Raleigh – Crime Control and Public Safety Secretary Bryan Beatty today launched North Carolina's new Silver Alert program to help locate adults with dementia or other cognitive impairment who go missing.

“It is imperative that we do all we can to quickly locate these adults who are especially vulnerable,” said Beatty. “The Silver Alert program is designed to increase public awareness to help us find those missing adults who may have wandered off or become confused.”

Based on the Cognitive Impairment Assistance Law passed earlier this year, the Silver Alert program builds upon the success of the state's AMBER Alert system by using various resources to rapidly notify the public about the missing endangered adult.

Just as with AMBER Alert, the Silver Alert program is a collaborative effort between radio, television and internet news broadcasters, local police and sheriff's departments, the N.C. Department of Transportation and the N.C. Center for Missing Persons. Information about the missing person will be posted on electronic highway message signs and broadcast by participating news agencies. In addition, about 1,000 calls per minute will be made to nearby residents and business using an automated system.

The Center for Missing Persons activates a Silver Alert at the request of the local law enforcement agency, once they have determined that all necessary criteria have been met. Criteria include:

• the person is 18 years or older
• the person is believed to be suffering from dementia or other cognitive impairment
• the person is believed to be missing (regardless of circumstance)
• a legal custodian of the missing person (which can be a caregiver) has filed a missing person's report with the local law enforcement agency, and
• the local law enforcement agency has investigated and notified the Center.

Beatty emphasized that specific health information about the missing person – other than they may suffer from a cognitive impairment – would not be released to protect the missing from harm and abide by health privacy laws.

Department officials anticipate as many as 25 to 30 Silver Alerts may be issued monthly to various locations across the state based on recent call volumes to the N.C. Center for Missing Persons. Most of the alerts are expected to be issued locally.