Project Jason Christmas Message 2008

Periodically throughout the year, Kelly Jolkowski has provided information and requests concerning her missing son Jason. She is also very involved with assisting other families and advocating for DNA samples to be taken from family members in the event someone is missing.

The following is a Christmas message from the organization she founded, Project Jason.

When I was a child, every Christmas season, I looked forward to watching the rebroadcast of classic holiday television shows, such as A Charlie Brown Christmas, Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, Frosty the Snowman, and How the Grinch Stole Christmas.
 
No matter how many times my brothers and I watched these shows, they remained as fresh and exciting in our childhood minds as the new-fallen winter snow. In watching the “Grinch,” we were mesmerized by the nasty creature, as he carried out his plot to stop Christmas from coming to the kind folk of Whoville.
 
We all know the Grinch didn’t succeed, as he did learn the true meaning of Christmas. As children, I know we marveled at the sight of the happy citizens of Whoville celebrating the day without gifts, food, and decorations. While we knew the reason for the day, perhaps our hearts also needed to grow two sizes, (as the Grinch’s did in the show) for us to understand the joy of the day.
 
I remember other sights and sounds from all those years ago. On Christmas Day, the kitchen was a constant flurry of activity. It was a place, where my mother, grandmother, aunts and great aunts appeared to do a synchronized dance of meal preparation with the heels of their pumps clicking on the floor, the skirts of their shirt dresses swirling around as they moved, and all without a curl on their heads out of place.
 
The smells were tantalizing, with a mixture of turkey, ham, stuffing, homemade fudge, pumpkin pies, and other goodies beckoning us inside for an occasional check on the progress. We were shooed away no matter how many times we asked about the meal. We also never failed to ask, even beg, to get to open a present early. We simply could not wait. 
 
Many Christmases went by. I grew up, married, and had two sons. We introduced our children to the magic and joy of Christmas and saw the wonder in their eyes each year on that day. “Mommy, look what Santa brought me!’ little Michael exclaimed. “Can we open a present early, please?” pleaded Jason.
 
Those days have long passed, and the scenes from those Christmases faded, but never gone from our memories. The sights and sounds still exist, only altered with more modern conveniences and dress, and different faces. Our grandmothers, great aunts, several aunts and other loved ones are no longer with us. Some are not with us through death, some through service of our country, and some for reasons which we cannot begin to fathom.
 
No matter what the reason for the absence of our loved ones, Christmas was, is, and will be. The reason and the spirit remain unchanged throughout the ages. I will always have my memories and the warmth of heart given me by these gifts. I am grateful for the time I had with those whom I love, and for the love they gave to me.
 
While it wasn’t instantaneous growth of heart like what the Grinch experienced, my heart grew to gain an understanding of what Christmas is all about: faith, hope, and love. We are truly blessed with this day and this life. So, no matter what life holds for you, where you spend the day, and who you spend it with, let your hearts be open to the joy of the day and season. Memories never cease, hope never fades, and joy is proclaimed throughout the ages:
 
Hark the herald angels sing
“Glory to the newborn King!”
Peace on earth and mercy mild
God and sinners reconciled.
Joyful, all ye nations rise
Join the triumph of the skies
With the angelic host proclaim:
“Christ is born in Bethlehem.”
Hark! The herald angels sing
“Glory to the newborn King!” 
 
May you and yours have the most blessed Christmas.
 
We also extend best wishes to our friends who celebrate the season in other ways and with other traditions.
 
Kelly Jolkowski, the staff and volunteers of Project Jason

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Not my job

Read these two articles and you can decide if FDLE has laid off staff, fired them or eliminated positions due to budget cuts. If it isn’t FDLE’s responsibilty to provide these services, whose is it?

Budget Cuts Threaten To End Amber Alerts, Sex Offender Warnings

“They’re there for a purpose. When you start cutting them, it starts hurting,” said Steve Donaway, assistant special agent in charge of Jacksonville’s FDLE.

He said they’ve had to make tough decisions already; because of budget cuts last year the FDLE got rid of 56 jobs across the state. This year he said they had to let 120 people go.

“We’re not just using this as a scare technique. Our agency has thoughtfully looked through the services we provide and we’re getting rid of the ones that aren’t our core mission. Our core mission is our laboratory services; we do the forensic examinations for law enforcement for almost the entire state and we do the investigations,” Donaway said.

 

FDLE May Have to Cut Sex Offender Registry

FDLE says it wants to keep the resources around, but three years of budget cuts means it’s time something important will have to go. Donaway says 200 jobs could be gone.

“We’ve always ebb and flowed, but we’ve never laid anyone off.”

Donaway says the layoffs are now a reality in the budget crunch.

Trent just hopes those they let go do not effect how she keeps her kids safe.

“These services are important and they should stay.”

Related Post: Cutting two high-profile programs?

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AMBER Alerts 2007

How often do you think AMBER alerts are issued? How successful are they? You can find some of the answers in the 2007 AMBER ALERT REPORT

Texas issued the most alerts (31) followed by Michigan (29). These states issued none Alaska, Connecticut, Delaware, District of Columbia, Hawaii, Maine, New Hampshire, North Dakota, Oregon, Puerto Rico, Rhode Island, South Dakota, U.S. Virgin Islands, Vermont, and West Virginia.

