WATCH: Inspired by the missing children milk carton campaigns of the 1980’s, Toronto police are teaming up with the Missing Children Society of Canada to bring that same strategy into the modern era.
TORONTO – Toronto police have partnered up with the Missing Children Society of Canada to launch a new digital child abduction tool as part of its rapid response network.
In collaboration with Blackberry, the public can now download a BBM Channel app which allows user to get instant information once a child has been reported missing or abducted.
The new tool will work alongside Missing Children Society of Canada’s “Milk Carton 2.0” program.
The website, which started operation in 2012, enlists the help of the public to “donate” their Facebook and Twitter newsfeeds, as well as Foursquare accounts, in order for police to notify them if a child is missing or abducted.
Milk Carton 2.0 was inspired by the U.S. campaign in the mid-1980s to have photographs of missing children on milk cartons across the country.
“Every second counts when a child goes missing,” said Toronto police Chief Bill Blair in a media release. “By embracing these new technological advances we are expanding our search capacity significantly.”
The Missing Children Society of Canada says up to 50,000 children are reported missing in Canada every year.
The BBM app is available for both Android and iPhone devices.
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