A Louder Cry for Help

If there was anything to take comfort in after the kidnapping and murder of 5-year-old Samantha Runnion, it was the public’s eagerness to help find the killer. A wealth of tips poured in, including some that led to a quick arrest.

But what if the public had been able to produce a happier ending to the story? What if a person alerted by immediate television or radio coverage had seen the car, the suspect and the child in that frantic window of time between the kidnapping and the murder?

That’s the thinking behind alert systems sprinkled throughout the nation. Law enforcement sends out an alert about a youngster believed to be in immediate danger. The broadcast media breaks into regular programming to put out the word.

California has a few local child alert systems, including a pilot program in Orange County. Gov. Gray Davis, stung by accusations that he had dragged his heels, started up an interim statewide system in which Caltrans flashes freeway-sign messages to alert motorists. He also is pushing for quick implementation of AB 415, which would create a long-term alert program.

Kidnapping alerts are a noble idea. Proponents credit them with saving 17 children nationwide since the mid-1990s. But the systems must be carefully set up, and that hasn’t always been the case. Too-frequent alerts lead to public apathy. In some states, little was done to bring broadcast stations on board, police were poorly trained or alerts went out over too small an area. Without thorough planning, the results can be disappointing. Orange County found that out the hard way in Samantha’s disappearance.

The sheriff’s office sent out the alert to a media wire service less than half an hour after the 6:45 p.m. kidnapping. But only a few stations broadcast the news. Some had missed the wire-service advisory. Staff members at one station didn’t realize they were being asked to break into programming. At another they had never heard of the alert system.

The state’s new interim system, credited with helping find two teenage girls abducted last week in the Antelope Valley, actually lagged TV and radio stations that began broadcasting news of the kidnapping hours before the state put out its alert.

The state Office of Emergency Services, which would run the program, must design its system carefully to avoid these mistakes. That means better training for police agencies and clearer communication with the media. To avoid false alarms, alerts must meet a strict criterion--a clear and immediate danger to a child. Because alerts will (everyone hopes) be rare, drills are needed to keep police agencies and the media up to speed.

A horrified and sympathetic public is clearly ready to help save children. It just needs to get the word.