Growing up I remember all the news reports and pictures on milk cartons of missing children. These methods worked and many children were safely returned to their loving families but as time passed and society changed advances needed to be made to keep in step with technology and offer the best protection for children. Today there is the AlertID, a free mobile app which offers extensive functionality to assist parents at a time of emergency.

One function of AlertID is called “My Family Wallet,” where current pictures of children can be taken and easily stored for quick access when needed. During an emergency, parents will be able to find updated pictures of their children and they will then be able to provide them to the authorities as needed. A profile can also be created for each child with all of his or her pertinent demographic information.

The biggest help the app offers to parents is information. Once parents become members on the app they can access maps to locations of sex offenders in surrounding areas. The app also updates the information as parents travel, alerting members of the location of sex offenders in the surrounding areas they travel to. Further updates that members receive are alerts when new sex offender data becomes available, and crime alerts in hundreds of cities across the nation.

There are annually 800,000, or more than 2,000 reported missing children each day. To help improve the safety of children, the National Crime Prevention Council and AlertID have been working together to create the AlertID app. The app offers parents and members the most important defense and protection for their children with easily accessible information providing them with knowledge of their surrounding area.  With the use of the AlertID, many children will be protected and be able to live long, safe and happy lives.


Edited by Rory J. Thompson