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Added Protection for Missing Individuals |
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Added Protection for Missing
Individuals
Governor Ted
Strickland signed Senate Bill 87 on March 21, 2008. Ohio Revised Code Section
5502.522 creates a statewide emergency alert program to find and help an
individual with a mental impairment or someone who is 65 years of age or older.
This alert program would include the efforts of the Governor’s office,
the Department of Public Safety, the attorney general, law enforcement, public
and commercial television stations, and radio broadcasters. It is similar to the
'Amber Alert' system for children who are missing, and is a result of the
effectiveness of that program. The statewide emergency alert program uses the
following criteria before it can be activated:
- The
individual is confirmed as missing;
- There
is a credible threat of immediate danger of serious bodily harm or death to the
individual; and,
- There
is enough information to describe the individual and the circumstances
surrounding their disappearance that the activation of the alert will help
locate the individual.
Added to
local and regional efforts, this statewide alert program provides a
real opportunity to assist a missing individual. Mental impairment
is defined in R.C. 5502.522 as “a substantial disorder of thought, mood,
perception, orientation, or memory that grossly impairs judgment, behavior, or
ability to live independently or provide self-care as certified by a licensed
physician, psychiatrist, or psychologist.”
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