Int. No. 1929

By Council Members Louis, Van Bramer, Chin, Yeger and Ulrich

A Local Law to amend the administrative code of the city of New York, in relation to establishing a missing person alert system

Be it enacted by the Council as follows:

Section 1. Chapter 8 of the administrative code of the city of New York, as added by local law number 50 for the year 2010, is amended to read as follows:

CHAPTER 8

[SILVER] MISSING PERSON ALERT SYSTEM

                     § 10-801 Definitions. For purposes of this chapter, the following terms have the following meanings:

                     [a. “Administering agency” shall mean any city agency, office, department, division, bureau or institution of government, the expenses of which are paid in whole or in part from the city treasury, as the mayor shall designate.]

Administering agency. The term “administering agency” means the agency designated by the mayor to carry out the provisions of this chapter.

                     Alert. The term “alert” means the rapid communication to the public by an agency of identifying information concerning a person who is not a child and is reported missing to a law enforcement agency under circumstances indicating that the person is in imminent danger of serious bodily harm or death. The term “alert” includes the term “silver alert.”

                     Child. The term “child” means a person who is less than 18 years of age.

                     Silver alert. The term “silver alert” means [b. “Silver alert” shall mean] the rapid communication to the public by [a city] an agency of identifying information concerning a vulnerable senior who is reported missing to a law enforcement agency under circumstances indicating that the person is in imminent danger of serious bodily harm or death.

                     [c. “Vulnerable senior” shall mean] Vulnerable senior. The term “vulnerable senior” means a person who is [sixty-five] 65 years of age or older with dementia, as a result of Alzheimer’s disease or a similar condition.

                     § 10-802 [Silver] Missing person alert system. [The administering agency shall establish a silver alert system, pursuant to the provisions of this chapter of the code, that will provide rapid notification to the public when a vulnerable senior is reported missing under circumstances indicating that the person is in imminent danger of serious bodily harm or death.] The mayor shall designate an administering agency to establish a missing person alert system that will provide alerts to the public pursuant to this chapter.

                     § 10-803 Procedures. a. The administering agency shall develop a protocol for [notification to organizations such as media organizations, senior service providers, medical facilities and community organizations when a silver alert is issued] disseminating alerts to the public.

                     b. The administering agency shall [, as appropriate,] consult with other [city] agencies [including, but not limited to, the police department, the fire department, the office of emergency management, the human resources administration, the department for the aging, the department of health and mental hygiene and the department of transportation,] as necessary to collect and disseminate information regarding the person for whom [the silver] an alert [was] may be issued.

                     c. The administering agency shall issue [a silver] an alert within [twenty-four] 24 hours of the determination that [a vulnerable senior] a person has been reported missing under circumstances indicating that the person is in imminent danger of serious bodily harm or death. The [silver] alert may be issued by any appropriate means, including, but not limited to, [email notifications] emails, text messages, telephone calls, and television or radio broadcasts. The [silver] alert may be issued at repeated intervals within the discretion of the administering agency until such missing person is found or until the administering agency determines that the issuance of [a silver] an alert is no longer appropriate. The alert shall indicate when it is a silver alert.

                     d. The information about the person for whom the alert is issued, if available and capable of transmission, shall include, but not be limited to: (1) the person’s name; (2) the person’s age; (3) a physical description of the person; (4) the last known location where the person was seen, which shall not include the exact address of the person’s home; (5) a recent photograph of the person; and (6) a description of any motor vehicle the person may have been driving, provided that the administering agency may refrain from disclosing any such information if disclosure is inappropriate under the circumstances.

                     e. The administering agency may use its discretion to issue a silver alert for a person under the age of 65 who is reported missing under circumstances indicating that the person is in imminent danger of serious bodily harm or death where such missing person has dementia, as a result of Alzheimer’s disease or a similar condition.

§ 2. This local law takes effect 90 days after it becomes law.

NC

LS #13376

2/14/20