator Benaquisto that the rules be waived and the Senate bill be read a third time, show it done without objection, read the bill. Committee Substitute for Senate Bill 664 A bill relating to missing persons and investigations "

The proposal cleared the Senate unanimously and there's a companion bill in the House. It's sponsored by Democratic Representative Joe Abruzzo of Palm Beach.

"Senator Sachs, Benaquisto and I represent a large number of seniors in Palm Beach County, Florida, so it is fitting that we have been able to get this legislation passed. Senator Benaquisto has already passed it in the Senate and we will be passing it through the house shortly, hopefully on a unanimous vote."
Speaking in support of the bill, State Attorney General Pam Bondi says this kind of legislation is important to Florida.

"According to the Alzheimer's Association, 1/10 individuals over 65 and nearly half of those over 85 are affected. An estimated five-million Americans have Alzheimer's disease and according to researchers, half-a million are living in Florida today, because we know we are, and we're blessed to be, the retirement capital of the country."

Supporters of the Silver Alert program say it's an important tool in the state's effort to protect a vulnerable and important segment of Florida's population.