SCR 166, as introduced, Galgiani. Silver Alert Community Education Month.
This measure would proclaim the month of September 2016 as Silver Alert Community Education Month.
Fiscal committee: yes.
P1 1WHEREAS, The Silver Alert was signed into California law in
22012 to help in the recovery of missing persons who are 65 years
3of age and older; and
4WHEREAS, The Silver Alert is a quick response system
5designed to issue and coordinate alerts following the unexplained
6or suspicious disappearance of an elderly person with the goal of
7providing immediate information to the public about the missing
8person, including images or descriptions and the time and location
9last seen to speed the process to locate the person and return him
10or her to safety; and
11WHEREAS, The Silver Alert was recently amended to include
12those persons who have a developmental or mental disability or
13cognitive impairment; and
14WHEREAS, There are more than 250,000 people living with
15developmental disabilities in California and roughly 1 in 20 adults
16suffer from a severe mental illness; many of these individuals are
17at great risk of wandering at some point in their lives; and
P2 1WHEREAS, There have been efforts to educate and train those
2in law enforcement who come into contact with these individuals
3on how to interact and deescalate a situation with the least amount
4of force, most recently with the passing of SB 29 and SB 11 in
52015; and
6WHEREAS, There is a growing need to educate people in
7communities on the Silver Alert and on how it will help in the safe
8return of their loved ones, and how to interact with the individuals
9should they come into contact with them; and
10WHEREAS, If more people in the community were aware of
11the Silver Alert, it would increase the chances that a missing
12individual would be safely located; now, therefore, be it
13Resolved by the Senate of the State of California, the Assembly
14thereof concurring, That the Legislature hereby proclaims the
15month of September 2016 as Silver Alert Community Education
16Month, and urges all state departments and agencies and law
17enforcement agencies to work together to promote greater
18awareness of the Silver Alert system and to educate communities
19on how they can help in the safe return of a missing individual;
20and be it further
21Resolved, That the Legislature also urges all local law
22enforcement agencies to adopt systems like San Diego’s
23“AlertSanDiego” system, which notifies the public via email and
24text message when a person with dementia or other cognitive
25impairment, or with a developmental disability, goes missing in
26the region; and be it further
27Resolved, That the Secretary of the Senate transmit copies of
28this resolution to the author for appropriate distribution.
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