Mississauga to push for updated Amber Alert system to protect vulnerable children
Published July 4, 2022 at 1:14 pm
Mississauga City councillors will consider a motion this week to join other municipalities in calling for changes to Ontario’s Amber Alert system in the wake of the tragic death last month of an 11-year-old boy in Lindsay.
Draven Graham’s body was pulled by police from the Scugog River on June 13, some 24 hours after he was reported missing from his home nearby.
Police do not suspect foul play in the incident.
Draven was autistic, had “limited verbal skills” and had a “sensory irritation to touch,” police said in the hours after the young boy went missing. Additionally, they said, he would not answer to his name.
An online petition launched in the days following the boy’s death that calls for a new type of Amber Alert to be created especially for missing autistic and vulnerable/special needs children has generated nearly 90,000 signatures.
The petition is pushing for officials to create a “Draven Alert” system for children like Draven.
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The City of Mississauga’s notice of motion, put forward by Ward 2 Councillor Pat Mullin to be voted on at Wednesday’s council meeting, notes that the current Amber Alert system is flawed when it comes to vulnerable children who can go missing, but who are not abducted.
“…it is clear that there needs to be an addition to the alert system to allow for law enforcement to send out an alert for vulnerable children who go missing under circumstances that do not involve an abduction, but are at
serious risk of injury or death,” the motion preamble reads, in part.
The motion calls on the Ontario Minister of the Solicitor General and OPP commissioner, and the Premier’s office, to make necessary changes to the system and create a new alert, the “Draven Alert.”
In Ontario, the OPP issue Amber Alerts for cases involving abductions of children. The system sends mass notifications to cell phones in addition to TV screens across the province.
Such alerts can be requested if the following guidelines are met:
- police believe a child under age 18 has been abducted
- police believe the child is in danger
- descriptions of a child, abductor or vehicle are available
- police believe an immediate broadcast will help locate a missing child