September
01, 2005
-- Police
in Wisconsin are crediting General Motors' OnStar system
and the AMBER Alert program with the successful rescue of
a 17-month-old child taken last Thursday from his mother's
home.
Although
this was a stolen vehicle, the child, who was the subject
of an AMBER Alert, was recovered in good condition hours
after several men were arrested in connection with beating
the child's mother, abducting the child and stealing the
mother's 2005 Pontiac Grand Prix, which was equipped with
the OnStar safety and security system.
Police
saved precious time by working with an OnStar advisor to
locate the stolen vehicle and, later, two suspects. Then,
through more questioning, a third suspect who was holding
the child had been located.
OnStar
played a huge role in finding this child," said Greenfield,
Wis. Police Lt. Brad Wentlandt, who coordinates emergency
dispatch operations. "All of our personnel were aware
of OnStar's capabilities after OnStar sent us a video training
kit recently." The educational OnStar training kit
teaches emergency service personnel how to interact with
OnStar personnel to take full advantage of the GPS-enabled
technology. Based on that, officers correctly assumed that
the GM-made Pontiac was equipped with OnStar. "This
child is safe today because of a great combination of OnStar's
service and excellent police work," Wentlandt said.
"This
is the kind of moment that motivates all of us to come to
work every day," said Cathy McCormick, OnStar Service
Line Manager of Emergency Services. "When a child is
missing, every second counts to increase the likelihood
of a safe return. OnStar is happy - humbled, really - to
be able to share our technology with law enforcement to
recover a missing child."
OnStar
joined with the National Center for Missing & Exploited
Children last year in an effort to use OnStar technology
and its more than 3 million subscribers to locate missing
and abducted children. NCMEC helped develop the AMBER Alert
program nationwide, a successful partnership between the
nation's law enforcement agencies and radio and television
stations that activates emergency bulletins to the public
when a child is abducted and believed to be in danger.
"We
know that just one lead can result in finding a child,"
said Ernie Allen, president and CEO of NCMEC. "OnStar
technology and the AMBER Alert program give law enforcement
officers an advantage they need to find missing and abducted
children and bring them home safely."
An
OnStar subscriber who wants to report emergency information
related to an AMBER alert or a lost child can press the
red OnStar emergency button in his or her vehicle. Immediately,
the subscriber will be connected with an OnStar emergency
services advisor, who will expedite the call to a 911 dispatcher.
Each
month, GM's OnStar receives about 14,000 emergency assistance
calls, as well as 4,500 Good Samaritan calls. OnStar call
centers are staffed 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365
days a year. OnStar is available to subscribers and the
nation's 6,000 emergency 911 centers in all 50 states and
every Canadian province.
|