Following 11-year-old Parker’s tragic death, Calgarians, advocacy groups, and people from all over the country were calling for changes to the emergency alert system. Now, a petition has been started, calling all levels of government to come together and devise a plan for a new system to strengthen protocols for missing vulnerable children.
“We need an alert like that for sure,” said Kassandra Caplette.
She says her nine-year-old son is autistic and non-verbal, so Parker’s death hit close to home.
“We’re from Medicine Hat, but we wanted to come and pay our respects to Parker cause i see my son in Parker, and I think he could’ve done the exact same thing.”
An amber alert was issued roughly 48 hours after Parker was reported missing.
“It’s something that has to be changed, most definitely,” said Janet Gehring. “If I had a child that was lost, I’d be upset. If I had to wait that length of time before an alert went out and didn’t know where my child was.”
According to the Alberta website, local police and RCMP are responsible for issuing amber alerts; however, all the criteria that must be met are related to criminal activity, like abductions.
Calgary Nosehill’s member of parliament is sponsoring this petition. She says the goal is to get all levels of government working together to identify stronger protocols.
Clip Rempel Garner: “Come up with better tools to both train first responders as well as to look at a new system of alerts for preventing this type of situation in the future,” said MP Michelle Rempel Garner.
Memorial setup for Parker, an 11-year-old boy who went missing in Calgary before being found dead nearly two weeks later. (Joel Mendelson, CityNews)
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