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92_HR0705
LRB9216180BHbh
1 HOUSE RESOLUTION
2 WHEREAS, A recent U.S. Department of Justice study found
3 that annually 438,200 children are lost, injured, or
4 otherwise missing; and
5 WHEREAS, The same study found that annually 450,700
6 children run away and 354,000 children are abducted by family
7 members; and
8 WHEREAS, There are as many as 114,600 attempted
9 abductions of children by non-family members on an annual
10 basis; and
11 WHEREAS, 57 percent of the more than 18,000 police
12 departments in the United States have fewer than 10
13 officers; and
14 WHEREAS, The lack of manpower and supplemental resources
15 puts law enforcement at a distinct disadvantage when it comes
16 to specialized crimes like kidnapping; and
17 WHEREAS, We all must remain vigilant when it comes to
18 guarding the children of our community against those who
19 would do them harm; and
20 WHEREAS, In 1994 an intra-store system of quickly
21 responding to the report of a child missing was developed;
22 and
23 WHEREAS, The project was entitled "Code Adam"; and
24 WHEREAS, The National Center for Missing and Exploited
25 Children partnered With Wal-Mart to offer Code Adam to other
26 retailers and businesses world wide; and
27 WHEREAS, Entities such as Wal-Mart, Albertson's, Best
28 Buy, The Gap, Home Depot, Toys "R" Us, Kids "R" Us, K-Mart,
29 Nordstrom's, and Supervalu have implemented Code Adam; and
-2- LRB9216180BHbh
1 WHEREAS, More than 21,160 stores nationwide have already
2 implemented Code Adam; and
3 WHEREAS, Several other states have taken a similar step
4 to raise awareness of child abduction and foster a community
5 response; therefore, be it
6 RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE
7 NINETY-SECOND GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that
8 we strongly encourage all retailers and businesses in
9 Illinois to adopt the Code Adam project as part of a
10 statewide effort to discourage and, if possible, prevent
11 child abduction; and be it further
12 RESOLVED That a copy of this resolution be sent to the
13 Illinois Retail Merchants Association who have agreed to mail
14 this resolution to their 23,000-plus member stores and every
15 local chamber of commerce with a cover letter asking them to
16 strongly consider implementation of Code Adam at the earliest
17 feasible date.