PACT Supports Senate Bill 6740

In February, a horrified nation watched a videotaped abduction of a Florida teen by the name of Carlie Brucia. Her subsequent murder is a grim reminder that today's world is far more dangerous than the one most of us grew up in. What makes this story even more heartbreaking is that such unspeakable tragedies are preventable when children learn key safety rules. Sadly, any one of following eight rules could have saved Carlie: (1) Take the Safe Route Home, (2) Always Have a Buddy, (3) Yell! Yell! Yell! (4) Break Away! (5) Take 3 Steps Back, (6) Run Like the Wind, (7) Walk Tall and Be Alert! and (8) Avoid Privacy and Control. This is not to blame the victim. Blame here lies with the felon who committed the crime. Our job as parents, grandparents and grownups is to empower children by teaching them what to do when they encounter a potentially dangerous situation.

In response to this tragedy, PACT Board of Directors member Senator Rosemary McAuliffe's sponsored Senate Bill 6740, "providing funding and training for child abduction prevention." While the bill was introduced very late in the 2004 legislative session, too late to make it through the legislative process, Senator McAuliffe felt that it was important to begin a discussion on this issue-especially in light of a number of recent high-profile child abductions. Based on the legislation passed in New York State, the bill would have required the Superintendent of Public Instruction to create a pilot project for selected school districts to identify instructional materials and resources for parents and teachers to use to provide instruction designed to prevent the abduction of children. The bill would also have required the Superintendent of Public Instruction to disseminate to all school districts in the state the list of instructional materials and resources to aid in the prevention of child abduction that were recommenced by the school districts participating in the pilot project.

While Senate Bill 6740 is technically "dead," the Senator hopes to sponsor legislation next year that is more encompassing. The 2005 legislative session begins in January, which would be the next opportunity for her to introduce new legislation.
Senator McAuliffe was successful in securing $25,000 in the 2004 Supplemental Operating Budget to go to the Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction's school safety center advisory committee to identify effective child abduction prevention instructional materials. The goal is to give families and educators access to instructional materials that help children learn effective ways to protect themselves from abduction and other forms of victimization. Kudos to Senator McAuliffe for sponsoring such important and much-needed legislation. Her legislation are in line with PACT's stated wish to make child personal safety our Washington legislature's number one priority.

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