Getting on TRAK to Save Lives

Public outrage at the tragic abduction and murder of Polly Klaas in the fall of 1993 has produced an abundance of positive change for our nation's children. From parent/child education to community preparedness to state and federal laws, Polly continues to make a difference.

That outrage also led to the harnessing of Silicon Valley technology to address a critical missing link in the effort to safeguard our children: the ability for local law enforcement to respond quickly and effectively when a child is at risk. This solution is TRAK-Technology to Recover Abducted Kids.

Speeding Up Information Distribution
SocialTech, Inc., a nonprofit organization based in Burlingame, CA, has partnered with Hewlett-Packard (HP) and AT&T to equip the nation's police agencies with technology that puts the power of images to work in the first minutes a child is missing. TRAK allows any officer at any time to create and electronically distribute photo bulletins to an unlimited number of destinations-other police agencies, schools, businesses, media-and all are received simultaneously, within minutes.

Before TRAK, most police agencies relied on verbal descriptions or on photo copiers, fax machines, and manual distribution of information. Images were often unrecognizable, and, when minutes make a difference, the response most often had to be measured in hours or days.

With TRAK, color images of a child move across jurisdictional lines faster than the abductor. Media have immediate access to a color image of the child and the community receives high-quality fax images. Anyone who can help in the safe recovery of that child can be alerted and activated in the first critical minutes.

Getting Results Across the Nation
The first TRAK systems were placed in the San Francisco Bay Area in early 1996. Today, as a result of broad private sector support (from HP, United Way, Chevron, private foundations, and service clubs), TRAK is installed in over 400 law enforcement agencies in 22 states, including a number of FBI offices and state missing children clearinghouses. Nevada has implemented TRAK statewide and New Jersey is in the process of doing the same.

TRAK has produced remarkable results. The system has contributed to the safe recovery of many children, including victims of stranger abductions, kidnap for ransom, and parental abductions, as well as numerous runaways. TRAK is so fast and easy to use that investigating officers can respond to every report of a missing child right away with high quality color photo bulletins.

SocialTech has consistently encouraged cooperation between law enforcement and the broadcast media. Another technology, called TRAK-to-TV, makes it possible for local police agencies to use TRAK to deliver color images and case information directly to the news rooms of television stations within minutes. Currently, TRAK-to-TV is operating in San Francisco, Houston, Las Vegas, Reno, and Boise.

The TRAK Abduction Alert Protocol
In October 1999, SocialTech extended the TRAK-to-TV concept in the San Francisco Bay Area to include a regional abduction response protocol. The program was based on the success of Amber Alert and takes advantage of TRAK to include a color image of the victim.

Developed in partnership with San Jose Police Department and Bay City News, the TRAK Abduction Alert Protocol (TAAP) links 130 TRAK police agencies with over 80 media outlets. When a life is in danger and the protocol is activated, a color image is posted to a website and an urgent advisory goes out to all media outlets. The media is able to alert the region's 7 million residents to help in the recovery effort, and a color image of the victim is available to the media and the public.

Working Together to Make TRAK a Success
TRAK establishes the first shared imaging technology that links multiple independent jurisdictions with each other, the media, and the community at large. Implementing a common solution across 17,600 independent jurisdictions requires private sector leadership to deliver the solution from the outside in. TRAK has received a great deal of support from individuals, corporations, and foundations to make its success possible. SocialTech is now developing partnerships to extend the TRAK solution to communities across the nation.

The best way to safeguard our children is to build active, aware, and involved communities. Parents, schools, and businesses must work cooperatively with law enforcement to ensure that everything possible is done to prevent the type of tragedy that befell Polly and too many others. TRAK has proven to be an integral part of the community-building process, equipping law enforcement with the tools needed to respond quickly and effectively when a child is at risk.

For more information about SocialTech and the TRAK Program, visit www.trak.org or call SocialTech at 800/724-8725.

Back to Newsletter Index. Spring 2000, Vol.6, No.1