The Ontario Provincial Police said it will be conducting a review of the province's Amber Alert system after more than 20,000 people signed a petition calling for changes.
The petition, titled
"Tori's Law" after missing schoolgirl Victoria Stafford, was launched in light of the controversy surrounding the way police handled the child's case.
A spokesperson for the OPP said the Stafford case "is certainly a contributing factor" to why officials decided to conduct the review. He also said that officials regularly review police practices and policies.
An Amber Alert was never initiated when eight-year-old Victoria went missing in Woodstock, Ont. on April 8 because police did not have enough information about her disappearance to send out the special signal.
An Amber Alert is a frequent bulletin that is broadcast in the media and on highway overpasses across Ontario in the immediate hours after a child goes missing. Police say they have to meet a certain criteria, such as a car description, before sending out the alert.
That type of information was not available to police at the time Victoria went missing. The girl was taken at around 3:30 p.m. from her school and was not reported missing to police until 6 p.m. The media was alerted later that evening.
A review of the program will be conducted in partnership with Ontario's Police Services, the Amber Alert Steering Committee and other stakeholders.
"To ensure that the Amber Alert program protects the most vulnerable members of our society, our children, the OPP has taken the initiative to coordinate the review of Ontario's Amber Alert," said OPP Commissioner Julian Fantino.
Rick Bartolucci, Ontario's minister of community safety and correctional services, said the Liberal government supports the review.
"Our government is supportive of any measure that proposes to make Ontarians safer, and in particular, that protects children," he said in a news release on Tuesday. "I look forward to seeing the results of the review of the Amber Alert program and if there are recommendations for change, we will certainly look at those."
Ontario NDP MPP Rosario Marchese will reportedly bring up the issue at Queen's Park on Tuesday.
Woodstock's police chief said Tuesday that he, too, is open to a review of the Amber Alert system.
"Tori's Law" suggests an Amber Alert be initiated "without question" whenever a child under the age of 16 goes missing and their parents believe it is not in the child's character to disappear.
"Had an Amber Alert been issued someone somewhere could have spotted something and Tori could possibly still be alive today," the petition says. "There is nothing to lose and so much to gain by this law that could possibly save many children's lives."
Police were criticized for not calling the case an abduction sooner, despite having access to footage from a surveillance camera that showed Victoria walking away from school with an unidentified woman.
Police said they had no reason to believe she was kidnapped because Victoria appeared to go with the woman willingly.
Six weeks after the child disappeared, police arrested two suspects. Authorities are still searching for the child's body.
A 28-year-old man, Michael Thomas Rafferty, is facing charges of kidnapping and first-degree murder.
Rafferty, who is said to be on suicide watch in a London, Ont. prison and is in isolation, is expected to make a video appearance in court on Thursday.
An 18-year-old woman, Terri-Lynne McClintic, faces charges of kidnapping and being an accessory to murder after the fact.
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Please Add Comments(86)
Paul, Chilliwack
THE O.P.P.
Wow, to serve and protect, they have dropped the ball on this one. The professionalism in this situation is a direction reflection of all O.P.P. officers. The youth is the future of our society, now even the young know not to depend on the Police.
I am glad I live in the west, at least the R.C.M.P. try to be professional.
My regrets to the family and their loss, no one will be able to compensate for your grievous loss.
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Laly
I think it's an excellent idea. Little Tori could be alive today if there were more laws to benefit children. There is noting to loose.
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Toronto
Although this is a tragedy, and can't imagine what what the parents are going through, the situation must be looked at rationally.
If a province wide alert had been sent out saying, an 8 year old girl is missing, and no description of a car, or a captor, it's a pretty useless notice.
That's why the AA system has those requirements, they don't want it to become a 'boy who cried wolf' situation when the police are constantly flooding society with bulletins.
Everyone needs to stop pointing fingers at each other.
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