Sheriff McGuire Announces Major New Public Safety Initiative for Residents
Bergen Becomes First County in Nation to Participate in Innovative AMBER Ready Program
HACKENSACK, N.J. – In honor of National Missing Children’s Day, Bergen County Sheriff Leo P. McGuire today hosted a press conference to announce a major public safety initiative for county residents. The new program – called the Bergen County Amber Ready Initiative – is aimed at protecting and preparing residents should a family member ever disappear.
“When a loved one goes missing, every minute counts in the search and rescue effort,” Sheriff McGuire said. “The Amber Ready Program offers us the fastest means of getting out an alert when the unthinkable happens. As Bergen County’s top elected law enforcement official, that makes me proud. As one of Bergen County’s thousands of parents, that gives me peace of mind.”
Today’s announcement marks the Sheriff’s Office as the first county agency in the nation to offer AMBER Ready Safety Solutions, Inc.’s Police Emergency Notification System and 24-hour Emergency Response Network. The program is available at no cost to county residents of all ages.
“AMBER Ready is a tool that has been successfully utilized by law enforcement in the search for missing children,” said Bergen County Executive Dennis McNerney. “It helps police disseminate critical information to field units, neighboring police departments and federal agencies in a matter of minutes. The time saved during the critical first three to four hours can make all the difference in the world when a child goes missing. Participation in the program is easy and I strongly encourage all parents to enroll their families. They can’t afford not to.”
To enroll in the free program, residents can visit the Bergen County Sheriff’s Office page at www.bcsd.us and click on the “Amber Ready” link. Once enrolled, a resident can create picture profiles of family members that are downloaded to his or her cell phone and email. No centralized database is maintained. User profiles can be updated as often as necessary by logging in to the Amber Ready system.
In the event a family member should ever go missing, the information can be transmitted immediately to AMBER Ready’s 24-hour Emergency Response Network via cell phone or email. Within minutes, AMBER Ready will send a “Missing” poster back to the Sheriff’s Office and local law enforcement authorities to assist in the search efforts.
According to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children and the U.S. Department of Justice, nearly 800,000 children go missing each year. By midnight tonight, more than 2,100 children will be reported missing.
“I’ve spoken with the parents of missing children and they all share one thing in common. Before their child went missing, they did not believe that it could happen to them,” said AMBER Ready CEO Frank Del Vecchio. “The simple fact of the matter is that it can happen to anyone, anytime, anyplace. The best defense is to be prepared and time is a critical factor.”
The Bergen County Sheriff's Office is the largest law enforcement agency in Bergen County. Comprised of more than 500 dedicated personnel, the Office's responsibilities include a broad range of services and functions which assist the public, augment the county's municipal police departments and safeguard Bergen's judicial proceedings.
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