Updated: Tue May. 26 2009 8:30:50 PM

ctvtoronto.ca

The Ontario Provincial Police said it will be conducting a review of the province's Amber Alert system after more than 20,000 people signed a petition calling for changes.

The petition, titled "Tori's Law" after missing schoolgirl Victoria Stafford, was launched in light of the controversy surrounding the way police handled the child's case.

A spokesperson for the OPP said the Stafford case "is certainly a contributing factor" to why officials decided to conduct the review. He also said that officials regularly review police practices and policies.

An Amber Alert was never initiated when eight-year-old Victoria went missing in Woodstock, Ont. on April 8 because police did not have enough information about her disappearance to send out the special signal.

An Amber Alert is a frequent bulletin that is broadcast in the media and on highway overpasses across Ontario in the immediate hours after a child goes missing. Police say they have to meet a certain criteria, such as a car description, before sending out the alert.

That type of information was not available to police at the time Victoria went missing. The girl was taken at around 3:30 p.m. from her school and was not reported missing to police until 6 p.m. The media was alerted later that evening.

A review of the program will be conducted in partnership with Ontario's Police Services, the Amber Alert Steering Committee and other stakeholders.

"To ensure that the Amber Alert program protects the most vulnerable members of our society, our children, the OPP has taken the initiative to coordinate the review of Ontario's Amber Alert," said OPP Commissioner Julian Fantino.

Rick Bartolucci, Ontario's minister of community safety and correctional services, said the Liberal government supports the review.

"Our government is supportive of any measure that proposes to make Ontarians safer, and in particular, that protects children," he said in a news release on Tuesday. "I look forward to seeing the results of the review of the Amber Alert program and if there are recommendations for change, we will certainly look at those."

Ontario NDP MPP Rosario Marchese will reportedly bring up the issue at Queen's Park on Tuesday.

Woodstock's police chief said Tuesday that he, too, is open to a review of the Amber Alert system.

"Tori's Law" suggests an Amber Alert be initiated "without question" whenever a child under the age of 16 goes missing and their parents believe it is not in the child's character to disappear.

"Had an Amber Alert been issued someone somewhere could have spotted something and Tori could possibly still be alive today," the petition says. "There is nothing to lose and so much to gain by this law that could possibly save many children's lives."

Police were criticized for not calling the case an abduction sooner, despite having access to footage from a surveillance camera that showed Victoria walking away from school with an unidentified woman.

Police said they had no reason to believe she was kidnapped because Victoria appeared to go with the woman willingly.

Six weeks after the child disappeared, police arrested two suspects. Authorities are still searching for the child's body.

On Tuesday, the search for Tori's remains entered its seventh day and was focused in fields and woodlands areas near Fergus, north of Guelph.

A 28-year-old man, Michael Thomas Rafferty, is facing charges of kidnapping and first-degree murder.

Rafferty, who is said to be on suicide watch in a London, Ont. prison and is in isolation, is expected to make a video appearance in court on Thursday.

His lawyer, Hal Mattson, said his client is having a difficult time adjusting to his situation.

"It is a difficult thing when you've never been in a jail cell and you've never been in jail before and you're charged with a serious crime like this," told CTV News. "It's very difficult, for anybody."

An 18-year-old woman, Terri-Lynne McClintic, faces charges of kidnapping and being an accessory to murder after the fact.

McClinic had helped police search for the girl's body previously, though a court order that allowed her to do so expired Sunday.

Rafferty has not offered to help police, something Mattson said is related to his client's decision to exercise his right to remain silent.

With files from The Canadian Press

Comments are now closed for this story

Paul, Chilliwack
THE O.P.P.

Wow, to serve and protect, they have dropped the ball on this one. The professionalism in this situation is a direction reflection of all O.P.P. officers. The youth is the future of our society, now even the young know not to depend on the Police.

I am glad I live in the west, at least the R.C.M.P. try to be professional.

My regrets to the family and their loss, no one will be able to compensate for your grievous loss.

Laly
I think it's an excellent idea. Little Tori could be alive today if there were more laws to benefit children. There is noting to loose.

Toronto
Although this is a tragedy, and can't imagine what what the parents are going through, the situation must be looked at rationally.

If a province wide alert had been sent out saying, an 8 year old girl is missing, and no description of a car, or a captor, it's a pretty useless notice.

That's why the AA system has those requirements, they don't want it to become a 'boy who cried wolf' situation when the police are constantly flooding society with bulletins.

