November 17, 2009
Syracuse N.Y. - Experts have said that thirty-four percent of parents cannot recall their own child’s vital statistics: height, weight, and eye color.
And if ever a child, with parents within that thirty-four percent, went missing, it makes it hard for investigators to ever find that child.
But in 2005, New York State started Operation Safe Child to raise awareness about Child Safety.
With the help of many New York State Police agencies and associations, between 2005 and 2008, close to 300,000 Safe Child Cards have been processed for children in New York State.
The Safe Child Cards allow the parents to have updated information about their children right in the palms of their hands in an ID card.
Cars, Cars, and More--Babies?!
Toddlers screaming at the top of their lungs. Young ones playing with balloons. Babies quietly sleeping in their carriers.
No this was not a day care.
Would you expect to see a swarm of young children at a car dealership on a Saturday morning?
Probably Not.
But Saturday, November the fourteenth was not your normal business day at the Bill Rapp Superstore in Syracuse.
“We’ve been in this community for fifty-five years now,” said Bruce Rapp, President of the Bill Rapp Superstore Car Dealership Franchise, “and it always makes us feel good to give back to the community that has been so good to us.”
And Bruce Rapp gave back.
He invited the Onondaga County Sheriff’s Department into his new Nissan Building to process New York State Safe Child Cards for any family that came into the showroom.
“It definitely makes it a lot quicker for us in an investigation if we have the child’s pedigree information, weight, eye color, any identifying features,” stated Deputy Robin Cox of the Onondaga County Sheriff’s Department Community Relations Unit.
And the Parents Agree
And Deputy Robin Cox was not the only one who believed the Safe Child Cards and Information Database were essential.
“I think it’s just an added measure of safety...as a parent you want to do everything you can to keep your kid safe and it’s one extra thing to know the Sheriff’s Department will have their information at their fingertips if it’s ever needed,” claimed Lisa DiMatteo, a mom who brought her son to the event.
But Deputy Cox just had one more wish for this program.
“I wish we could get every kid photographed,” added Cox, “we don’t always get as many kids as we hope to. Some events we’ll have two, some events we’ll have one hundred. I wish we could just get more out and spread the word that this event is available.”
And the availability of these events allow for the children who do go missing to at least have a better chance at being found.
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