Portugal - scheme to find missing children is launched

http://algarvedailynews.com/news/7068-portugal-scheme-to-find-missing-children-is-launched


Portugal - scheme to find missing children is launched



Created on Wednesday, 18 July 2012 19:57

KishA rapid response system has been launched this week, designed to trace children who get lost or go missing in Portugal. Based on Android smartphone and Apple iPhone technology, the scheme has been rolled out in Portugal with a view to expanding it throughout Europe and beyond.

The system is called KiSH – Kids in Safe Hands. The two key figures behind the venture are Steve Jones, a British computer expert and businessman, and Dr Patricia de Sousa Cipriano, a Portuguese lawyer, and founder-president of the Portuguese Association for Missing Children (APCD).

Margarida Durão Barroso, wife of the president of the European Commission, is vice president of the APCD, a non-governmental organisation.

Steve Jones devised the system and has patented it internationally. Dr Cipriano, through the APCD, has introduced it to the Polícia Judiciária (PJ) and other organisations in Portugal. The PJ have confirmed their participation.

“The next step is to meet other national police commanders, and the ministries of justice and internal affairs. This is all scheduled, but it’s a long-term project. We’ll do things properly and won’t rush,” said Dr Cipriano.

Dr Cipriano and Mr Jones explained the system in separate meetings with senior officials in several Câmaras in the Algarve this week.

Loulé immediately expressed keen interest and could be among the first municipalities to adopt the scheme. So far, the Faro, Silves, Albufeira, Lagoa and Vila da Bispo municipalities have also shown interest.

The scheme could help the Algarve’s struggling tourist industry. “We are going to speak with the airlines and tour operators to see if we can get their support to help their business with Portugal and give them added advantage over other destinations who currently do not have KiSH available,” Said Mr Jones.

KiSH works by parents downloading an ‘app’ that allows them to enter a photograph and a description of each of their children. This data is automatically coded and registered digitally at KiSH’s global control centre, based in the UK.

If a child goes missing, in whatever circumstances – from simply getting lost in a crowd to running away from home or being abducted - a parent can alert the control centre with the press of a button.

Details of the child, including a photograph, are then immediately relayed from the database control centre to security people at the appropriate location in Portugal.

In extreme cases, such as criminal abductions, the APCD and the PJ may stop publication of photographs or information if displaying them publicly is deemed potentially dangerous.

Public and private venues, including shopping malls, sports stadiums and leisure facilities, are being invited to link their security staff into the system. The Lisbon-based Benfica football club has been among the first to join.

Speed is of the essence in the system. If a missing child is not quickly located, the police will be informed via the APCD.

There are more than one and three-quarter million children aged 14 or under in Portugal. The number soars when visitors arrive on holiday.

Even though Portugal is generally a safe country for children, thousands go missing each year. The great majority are found but a significant number are not. Unfortunately, the figures are vague and incomplete.

In addition to reuniting missing children with their distraught parents, the KiSH system will help establish meaningful statistics. It will tabulate not only the numbers of children going missing and why, but also on the most vulnerable times and places.

The public authorities thus will have better information on which to base policies for child safety in Portugal, said Dr Cipriano and Mr Jones.

Even though Portugal is generally a safe country for children, thousands go missing each year. The great majority are found but a significant number are not. Unfortunately, the figures are vague and incomplete

I would really like to know on what information they have based this statement. AFAIK, since Madeleine disappeared no other child has vanished without a trace. Furthermore, I doubt that the figure runs into the thousands every year, Portugal is a small country with a population of about 9 million.

Annabel wrote:

The system is called KiSH – Kids in Safe Hands. The two key figures behind the venture are Steve Jones, a British computer expert and businessman, and Dr Patricia de Sousa Cipriano, a Portuguese lawyer, and founder-president of the Portuguese Association for Missing Children (APCD).

Britain's got a shiny new ambassador they could borrow...

Oh wait, it says kids in SAFE hands....