Everyone needs to stop pointing fingers at each other.

Andy McNabb
It is my understanding that many abducted children are actually abducted by someone familiar to the family. That indicates that a child could be deceived by an abductor and go willingly. This underlines the need for immediate changes to the Amber Alert system, and it dispels the story's statement "Police said they had no reason to believe she was kidnapped because Victoria appeared to go with the woman willingly" because abductees may go willingly.

Rick
Morons. I'm 42 and since I was little kid they taught us that grownups may try to convince us to go with them willingly and its been ok'd by our parents etc. and that's a common practice of predators. It never occured to them that maybe Tori had been fooled and the person ledaing her willingly was maybe an impostor? Maybe not, but lets err on the side of caution?

Joe
I do not agree with this change at all, and I think it is terrible to even hint that this young girl would still be alive if the Amber Alert rules were different.
If the rules are changed as suggested, we will have an Amber Alert daily, and we will get into a "boy who cried wolf" scenario where the important Amber Alerts will be ignored.
I agree that in the end one should have been issued for Tori, and maybe some rules can be changed to improve things. The rules were followed in this case and the police cannot be blamed. I commend the police on a job well done so far. Let's put the blame on the monster(s) who did this and not the hard working men and women in the field.

C. Morris
I understand the anger, and I feel for the situation, but I am one who refused to sign this petition. I think people think there was a step missed because the Amber Alert was not called, but I just don't think that was the case. Her picture was all over newspapers and televisions, her description was all over radios -- this was due to her missing status and was independent of an Amber Alert. The ONLY step that could have been added would have been the highway overpass bulletins and without that data (car make/model/plate), there would be absolutely no point in putting this on the signs. That is why car description is part of the requirement. My lack of signing is not meant to be cruel, but I don't like signing things in a reactionary way if I see no benefit. If others see a benefit, please respond and let me know what I might be missing...

Dennis, Sutton
While changes to criteria for issuing an Amber Alert need review, people also need to make sure that there are not so many alerts issued that people start ignoring them when they are issued--nobody wants that.

Better protecting our children BEFORE there is a need to wonder why they haven't come home is perhaps a better place to start. Proactive parenting. People are so quick to put the responsibility on someone else. You lock your house, your car...protect them with alarms...but let your child walk to and from school alone? PRIORITIES.

Marco Newmarket
The general public has no idea of how many kids go "missing" on a daily basis. And now they want an amber alert issued immediately every time the parents think it's out of character for the child. Pathetic! Good luck with that. It will do nothing but make the amber alert system useless. Let the police do their job and stop arm chair quater backing. It's easy to sit back and say the police should have done this and should have done that. Anyone who thinks that the police didn't want to find Tori alive and do everything they could to try to make it happen makes me sick.

Brad
While it is indeed tragic what has allegedly happened to this little girl, I do believe the police handling this case did so to the best of their ability. It is has been inferred that if an Amber Alert was issued, that Tori Stafford may well have been found. I would like to point out that in many other child abductions (Holly Jones, Cecilia Zhang) there was an Amber Alert, but unfortunately these children were not found alive. I still hold out hope that Tori is alive and if not, I sincerely hope that her body is soon found so that her parents can lay their daughter to rest and begin the long and painful healing process.

Prof. Pye Chartt
SADLY, GOOD OFTEN COMES FROM BAD

Those of us with a critical bone in our body knew, from the outset, that this tragic "case" somehow got off on the wrong foot.

If police did, indeed, follow proper procedure, then, indeed, the manner in which (potential) abductions are handled needs to be re-examined and improved. You don't have to be a member of law enforcement to know that the immediate hours following the disappearance of a child are profoundly critical. Anyone following 20 years of sad endings on North American newscasts knows this too well.

(Aside: It's time for the twits who like to make condescending reference to "CSI" to suck up the tragic reality of placing blind trust in any public branch.)

"Tori's Law" represents a welcome step forward.

Ev
Actually, the OPP weren't called in until the last minute. It was the local police that 'dropped the ball'

Sad and Mad
The truth is the police did have details that could have been use in an amber alert. From the start they had a location and time of the abduction. They also had a picture of Victoria, and a desciption of what she was wearing that day. An amber alert should have been issued am I'm glad that this issue is being raised. I sincerely hope that this tragedy at least makes a difference and helps prevent another. God bless her.

glenn
Parents need to talk to their kids again about leaving with anyone they didn't tell them was o.k.
Use a password system.
Amber law doesn't stop criminals, the criminal code does and life sentences and the death penalty.

