Published: November 01, 2009 10:58 pm      

LEGISLATURE; Silver alert sought for county

Proposed plan would aid in recovery of lost Alzheimer’s sufferers

Niagara County lawmakers will consider a plan to establish a new alert system that would aid in the recovery of missing persons who suffer from Alzheimer’s disease, dementia and other cognitive disorders.

The proposed Niagara County Silver Alert System would work like the AMBER alert program, which allows law enforcement agencies to issue bulletins over commercial radio, satellite radio and television stations in the event of a suspected child abduction. Silver Alert programs currently exist in 11 states and in Nassau and Suffolk counties in New York. Members of Congress are now considering the National Silver Alert Act, a bill that calls for federal funds to be set aside to support a nationwide program that would act in concert with the existing Amber alert system.

The Silver Alert concept was presented to county lawmakers earlier this month by Niagara Falls resident Ken Hamilton, whose father suffered from Alzheimer’s disease. Hamilton, who has served on the board of directors for the Western New York Alzheimer’s Association for the past eight years, said timing is key in instances where individuals suffering from cognitive disorders become disorientated, wander and become lost. Those individuals, he said, are often at high risk of injury or even death. Hamilton noted that in some instances, elderly individuals suffering from cognitive disorders can pose a risk to others as well, especially if they find themselves behind the wheel of an automobile.

“It’s trying to relieve the caregivers of any concerns they may have and to provide safety for Alzheimer’s and dementia patients,” Hamilton said.

The resolution calling for the creation of a Niagara County Silver Alert System has bi-partisan support in the Legislature and is being sponsored by Chairman Bill Ross, C-Wheatfield, Majority Leader Richard Updegrove, R-Lockport and Minority Leader Dennis Virtuoso, D-Niagara Falls. The resolution calls on the Niagara County Sheriff’s Department to work with the Association of Police Chiefs to develop guidelines and set up procedures for the alert system and maintain a database of media outlets to be notified in the event a missing person’s notification must be issued. It also calls on the sheriff’s department to work with various town and village police departments in establishing the system. Notifications would include the missing individual’s name, age, physical description, last location where they were seen and, if warranted, a description of any motor vehicle they may be driving and the direction in which it was last seen traveling. The resolution calls for such notifications to be issued by the sheriff’s department.

The first step in the process will be setting a public hearing date on the proposed local law needed to allow for the creation of the system. Lawmakers are expected to consider the request for the public meeting at their next meeting, scheduled for 7 p.m. Wednesday at the Niagara County Courthouse, 175 Hawley St., Lockport.