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FILE PHOTO: South African police take security measurements as former South African president Jacob Zuma supporters stage a demonstration outside KwaZulu-Natal High Court in Durban, South Africa, 06 April 2018. /Getty Images
The South Africa Police (SAPS) in partnership with Facebook have launched a tool that will help find missing children. The country now becomes the first on the continent and one of the 23 other countries globally.
The tool known as the #AmberAlert will notify users on the social media platform when a child is reported missing.
According to Facebook’s Director of Trust and Safety, Emily Vacher, Facebook users can then help to trace the missing child.
"If a child goes missing, we get the information directly from the SA Police Service. They will create a poster that has all the information about the missing child. They will send us that information and we will prepare that. We have a team that’s waiting 24/7, 365." Vacher said.
The police will need a photograph of the child and any other information which may help Facebook users to recognize the missing child.
For an alert to be pushed out, the missing person has to be under the age 18 and law enforcement officials need to have a "reasonable belief" that the child is in imminent danger.
Once police send an alert to Facebook, Amber Alert will deliver a notification to users in a 160km radius from where the child was reported missing.
National police commissioner General Khehla Sitole said it would add to one of many of the police’s crime-fighting strategies and improvetheir response.
He urged those who used the application to work together.
"The initiative will also impact positively on our investigative capacity and response times to find missing children and we anticipate an influx of anonymous tip-offs emanating from the implementation of Facebook’s Amber Alert." the commissioner said.
Source: News24