Jeannette Ontario
That story is so very tragic and is every parents worst nightmare. I can not even imagine the pain her family is feeling and I pray to God that I never have to. Perhaps if the Amber Alert went out immediately this child would be safe and at home where she belongs. How ridiculous that EVERY POSSIBLE thing was not done to try and find her right away. It may have meant a happy ending. There should be no need for debate or a petition, put the Amber Alert out immediately and save these poor innocent children! My thoughts and prayers are with the family. Tragic, just tragic.

Nanook
Let's all ride the "Tori bandwagon." Just keep the Amber alert on 24/7, because that's what will happen. How about some parenting classes instead????

David in Ontario
I'm not sure if I agree with this. The Amber Alert system is outstanding; however, we cannot activate it all the time ("The Boy who cried Wolf"). IIRC, it has been used some 35 times in Canada since its inception. Of the 35, 28 were found, the other 7 were killed. Yes, it works, but let's make sure it's not given so often that people begin to ignore it...

Jamie Mercer
A lot of people are really missing the point here and it scares me. Why are people caught up in this amber alert thing and we are missing the point that a little girl was allowed to leave school with a stranger? If Tori wasn't taken from school then there would be no need for an amber alert. Wake up people !!!

Former Dispatcher
The Amber Alert system is obviously not understood by those that wish changes to it. How, as a police force, can you be expected to follow up on 5,000 leads of little blond haired girls walking on a street. The system was developed for a reason and the rational behind issuing an Amber Alert is to prevent erronious information from being followed and taking up precious investigational time.

Stephanie W.
If the police did drop the ball, it wasn't necessarily with the lack of an amber alert, it was because they refused to say that Tori was abducted...just because she went willingly with someone, they assumed that she was fine because she must have known the person...it took them 10 days to admit that something was wrong...My oldest son is 9 years old, and I've made sure to tell him (even before this senseless tragedy) that he is never to leave school with anyone other than his father or I, unless it's been okayed by the office...the secretary knows my voice when I call...When I was 5 years old, I was waiting for my school bus, and a woman pulled up and told me that the bus had broken down, and the driver told her to come and pick me up and take me to school...she had candy and toys in the car and said it was alright...I screamed and ran back to my house, and she drove off...minutes later, the bus drove by...this was 30 years ago...I don't trust anyone!!

Kelly
I agree with Andy. Many children could be deceived and lured by someone known to them and their family. Whether a neighbour, family friend, or an estranged husband/wife. Why should there be a make or model of a car to issue an Amber Alert? Children can be deceived, and lured on foot -like Holly Jones.
I feel the Amber Alert System needs to be improved. "Tori's Law" suggests an Amber Alert be initiated "without question" whenever a child under the age of 16 goes missing and their parents believe it is not in the child's character to disappear. A description of a child should be enough.

Mom
I don't think an Amber Alert would have helped Tori but I do believe an Amber Alert should be issued for all missing children under the age of 14. RIP Tori and God Bless all the officers that are looking for her to bring her home.

Abbie
North America has lost countless children in a short period of time due to them being taken from their home and their family. Some kind of change is needed to counteract this crime against children. When I read about the "Tori Alert" I thought it was brilliant - not due to what the police did wrong, but because of what PREDATORS are doing that is so wrong. Please keep your children close. My prayers are with Tori's family.

jay
Paul, Chilliwack
I don't think you can just blame the opp.The local police at the start refused to issue a amber alert on apr 8th.As for not trusting the police if you look around they do alot of good work.Sure things like this happens but not all police forces are perfect.

Michel (Ottawa)
So if I'm reading this right, unless there is a car that can be identified, the police will not issue an amber alert? This would be the most ridiculous excuse that I've ever heard.

Susan Gregoire
I am 100% for the change in the AA criteria. Although I do agree that the amber alerts shouldn't be issued on every missing child with the "crying wolf" senerio BUT the video showed her walking away with a woman of whom the parents did not know therefore, she is a stranger. Whether or not she went willingly is not the issue.

