Silver Alert for Florida Seniors
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We all know what the Amber Alert. It’s the very successful child abduction alert system used when the police confirm that a child has been abducted.
We can now welcome the Silver Alert. It was enacted today in Florida and will function much like the Amber Alert broadcast system, but it is specifically intended to be used when a person age 60 or older with dementia or another cognitive impairment goes missing. It can also be used for people between the ages of 18 to 59 if they have “irreversible deterioration of intellectual faculties”.
Florida has a large elderly population and I am very happy to see the Silver Alert finally be put into play. I hear about local alerts concerning missing elderly people all of the time and this system will give law enforcement the tools they need to better communicate across regions and between agencies.
While this seems like a good idea, I cannot help but think a better way to find these people and a better name for the system should be ‘Matlock Alert’. All you need is to find the nearest TV with Matlock on and I am sure you will find your missing senior. It would be so much easier that way.