LIVING HERE
A new missing child alert system, different from the Wisconsin AMBER alert, was announced Thursday.
The bill, known as the Prince Act, is named after 5-year-old Prince McCree, who went missing in Milwaukee in 2023, and was also created in response to the disappearance and death of 10-year-old Lily Peters from Chippewa Falls in 2022. The Chippewa Falls Police Department said her case did not meet the criteria for an AMBER alert. To issue an AMBER alert, a child must be 17 years of age or younger, in danger of serious bodily harm or death and the initiating agency must have enough descriptive information about the child, the suspect, and/or the suspect vehicle to believe an immediate broadcast alert will help locate the child. Requests for alerts are often denied.
This is what occurred in Prince’s case. Also, runaway children cannot qualify for AMBER alerts unless the child’s life is in danger. Many holes in the AMBER alert system needed to be addressed and that’s exactly what these two families did. When Prince went missing, the Milwaukee Police Department twice requested an AMBER alert, but the request was denied by state officials.
The Prince Act allows the Silver Alert system to apply to certain children by expanding the definition of “person at risk.” That system was aimed at seniors who have dementia or are otherwise cognitively impaired. Now, missing child alerts can be sent for missing children under 10 years of age or missing children under the age of 18 who do not otherwise qualify for another alert and are believed incapable of returning home without help because of a physical or mental condition. “My son always wanted to be a hero, he wanted to be Spiderman. Now, his name is saving lives,” said Darron McCree, Prince’s father.
Like a Silver Alert, requests for missing child alerts are made within 72 hours of the individual’s disappearance. The missing child alerts will be disseminated through the Wisconsin crime alert network, as well as a wireless emergency alert sent to mobile devices within a 5-mile radius between the hours of 8 a.m. and 9 p.m. The new missing child alert standardizes the system across Wisconsin and will bring more children home to their families and loved ones. The goal is to encourage the community to start looking immediately. The new Missing Child Alert is now active across the state.