Jamie
We need to better protect our children while at school. No child should ever be allowed to leave school with a stranger. The child, once in school, are the responsibility of the teachers who work there. There needs to be a law that forces schools to provide better protection and make sure that kids are leaving school with autorized people. I understand that most schools have such policies but it's clear that not all do after Tori's case. We need to make sure that ALL schools follow such policies. Also, when my daughter is old enough for school, I will make sure that the school she attends follows these ploices or my child will not attend that school. Thank you and I hope this time, my link is published.

R.I.P. Tori !

Misplaced blame
Let's return to the fact that this missing person call was not made to the Police until several hours after Tori went missing. Although I'm not placing blame anywhere, wait for the facts of the case to come out, as we may find that by the time the call was made it was already too late. Additionally, to those blaming the OPP, this is illogical: The initial investigators were the Oxford Community Police, and the OPP weren't called in until days later, when it was sufficiently bungled up by Oxford.

Xenuphobe
So with this new law, the parents of a rebellious 15 year old can call the police, and have an amber alert issued, because she doesn't want to come straight home after school... great idea!!!

Jon
I hope that the parents sue that local police force and the Ontario government for every cent they can get. This is yet another example that you can't count on government for ANYTHING. Why do we pay crazy high taxes again? sickening.

Northern Ontario
I think that in this case, the police are correct. If we have an Amber Alert everytime someone "believes" their child has gone missing, people will ignore it. There has to be stipulations with using this type of alert. I truly feel for the family, and what has happened, however, as a mom of two myself, I understand the rationale behind the Amber Alert.

paul
Hey Paul from Chilliwack:

Paul from Ontario says:

The RCMP are just as good as screwing up cases on their own merit as well. Cops are human.
They all mess up at one point, regardless if its RCMP, OPP, or local college cops.

Mel
unfortunately when children are taken in some cases they know the abductor, so there is not always a struggle. This is a sad truth that we have to start teaching our children about different approaches that people, strangers or not, will take to get them (the child) to go with them

Naramsin Gabriel
To Paul in Chilliwack,

I find it offensive that you would like to paint the O.P.P. as a unprofessional group. I have a friend that is an O.P.P. officer. I also have a close friend that is a Mountie stationed at Cold Lake, Alberta and another friend that is on the Toronto Police Force. There isn't one law officer out there that isn't affected by child abductions. They try and distance themselves emotionally from their work, but I know full well how two of these men have felt when dealing with situations like this. The Mountie happens to be my son's godfather.

There isn't a police force out there that is perfect, and they may seem cold and/or harsh at times. But they must detach themselves emotionally for their own sake so that they can do their jobs.

I feel for Tori's family. It's a terrible trajedy for any family to lose a child, but to lose a child to sexual predators is even worse. My thoughts go out to them.

John Quinn
Missing at 3:30pm not reported until 6:00pm? Maybe that would have helped if police had the chance to react quicker. Instead of an amber alert which in my opinion would not have helped, simply because like everyone else if saying all it would say is missing girl? nothing else. The media did a much better job.

Roger - NO - leave amber alert as is.
NO NO NO... I feel bad for this girl however the AMBER alert would have done nothing for her as there was no immenent description of the vehicle or person that took her for several days.. The AMBER alert only works if you have a real time abduction that has a chance of getting everyones eyes on the street.. and even then you need some kind of description of the person, the child, the car etc.. In this case there was nothing until days had passed.

I know the mother is greiving but if this gets passed we are going to have 5 Amber alerts on the radio every damned day.. Then NO ONE will listen to them anymore and it will become useless...

Lets have some common sense here please..

Joe from Nova Scotia
I think some kind of change needs to happen with the Amber Alert system to improve it & make it work better; however the police also have to change their rediculous definition of what an abduction is!

During the first critical hrs/days, police wouldn't call this an abduction, despite having access to footage showing Tori walking away from school with a strange woman..police said they had no reason to believe she was kidnapped because she appeared to go with the woman willingly..?

Give me a break..that's how many abductors catch their prey. Shame on the police, they should know better..if this was the policy chief's daughter, that Amber Alert would have been out right away & it would have been considered an abduction right away!