SUMMARY OF AMBER ALERT CASES

Between January 1, 2007, and December 31, 2007, 227 AMBER Alert cases were issued in the United States involving 278 children. At the time the AMBER Alert cases were intaked there were 106 FAs, 94 NFAs, 25 LIMs, and 2 ERUs. Seventeen (17) cases were later determined to be hoaxes, and 22 cases were later determined to be unfounded.

Of the 227 AMBER Alerts issued between January 1, 2007, and December 31, 2007, 188 cases resulted in a recovery, 48 of which were successfully recovered as a direct result of those respective AMBER Alerts being issued. Six (6) children were recovered deceased, and as of February 20, 2008, when statistics for this report were generated, no AMBER Alerts issued in 2007 remained active.

Note: FAs- family abductions,  NFAs-non family abductions,  LIMs- lost injured missing, and ERUs- Endangered runaways. 

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NCMEC and you and me

In this press release, there was this information about the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children.

About the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children
The National Center for Missing & Exploited Children is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization. Since it was established by Congress in 1984, the organization has operated the toll-free 24-hour national missing children’s hotline, which has handled more than 2.3 million calls. It has assisted law enforcement in the recovery of more than 128,750 children.

They frequently cite 800,000 missing children are reported missing every year yet if they have handled 2.3 million calls, then on average isn’t that about 96,000 calls per year since 1984 or 12% of the reported missing children cases?

The NCMEC receives approximately $40 million per year from the USDOJ to support their National Mandate and Mission and many millions more from fund-raising efforts.

The National Center for Missing & Exploited Children’s® (NCMEC) mission is to help prevent child abduction and sexual exploitation; help find missing children; and assist victims of child abduction and sexual exploitation, their families, and the professionals who serve them.

NCMEC was established in 1984 as a private, nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization to provide services nationwide for families and professionals in the prevention of abducted, endangered, and sexually exploited children. Pursuant to its mission and its congressional mandates (see 42 U.S.C. §§ 5771 et seq), NCMEC

Serves as the national resource center and information clearinghouse for missing and exploited children

Operates a national 24-hour toll-free hotline, 1-800-THE-LOST® (1-800-843-5678), to intake reports of missing children and receive leads about ongoing cases

Operates the CyberTipline, the “9-1-1 for the Internet,” that the public and electronic service providers may use to report Internet-related child sexual exploitation

Provides information about services and Federal programs for missing and exploited children and their families

Coordinates public and private programs that locate, recover, or reunite missing children with their families

Provides technical assistance and training to individuals and law-enforcement agencies in the prevention, investigation, prosecution, and treatment of cases involving missing and exploited children

Provides assistance to families and law enforcement agencies in locating and recovering missing and exploited children, both nationally and internationally

Uses public records databases to provide analytical support and technical assistance to law enforcement agencies in locating and recovering missing and exploited children and abductors

Tracks the incidence of attempted child abductions

Provides technical assistance and training to law enforcement in identifying and locating non-compliant sex offenders

Provides forensic technical assistance to law enforcement

Works with law enforcement and the private sector to reduce the distribution of child pornography over the Internet

Operates a child victim identification program to assist law enforcement in identifying victims of child pornography

Develops and disseminates programs and information about Internet safety and the prevention of child abduction and sexual exploitation

Facilitates the deployment of the National Emergency Child Locator Center during periods of national disasters

Disseminates information about innovative and model programs, services, and legislation that benefit missing and exploited children

Provides an annual report on the number of missing children reported to NCMEC to the Department of Justice’s Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention

Provides guidance to state and local governments and nonprofit agencies on how to use school records and birth certificates to locate missing children

Deploys Team Adam, a rapid response and support system comprised of retired law enforcement officers, to provide on-site technical assistance to local law enforcement agencies investigating cases of child abduction and sexual exploitation

Last revised October 14, 2008

Their statistics indicate they have assisted law enforcement in 123,00 reported missing children cases which would be less than .006% of missing children cases since 1984. While the NCMEC may be achieving many aspects of it’s mandates and missions, how effective is it in the recovery of missing children or in assisting law enforcement in their efforts based on the statistics they provide?

It may  be the difference between a phone call and an actual missing child case per their website:

Since its creation, NCMEC has received reports of 130,300 missing child cases and helped recover nearly 113,000 children. NCMEC’s recovery rate for missing children has grown from 62% in 1990 to more than 96% today. 

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MAILE AMBER Alert test

Sunday is National Amber Alert  Awareness Day except in Hawaii where they will test the MAILE AMBER Alert on Monday.

HONOLULU – Lt. Governor James R. “Duke” Aiona, Jr. today announced a statewide test of the MAILE AMBER Alert will be conducted on Monday, January 14, 2008, at 11:45 a.m. This test may interrupt local radio and television programming. MAILE stands for Minor Abducted in Life-Threatening Emergency and utilizes the Emergency Alert System (EAS) to broadcast important details on specific abductions to the public. During the test, the state Department of Transportation will utilize its electronic freeway message signs to alert drivers to turn on their radio.

The statewide MAILE AMBER Alert test also coincides with the signing of a proclamation by Governor Linda Lingle and Lt. Governor Aiona declaring January 14, 2008 as MAILE AMBER Alert Awareness Day.

Honolulu Police Department

 

MAILE AMBER is an acronym for Minor Abducted in Life-threatening Emergency and America’s Missing Broadcast Emergency Response. It is named in memory of 6-year-old Maile Gilbertof Kailua and 9-year-old Amber Hagerman of Arlington, Texas.

High Surf Advisory

Seeking Help in Hawaii

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