The International Conference held in Rome opened the doors to the ICAAS Project

As for the “Amber Alert” system established in the USA at the end of the nineties, the objective of the Project  “Italian Child Abduction Alert System (ICAAS)”  is to implement a “quick alert” system throughout the Italian territory which is to be activated in the case of child abduction.
In the conference chaired by General Antonio Sessa, Director of the International Cooperation Police Service, experts from the USA, Canada, Switzerland, France and England took part. The countries mentioned above have all adopted similar systems to face cases of child abduction, also with the support of civil society.
Italy intends to adopt this further instrument to combat crimes against children, as part of a global strategy fostered by the European Union – as witnessed by Ms Natalja Barkova of the EU Representation in Italy – aiming at safeguarding children’s rights, as well as to support the efforts of the member states (COM(2006)367).
The conference goal, as identified by Major Fabio Maniscalco, Head of the ICAAS Project, was to boost a common strategy at the benefit of abducted children through the harmonization of alert systems and the adoption of technologies for quick diffusion on highways and through radio and TV stations.
During the meeting, the systems implemented in Canada, France, Switzerland, United States and England were outlined. Similarities were significant, first of all the capacity of the systems to create synergies between police forces and citizens, in order to protect abducted children’s integrity; second, the use of an alert system only in the case of declared kidnapping and in the presence of information necessary for identifying the abducted child and the kidnapper; third, the use of clear and concise communication with the citizen.
Emphasis was given to the use by the USA and Canada of interesting technologies for diffusing the alarm messages, with the involvement of mobile network operators and the wireless industry.
The conference concluded the phase of in-depth analysis and exchange about the existing alert systems and embarked on the crucial stage of definition of an Italian system which – as the Swiss colleague Françoise Valterio underlined – all of us never wish to use.