Police to Use Automated Phone Calls to Send Out Missing Child Alerts

Authorities have announced a new phone notification system has been put in place to quickly alert parents in Middlesex County when a child goes missing.

According to a press release from the Middlesex County Prosecutor's Office, police will begin using automated phone calls to alert parents at home when a child is reported missing in their area. 

"Such notices may prompt a parent or a child to recall vital information, such as some suspicious activity in a neighborhood, or the location of where a missing youngster was seen last," the release said. 

Authorities have an easier time collecting information from teachers and children when school is in session, as opposed to investigations conducted after school hours, the release said. 

“As much as the speed in which we distribute information is important, transmitting it to the particular target groups is greater,” Acting Middlesex County Prosecutor Andrew C. Carey said, in the release. “Once such group would be the missing child’s classmates, as they may have important information that could assist in the investigation.

Middlesex County Interim Executive Schools Superintendent Todd Flora will reach out to municipal superintendents for the system's implementation in each school district, according to the Prosecutor's Office.