I get a kick out of those who are on here saying not to blame police or anyone except the monsters. I think 99% or the blame lies with the monsters, but the other 1% can be split up among everyone that didn't react the way they should have & failed this little girl..the school, the police, etc. I certainly wouldn't feel comfortable leaving my daughter at that school, in that police district.
..and those who want to leave the Amber alert system 'as is' with no change for fear of crying wolf. I wouldnt want to change it if it created white noise, but there's obviously room for improvement here, so that we dont have alerts not sent just because they don't have a car description or because it appears the child went willingly. Give me a break..do those who don't want to change the Amber system think it is perfect? Look again..it's a part of what failed Tori!

harsh but.....
while this may seem cruel in the wake of this tragedy, you have to at least put some of the responsibility for this on the parents. when my daughter was 8 I would not have allowed her to walk home alone from school, they are just too vulnerable and naive. also it seems to me the child had just changed neighborhoods, hello, would that not call for at least a bit of caution? this is a bit like leaving your house unlocked and then blaming the police when they dont find the criminal who robs it.

sorry but those are my thoughts. do not make it easy for these creeps to harm our blessed little angels. guard them with your life. I only hope other parents are now taking more care with their under 10s. otherwise do not be surprised when something happens to them. and do not blame the police for what I view as your own negligence.

M. Matin
Clearly there are some issues about this case that bring to light the definition of an, Amber Alert. My understanding is that both parents felt that it was out-of-character for Tori to have gone missing. I agree that the parents' opinion (especially considering they are seperated, and would presumably not have a shared opinion to begin with) should have been held as a priority.

The local police were working only within the perimeters of the semantics of the current definition, and I do believe that they tried their best under those pretenses.

Perhaps we need to enpower parents' opinions to have a negating factor for an Amber Alert in order to ensure that there is a working relationship between police and family from the get-go?

What happened is quite upsetting, and has had a clear impact across many communities. My sincerest condolescences go out to Tori's family. Let's hope that there is room to reflect, and move forward with by providing some definitions for an Amber Alert that have relevance.

Marianne
Mlo-Woodstock
There is blame being placed everywhere, while I don't think our Police are perfect, and sadly at Tori's expense they were perhaps slightly prejudiced against the parents (James Goris was definatley known to the police)I'm not convinced that an amber alert would have helped,(although I don't see how it would have hindered either..maybe they would have been onto the Guelph area sooner..) it took the parents over 3 hours before they contacted the police (and even then it was the grandmother that did), by that time it may have already been too late. If changing the AA will help save children's lives then I'm all for it.
Peace be with you little Tori.

Lila
When a child is missing and the parents ask for Police help, that should be enough for an Amber Alert to be issued. Unfortunately, people also abuse the 911 system and help is usually sent immediately.
Parents should give their children a password only they and the child know, so in case somebody appears at the school with a lie to lure them away, the child will know that he/she should NOT go with that person.

HAMILTON, ONTARIO
Municipal Police, OPP, RCMP, all go on about the politics or technicalities that bind them from doing any action to enforce the law... Then they actually go out of their way to illegally search you or pull you over without reason. Good thing they saved themselves from showing us Victoria's picture... I'm sure they got their traffic ticket quotas and donuts/coffee all taken care. Leave it to John on America's Most Wanted to do our police work... Unfortunately it seems to take someone who's experienced this tragedy to actually attempt to find the child. Kudos to AMW. RIP Victoria Stafford.

Phil
I envision teenagers having competitions to see who can rack up the most Amber Alerts while they're smoking behind the arcade or temporarily running away from a dysfunctional family.

Reassess and revise as necessary, but the scale of the suggested changes is ludicrous.

Lee Tanner
YES, change is needed to the Amber Alert. I for one, would not be bothered by a lot of missing child amber alerts. Better safe than sorry.

As for the OPP saying Victoria's case did not meet the criteria because she appeared to go with this woman 'willingly'. SHAME on you.... if you knew anything about child predators, you'd know they use tactics such as trust and lures to gain access to children. It disqusts me to think they didn't issue an amber alert in Tori's case.

My thoughts and prayers go out to the family and friends of Tori. She is a beautiful little girl who didn't deserve this.

Roby-D
We are finding out now that this angel was murdered very quickly after her abduction. Being that it was 2.5 hours after she disappeared before the police were notified, there's a good chance that an Amber Alert would have done nothing more than make the community feel like something was being done. As tragic as it was, it does not sound as though an Amber Alert would have made a huge difference in little Tori's demise.

sandi667
I agree with Marco, Dennis and C. Morris. They are exactly right. People need to understand the requirements for Amber Alerts and leave the police alone. Like one person said don't you think the police wanted to find Tori as much as anyone did?? This is very tragic and I hope they find her soon.

