Post by Taxigirl on Dec 2, 2003 9:43:49 GMT
The parents of murdered schoolgirl Milly Dowler are to launch the next stage of a media alert scheme for when children are missing or abducted.
Bob and Sally Dowler, whose daughter Milly was 13 when she disappeared on her way home from school in March last year, are backing a decision by Surrey Police to adopt Child Rescue Alert.
The force is the second in the country to work with local television and radio stations to set up the system, and a roll-out across the country is now possible.
It works with an alert issued by a senior officer that is sent to local news organisations, which then immediately broadcast it.
Crucial hours
Chief Constable Denis O'Connor, of Surrey Police, will join the Dowlers for the launch in Godalming, Surrey, on Tuesday.
The force hopes the alert scheme could help save lives because the first hours after a young person goes missing are often the most crucial.
Sussex Police launched Child Rescue Alert in 2002 but have used it only once, in July this year, when a six-year-old girl went missing in Brighton.
The scheme is based on an American system called Amber Alert, which has helped find dozens of children.
Mr and Mrs Dowler have become heavily involved in safety campaigning since their daughter's remains were found in Yateley Heath Woods in Hampshire, six months after she disappeared in Walton-on-Thames, Surrey.
Through their charity Milly's Fund, the couple have raised hundreds of thousands of pounds to produce a personal safety video, Watch Over Me, which was sent to every secondary school in the country this year.
Aided by daughter Gemma, they have also promoted a safety campaign aimed at keeping parents in touch with teenagers by texting on mobile phones, called Teach Your Mum to Text.
Milly's killer has never been found.