Delaware Code Title 11 Sec. 8582 – Activation of the Gold Alert Program
(a) When a law-enforcement agency receives notice that a senior citizen, a suicidal person, or a person with a disability is missing, the agency shall solicit information from the missing person’s family or legal guardian to provide information regarding the missing person’s physical or mental condition, or both. When the investigating law-enforcement agency verifies that the person is missing, the investigating law-enforcement agency shall enter the descriptive information of the missing person into the Delaware Criminal Justice Information System (DELJIS) and the National Crime Information Center (NCIC) system. The investigating law-enforcement agency shall further notify the Delaware Information Analysis Center (DIAC), who shall make all the necessary notifications and assist the investigating law-enforcement agency.
Terms Used In Delaware Code Title 11 Sec. 8582
- Guardian: A person legally empowered and charged with the duty of taking care of and managing the property of another person who because of age, intellect, or health, is incapable of managing his (her) own affairs.
- Investigating law-enforcement agency: means the law-enforcement agency which has primary jurisdiction in the area in which a missing person complaint has been filed. See Delaware Code Title 11 Sec. 8580
- Jurisdiction: (1) The legal authority of a court to hear and decide a case. Concurrent jurisdiction exists when two courts have simultaneous responsibility for the same case. (2) The geographic area over which the court has authority to decide cases.
- Missing senior citizen: means a person:
(b) When an investigating law-enforcement agency has verified that a senior citizen, a suicidal person, or a person with a disability is missing, the investigating law-enforcement agency shall send an alert to designated media outlets in Delaware. The alert must include all appropriate information that may assist in the safe return of the missing senior citizen, suicidal person, or person with a disability, along with a statement instructing anyone with information relating to the missing person to contact the investigating law-enforcement agency or a law-enforcement agency within their jurisdiction. Additionally, when an investigating law-enforcement agency has verified that a senior citizen, a suicidal person, or a person with a disability is missing, the investigating law-enforcement agency shall contact the Department of Transportation. The Department of Transportation shall adopt rules and regulations for the display on its variable message signs of appropriate information that may assist in the safe return of the missing senior citizen, suicidal person, or person with a disability consistent with the Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices and federal requirements.