Dave Upset
The police did what they were trained to do. They followed the protocol for an Amber Alert. All we can do is try to change the protocol to be more effective. This is a tricky situation because parents do know their child's routines to a tee and if they are not home when they should be then something may be wrong. Notice I said, "may be wrong." I do agree that the protocol should be reviewed but that we not to make such swift changes that it renders the purpose of Amber Alert useless.

I have two daughters so my heart aches for Tori.

Sandra
The Keystone cops still have a lot of explaning to do in this case.
Who is to know if the Amber Alert would have worked.
Why not give it a try and hope for the best.
They did have a description of Tori from her parents.

Guy
You know if less time was spent pointing fingers at the parents Torie might still be here. As of the onset of such a situation the first reaction should be to use all available means to find the child. One would think protocol would be out the window if there was a chance an amber alert would help

Lauren
I take issue with the statement that it was not labeled an abduction because Tori went willingly. Is she not an impressionable child who requires the guidance of an adult?? The simple fact that she did not have permission to leave with an unauthorized person and the parents did not know this individual should have sent off the appropriate signals immediately.In many abductions and eventual murders the children do go willingly but is that their fault? Does that make it any more acceptable? They are innocent children that require adults and their laws to protect them.

Woodstock
I do not see from the video how the police were 100% sure the woman in the video abducted Tori thereby not fitting all the criteria of an amber alert. The video shows the two walking a short distance together, then it ends. It does not show the woman entering a residence with Tori nor does it show the woman getting into a car with Tori. The police go on facts not assumptions. I commend the police for a job well done.

Michele
I am a mother of three children (aged 23, 10 and 17). When my children were very young, I instilled a password system in place for them in the event that I could not be there to pick them up from wherever they were (school, a friend's house, etc.,). In the early days, I even went as far as to send a family member or friend to 'test' my kids to see if they would ask for the password before going with that person. Initially, my children either forgot to ask for the password or the wrong password was given (on purpose) yet my children went along anyway. Once home, I explained to them the dangers of their actions. This only happened a handful of times. I occasionally still 'test' them and it is refreshing to know that to this day, they will not go with anyone, including someone they know, unless that person can provide them with a valid password.

LN in T.O
I throw my support behind this law 110%. I drive on the 401 everyday and the signs above the highway always say... " Our children are our precious gifts.. Keep them safe..." Well time to put your best foot forward and change the law that no matter what the circumstance, a child goes missing, an amber alert should be issued, border services, radio, television notified..

Jayme
HAMILTON, ONTARIO
Yes lets people who are high and drunk drive as reckless as they want.Police should not be allowed to do anything.While in some cases people maybe pulled over for no reason but a large amount of time people need to be pulled over.As for the police not doing there job and amw is doing all of our police work.If you look at how many kids go missing each day and how many times people are abused etc the police are doing there jobs good.Now if you look how many times a canadian if its a child/adult has been on amw is very very rare.Jayme

Brian Vachon
LN in Toronto:
Yes, that's a great idea! No matter the circumstances, lets send the police looking for all the "children" as defined by this proposed law. Since the police will be responding to "help, my 15 year old daughter is ten minutes late coming home" cases 24/7, it provides ample opportunity for the rest of us to rob banks and liquor stores, without having to worry about the police showing up. Even if they did, they would be too busy tracking them 15-year olds to do anything about it. I LOVE your idea!

Jayme
Guy
The police have to look at everyone who they feel may be involved.You just can't give them a pass because there the parents.

tracey
I agree that Amber Alerts should be issued immediately under any circumstance when a young child goes missing! However, in this case, since the police were not notified until more than 2 1/2 hours after 8 YEAR OLD TORI would have arrived home from school (???) and the police are assuming she had met her fate within the few hours following the abduction, an amber alert wouldn't have made a difference, unfortunitly!

As far as placing blame on the police for not issuing such an alert immediately, if the person(s) reporting the missing child don't seemed that concerned with 2 1/2 hours that have gone by why should the police?! I can't understand why it took so many hours to realize the child was late? I hope it isn't normal for an 8 year old child to have that much time allowed before checking in with someone.. parent/adult! Kinda strange that, that "was the only day in 3 weeks she walked home without her brother"??? (quote printed in the kw record)..too much of a coincidence for me, sorry!

STOP CRIMES AGAINST CHILDREN NOW!!!!!!
Children have to be protected. We cannot be too careful.

But what do we do for the children who walk home from school? They walk off unnoticed and can fall prey to any crazy person. What can we do to ensure their safety? Can we teach them to be vigilent of who to trust? Will this be enough?

