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Special to The Lowndes Signal

In observance of National Missing Children’s Day, the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency (ALEA) would like to remind all citizens of the CodeRED system while highlighting the crucial role the public plays when assisting law enforcement in the search for missing children when time is of the essence.

On May 25, 1983, President Ronald Reagan proclaimed the first National Missing Children’s Day in memory of Etan Patz, a 6-year-old boy who disappeared from a New York City street corner on May 25, 1979. Each year, the Department of Justice commemorates Missing Children’s Day by honoring the heroic and exemplary efforts of agencies, organizations, and individuals across the nation who work to protect children. The Alabama Fusion Center (AFC), a unit within ALEA’s State Bureau of Investigation, is responsible for issuing Amber Alerts, Emergency Missing Child Alerts, Blue Alerts and Missing and Endangered Person Alerts throughout the state. The Alabama Center for Missing and Exploited Children is organizationally structured within the AFC and serves as a liaison between citizens, private organizations, and law enforcement officials regarding missing and exploited children and adults.

“As a parent, losing a child is unimaginable, and ambiguous loss is difficult to explain to those who have not experienced it. As law enforcement, we fully understand that time is of the essence when searching for a missing child. Our goal is to bring home safely every child that goes missing, however, the public’s assistance is crucial as everyone can be an extra pair of eyes and  ears for officers in their local communities,” said ALEA Secretary Hal Taylor. “Last year on May 25, the Agency launched a new state-of-the-art system known as CodeRED to issue missing person alerts which quickly deliver essential information to citizens throughout Alabama. In an effort to highlight this valuable resource, we encourage all Alabamians to consider enrolling in CodeRED if you have not already done so. This system is a vital tool which allows everyone to be vigilant and stay informed once a missing person alert has been issued.”

“Our Fusion Center has worked diligently to provide citizens with a system that can easily be accessed and offers a variety of methods to deliver time-sensitive information based on the subscriber’s preference,” AFC Director Jay Moseley said. “In the event that your child or loved one goes missing, we encourage you to notify your local law enforcement department immediately. There is no criteria in any alert that requires a person to be missing for a certain amount of time.”

Citizens can enroll in the CodeRED system here, or by texting “ALalerts” to 99411 from any mobile device. Citizens will then receive an immediate response containing the Community Notification Enrollment (CNE) link for the state.

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