GOVERNOR CRIST SIGNS EXECUTIVE ORDER CREATING ‘SILVER ALERT’
October 8, 2008
Contact:
GOVERNOR’S PRESS OFFICE
(850) 488-5394
Governor Charlie Crist today signed Executive Order 08-211 enacting Florida’s ‘Silver Alert,’ which allows the immediate broadcast of information to the public regarding missing elders with dementia or other cognitive impairment. The Executive Order provides a coordinated response between local and state law enforcement to quickly broadcast important information to citizens so they can assist local law enforcement in the rescue of the endangered person and notify law enforcement with helpful information.
“Florida’s seniors have built Florida’s rich heritage and continue to help strengthen our families and communities, and we have a duty to honor them with our utmost respect and dignity,” Governor Crist said. “The Silver Alert program we launch today will allow the people of Florida, as well as visitors to the Sunshine State, to help ensure the safety and security of vulnerable seniors.”
More than 4.3 million Florida residents are age 60 and older, and there are about 501,000 probable Alzheimer’s cases. While 95 percent of the state’s seniors live independently, the Silver Alert program will help prevent tragedy among one of Florida’s largest potentially vulnerable groups. According to the Alzheimer’s Association, 95 percent of people with Alzheimer’s disease who wander are found within a quarter-mile of their place of residence or the last location seen.
Silver Alerts will help local law enforcement find elders with dementia or other cognitive impairment and return them home safely. For families and caregivers of loved ones assisted by the Silver Alert, it will also increase awareness of the possibility of future problems or the need for additional assistance.
“Fortunately, the vast majority of Florida seniors will never need a Silver Alert. For those few who do, the program can save their lives,” said Department of Elder Affairs Secretary E. Douglas Beach.
Governor Crist was joined by Mary Lallucci, an advocate for the Silver Alert program. Earlier this year, Lallucci’s 86-year-old mother Mary Zelter disappeared after signing out of her assisted living facility in Largo to drive to the supermarket. A week later, Zelter and the vehicle she was driving were found in the inter-coastal waterway, about nine miles from her assisted living facility. Zelter suffered from dementia.
The statewide Silver Alert program will enhance local law enforcement’s response by providing a means to broadcast vehicle description information to motorists. The Florida Department of Law Enforcement (FDLE), in partnership with the Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) and the Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicle’s Florida Highway Patrol (FHP), will activate the dynamic message signs in situations where the elderly person is driving a vehicle.
“In a missing person situation, getting the word out – and getting it out quickly – is key to a swift and safe recovery,” said FDLE Commissioner Gerald Bailey. “Florida’s plan ensures a prompt and comprehensive response while ensuring the privacy and dignity of our elders.”
Under the Silver Alert program, local law enforcement agencies are encouraged to develop policies and procedures that will work best in their respective jurisdictions to broadcast information to the public in a quick and effective manner. In addition, local agencies may contact FDLE to request the use of the FDOT dynamic message signs if the missing elderly person is in a vehicle and meets the following criteria:
· The missing person must be age 60 or older and present a clear indication that the individual has an irreversible deterioration of intellectual faculties, or under extraordinary circumstances when a person age 18 to 59 has irreversible deterioration of intellectual faculties and law enforcement has determined the individual lacks the capacity to consent, and that the use of dynamic message signs may be the only possible way to rescue the missing person.
· Local law enforcement has already activated a local or regional alert by contacting media outlets.
· The law enforcement agency’s investigation has concluded that the disappearance poses a credible threat to the person’s safety.
· A description of the vehicle and a tag number is available and has been verified by local law enforcement.
· The local law enforcement agency has entered the missing person into the Florida Crime Information Center and issued a statewide “Be On the Look Out” (BOLO) to other law enforcement/911 centers.
To learn more about the Florida Silver Alert program, visit www.fdle.state.fl.us.
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STATE OF FLORIDA
OFFICE OF THE GOVERNOR
EXECUTIVE ORDER NUMBER 08-211
(ESTABLISHING FLORIDA’S SILVER ALERT PLAN)
WHEREAS, the state of Florida recognizes that some senior citizens are among the most vulnerable populations of our state; and
WHEREAS, Florida’s beautiful climate has traditionally drawn a large population of senior citizens to reside in and retire to our state; and
WHEREAS, Florida’s senior population is growing and our state is committed to putting in place tools and technologies to ensure their safety and protection; and
WHEREAS, in situations in which a senior citizen with a cognitive impairment goes missing, a standardized state system is necessary to aid in the search; and
WHEREAS, according to the Alzheimer’s Association, 95 percent of people with Alzheimer’s Disease who wander are found within a quarter mile from their place of residence or last location seen; and
WHEREAS, a coordinated local law enforcement and state agency response coupled with the prompt and widespread sharing of information will improve the chances of a safe recovery; and
WHEREAS, the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, in coordination with the Florida Sheriffs Association, the Florida Police Chiefs Association, and the Florida Department of Elder Affairs has developed criteria for Florida’s Silver Alert Plan (“Plan”); and
WHEREAS, the Plan recognizes that the most effective response to a missing senior citizen first leverages community resources for the search while the investigative response is handled by the local law enforcement agency; and
WHEREAS, the Plan further acknowledges Silver Alerts will be activated through the investigating local law enforcement agency that is in the best position to notify the media and disseminate the information through avenues such as neighborhood telephone alerts and other technologies the agency may use to communicate with its citizens; and
WHEREAS, under the Plan, the local law enforcement agency may also request a case be opened with the Florida Department of Law Enforcement’s Missing and Endangered Persons Information Clearinghouse;
NOW, THEREFORE, I, CHARLIE CRIST, Governor of Florida, by virtue of the authority vested in me by the laws and the Constitution of the State of Florida, do hereby promulgate the following Executive Order, effective immediately:
Section 1.
The Florida Department of Law Enforcement, in partnership with the Florida Department of Elder Affairs, the Florida Department of Transportation, the Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles, and local law enforcement agencies is hereby authorized to establish and implement the Florida Silver Alert Plan. All entities having a potential role in the Plan are encouraged to actively support and participate in it.
Section 2.
Local law enforcement agencies are encouraged to develop policies and procedures to broadcast information to the public and the media about a missing senior citizen whose disappearance poses a credible threat to the person’s welfare and safety.
Section 3.
To enhance the local or regional efforts, in cases where a vehicle is involved, the Florida Department of Law Enforcement Missing Endangered Persons Information Clearinghouse shall coordinate with the Florida Department of Transportation, and the Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles for the activation of dynamic highway message signs and immediate broadcast of critical information to the general public about the endangered senior citizen in accordance with the Plan.
Section 4.
The Florida Silver Alert Plan shall include procedures to monitor the use and activation of this system and the results from its use. The Plan shall provide for the protection of the privacy, dignity, independence, and autonomy of the subject of the alert. The Plan shall also include a strategy for the awareness and education of law enforcement, the media, and other stakeholders.
Section 5.
The Florida Department of Elder Affairs shall actively share information about the existence of the Florida Silver Alert Plan with key advocacy groups, service providers and other organizations or agencies serving Florida’s senior citizens.
IN TESTIMONY WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand and have caused the Great Seal of the State of Florida to be affixed at Tallahassee, the Capitol, this 8th day of October 2008.
GOVERNOR
ATTEST:
SECRETARY OF STATE