The public can help locate missing
persons who may be in danger because of factors such as age or health through a
new advisory system announced today by acting Pennsylvania State Police Commissioner
Frank Noonan.

“The Missing Endangered Person Advisory
System -- or MEPAS -- will likely be used most often when an elderly person
with a disability or a young child wanders away from their home or caregiver,”
Noonan said. “MEPAS will provide information about the missing individual to
broadcasters to relay to the public. The information also will be sent to law
enforcement and other agencies.”

Noonan stressed that MEPAS is not to be
confused with the Pennsylvania Amber Alert System, which uses emergency alerts
to notify the public about kidnapped children deemed to be in imminent danger.

“The Pennsylvania Amber Alert System,
which was established in 2002 and also is operated by State Police, provides
information about child abductions through television and radio broadcast
messages and various other means,” Noonan said. “MEPAS is not designed to be used for such cases.”

The General Assembly last year passed a
bill establishing MEPAS and designated the State Police to develop and operate
the system.

Noonan said a MEPA will be issued only
when all of the following criteria are met:

• The circumstances of the incident do not meet the criteria for
  an Amber Alert;
• The individual is missing under unexplained, involuntary or
  suspicious circumstances;
• The person is thought to be in danger because of age, health,
  mental or physical disability, environment or weather conditions, or is
  known to be in the company of a potentially dangerous person;
• The requesting police agency is conducting an active
  investigation and has entered the missing person into the National Crime
  Information Center database, and
• Sufficient information is available to help the public identify
  the person.

Noonan said a MEPA message typically
will provide a description of the missing person and their attire, along with
information on where the person was last seen.
Noonan offered the following examples of
instances in which a MEPA may be requested:

• An elderly dementia patient leaves a residential facility in poor
  weather conditions without the knowledge of the staff;
• A young child walks away from his mother in an area of heavy
  traffic;
• A seriously ill person with a mental disability wanders off
  without their medication.

MEPAs will be sent to all television and
radio broadcasters providing coverage in the general area of the incident. Individual
broadcasters will determine how and when to present the information to the
public. For example, Noonan said, the information may be presented as a
scrolling message on the TV screen, a voice message, or a news update.

The information also will be sent simultaneously
to municipal police departments and 911 centers in the area of the incident.

Under the legislation, local police agencies are permitted
to put out their own requests for assistance even if a MEPA is issued. Police agencies
are not required to request a
MEPA.

Noonan said MEPAS is a result of a cooperative
effort by State Police, the Pennsylvania General Assembly, the Pennsylvania
Association of Broadcasters, the Pennsylvania Department of Aging, the
Pennsylvania Chiefs of Police Association, the Pennsylvania Emergency
Management Agency, and the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children.