Senator Jesse James (R-Altoona) joined Attorney General Josh Kaul at the Chippewa Falls Police Department to celebrate the launch of the new missing child alert.

The expansion of the alert system came from legislation that Senator James authored this last legislative session with Representative Sheila Stubbs (D-Madison), Representative John Spiros (R-Marshfield), and Senator LaTonya Johnson (D-Milwaukee). The PRINCE Act was signed into law this April, and became officially active last week. Now, a missing person alert can be distributed for any child younger than 10 years old, or any child under 18 years old that is incapable of returning home without assistance due to a mental or physical condition. This change was inspired by Lily Peters and Prince McCree, who both went missing in their communities, but did not qualify for any existing alert. Unfortunately, both children were eventually found deceased.

“This legislation shows that when we work together great things can happen. Although it won’t change the tragedies and outcomes for Lily and Prince, their legacies will live on. Thank you to my colleagues who helped author this bill, and with this legislation passing unanimously in both the Senate and Assembly, this is a victory for our Wisconsin children and families,” said Senator James. “I hope we never have to use this new alert, but having this resource available is critical when these types of cases occur and time is of the essence.”

These alerts will be disseminated through the Wisconsin Crime Alert Network, Wisconsin Lottery terminals, and the Department of Transportation’s messaging boards, as well as via a Wireless Emergency Alert for anyone with a mobile device within a five mile radius of the last known location of the missing child.

“I take pride in being an advocate and doing all that we can to protect our children, families, and communities, and my office and I will continue to focus our efforts on doing so. If this tool saves even one Wisconsin child, it is a success,” concluded James.