Town of Waterford

TOWN IS 1ST IN STATE TO OFFER CHILD ALERT:

When a person goes missing, the Waterford Police Department will be able to call upon thousands of town residents within minutes to join the hunt.

Waterford is the first community in New York state to participate in A Child is Missing program that issues alerts on missing people by using computer technology that can make up to 1,000 telephone calls per minute.

"We can help you save lives," said Ralph Caporale, a law enforcement trainer for A Child is Missing, which was founded in 1997 in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. A not-for-profit company, it relies mostly on federal funding to provide the telephone, computer and satellite technology necessary to call the telephones in an area that is being searched by police.