Florida and Wireless Industry Team up for Child Safety

[Editors Note: This story highlights Florida's involvement in the Wireless AMBER Alert Initiative, an effort to notify cellular telephone users of missing children via text message in order to get their assistance in the recovery. The Wireless AMBER Alerts Initiative launched last May was the result of cooperation of the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children, CTIA - Wireless Association and participating wireless carriers with the technology platform for the system built by Syniverse Technologes. According to Roxanne Robbins, spokeswoman for CTIA, cell phone subscribers in all 50 states can already go to www.wirelessamberlalerts.org and sign up to recieve AMBER Alerts via text message simply by entering zip codes for which they want to receive information. All a state has to do is encourage its residents to sign up for AMBER Alert notifications.]

Earlier this week, Florida Gov. Jeb Bush announced expansion of the state's AMBER Alert system, providing wireless customers with free text notification when an AMBER Alert is issued. With the cooperation of the wireless communications industry, the CTIA -- Wireless Association, the Florida Telecommunications Industry Association (FTIA), The Wireless Foundation and the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. (NCMEC) The Florida Department of Law Enforcement(FDLE) is expanding its e-mail and text notification system to provide free Wireless AMBER Alerts to customers of participating cellular carriers.

"This partnership is a shining example of the public and private sectors uniting behind a good cause," said Bush. "By providing broader distribution of AMBER Alerts, we are providing more protection for our children by raising awareness."

The governor was joined for the announcement by various government officials and private-sector executives.

In August 2000, FDLE, in conjunction with the Division of Emergency Management and the Florida Association of Broadcasters Inc. (FAB Inc.), established the "Florida AMBER Plan." The AMBER Plan was created in memory of Amber Hagerman, a 9-year-old girl who was abducted and murdered in 1996 in the Dallas/Ft. Worth area of Texas. Based on the model of emergency alerts for serious weather conditions, an AMBER Alert provides an immediate radio and television notice to the public when a report of a child abduction is confirmed by law enforcement. Florida was the second state in the nation to develop a statewide AMBER Alert system. Since 2003, FDLE, in conjunction with Imarcs Group Inc., has provided AMBER Alerts to Florida citizens through its Web site,. This year, FDLE has activated 10 AMBER alerts and issued 16 missing child alerts.

"The Florida Telecommunications Industry Association and its wireless member carriers are proud to be a part of this initiative to expand law enforcement's efforts to notify Floridians when a child is abducted or missing, and we will do everything we can to encourage our customers to volunteer to be a part of the Wireless AMBER Alert network," said Susan Langston, executive director of the Florida Telecommunications Industry Association. "By signing up to receive the alert messages at no charge, our wireless customers can play a key [role] in returning missing children safely to their loved ones."

Carriers participating in the Florida Wireless AMBER Alerts initiative include Alltel, Cingular Wireless, Nextel Communications, Sprint, T-Mobile USA and Verizon Wireless. Wireless carrier members of CTIA, the wireless industry's international association, selected Syniverse Technologies to design and build the technology platform required to distribute AMBER Alert messages from NCMEC to wireless devices. Syniverse is providing its services for systems development, hosting, network administration and operational support.

Jessica Lunsford Act
Florida continues to be a leader in protecting children. Earlier this year, Governor Bush signed into law The Jessica Lunsford Act, aimed at protecting all Floridians from sexual predators and offenders. The Jessica Lunsford Act:

• Increases the penalty for lewd and lascivious molestation of a child to life in prison or a split sentence of a mandatory minimum 25-year prison term, followed by lifetime supervision with electronic monitoring.
• Increases, from 20 to 30 years, the period of time before a sexual predator is allowed to petition to have the sexual predator designation removed.
• Increases sexual predator/offender registration and reporting requirements.
• Qualifies sexual predators who murder their victims for the death penalty in capital cases.
• Designates failing to re-register as a sexual offender/predator or harboring or assisting a sexual predator/offender as a third degree felony.
• Requires those already convicted of sex crimes to have electronic monitoring for the remainder of their probation.
• Requires all county misdemeanor probation officials to search the sexual offender registry when a new offender is assigned to them.
• Provides more than $11 million in added funding for technology, electronic monitoring, prison bed construction and data sharing.

Wireless subscribers capable of receiving text messages and whose wireless carrier participates in the Wireless Amber Alerts initiative may sign-up to receive alerts. . Participating wireless carriers will be providing the AMBER Alert service free of charge.