State lawmakers, local police, and affected community members gathered Monday to call for the passage of bills to expand Michigan's emergency missing person alerts.
The bills would require AMBER Alerts to also go out for missing children and young adults with special needs and cases where police believe a child is in danger. That’s instead of just cases involving a suspected kidnapping.
A separate bill would also create a similar system for older and vulnerable adults.
State Senator Mallory McMorrow (D-Royal Oak) sponsors the Silver Alert bill. She said the legislation would put more coordinated resources toward finding missing people that’s what’s currently available, and it would reach more people, especially through its use of smartphone and other technology.
“It can override your focus settings; it can override your do not disturb. It goes onto billboards. It’s an automatic system that sends an alert out to every resident in a community,” McMorrow said.
The gathering took place in Dearborn Heights, where earlier this year, a 30-year-old man with autism went missing before later being found dead. Speakers stressed every second matters when it comes to finding a missing person who may not appear lost to outside observers.
Rick Michalski is a father who said his son has autism and is prone to wandering. He said the bills would build awareness when it’s not always clear a person is in danger.
“It could be a child, it could be an adult, somebody autistic, somebody with a cognitive impairment that can’t help themselves. It would be like seeing me walking down the street and not thinking I need help,” Michalski said. “This allows a community to know that there's this person missing, they’re vulnerable, and they can help bring that person home.”
McMorrow’s bill passed the Democratic-controlled state Senate unanimously in October. It has since been awaiting a first committee hearing in the Republican-led House of Representatives.
Likewise, the AMBER Alert expansion package, led by Republicans, passed the House in September with near full support but hasn’t yet received a committee hearing in the Senate.
It's not uncommon for bills to sometimes wait months for hearings even if they do wind up passing.
State Representative Alabas Farhat (D-Dearborn) said lawmakers need to let politics go.
“It’s about making sure that families can breathe that sigh of relief knowing that law enforcement has their back, knowing that the local mayors have every tool they need, and knowing that, when someone goes missing, that village can activate, every single person go on the lookout, and we can find that person as soon as possible,” Farhat said.
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