Children should not be allowed to walk alone. But how do we enforce this? It seems an almost impossible task.

Bus students must be greeted by an appointed adult at a bus stop in my area. But what about the walkers?

Should we implant our children with GPS devices?

I worry about our children. They need to be protected from these predators!

We need harsher punishments for these crimes against our children. Our lawmakers need to change the laws. These people who harm children should not be allowed to live among us. It is time that our society did something. PROTECT THE CHILDREN NOW!

Wayne, Waterloo
I think that a lot of people making comments here need to think over the facts a bit more.

When the police were notified at 6:00pm the only information that they had was that she was missing - they didn't have the video footage at that point.

To get the video, they would have had to find all the surveillance cameras along her possible routes home, get the footage, review it, and confirm that the little girl in the grainy video was actually Tori.

They could not have done this in a few minutes. It would have taken hours - well past the point where an Amber Alert would have been useful.

I personally thought that the police did a pretty good job to have that video for the news conference the next day.

Whether a case was reported as a missing person or an abduction makes little to no impact on what the police do to find someone. Give them some credit for their hard work and dedication on a difficult case.

Should the Amber Alert process be reviewed? Probably. It should be reviewed to see if some tweaks are required to make it more effective. Would it have helped Tori? Unlikely.

My sympathies go out to the family. I couldn't possibly imagine what they are going through right now.

But save your anger for the bad guys here and don't take it out on the hard working people who did what they could to find her. I wouldn't want their job so I'm glad that they are willing to do it.

guppies
Amber or not Amber is not the key.

The key is when a person got caught. Our system (law) are too weak.

We need strong sentences to put these people behind bar.

We should look at the school system. How to handle when Kids got pick up by their parents after school.

Should we let the kids stay in classroom (not taking the bus) and the teacher was there to make sure that the kids wasn't pick up by other. Let say 30 mins after school.

I see there is a lots of kids under 12. Even taking a school bus when get off they walk home alone themself.
That's scary...When are their parents ? Don't the driver check see any parents pick up their kids (under 12) at stop.

If we spend extra a few mins every day. That's will really help. As a parent I don't mind to paid extra $ for this service.

ninona
So let me get this straight....he police claim did not issue an "amber alert" because despite having access to footage from a surveillance camera that showed Victoria walking away from school with an unidentified woman, According to police statistics most children that are abducted, usually goes willingly with their abductors, this is why they insist on parents teaching their children not to go with strangers. If every child that is being abducted is kicking and screaming when taken away, then we would not need the "amber alert" or the police. Cheap excuse, face it cops did a terrible jobs on this one

Danielle
Toronto, a description of the child should be good enough until more information comes up.

That little girl could have been seen by anyone and if they knew who she was or what she had looked like she would have stood a better chance than she did now wouldn't she.

Sometimes not all that information is available, so you're saying a child's life should be risked because that info isn't available to someone? Child is missing that's all the information they need with sickos lurking around.

Stephen B
To Paul, Chilliwack,
Read the whole story. The child was not reported missing for close to 3 hours. By then it was too late. The police did not drop the ball.

Wednesday
Yes, Tori's abduction and murder were tragic and senseless. However, I don't agree with these proposed changes to the AMBER Alert system.

Often, when children are reported missing, it turns out to be some sort of misunderstanding, for example, the child is at the house of a friend. If an AMBER Alert was issued every time a child went missing and the parents thought it to be out of character, the public would just ignore the bulletins, therefore minimizing its usefulness in truly serious cases.

Also, some people think that an AMBER Alert would have saved Tori's life. Did it save Holly Jones's life? Cecilia Zhang's?

Lisa, Rockwood
This comment is directed to Paul from Chilliwack.

If you are familiar with the case, Tori was reported missing April 8th to Oxford Community Police, O.P.P was not involved in the investigation until April 13th. It was not until 5 days later that a special O.P.P. unit.

Reclarify your comments that paint all police officers with the same brush

ann
Absolutely. There should be no question - the Law should be passed. I have been on top of this story since the begining as I also have an 8 yr daughter. I would find it totally unacceptable that an 'Amber Alert' would not have been called too if I suspected an abduction. Never could understand why they didn't call it until too late. Time is always the most important factor in a child abduction.

I just don't understand why the police cannot find her body..what are the scums up to??

As for Mr. Rafferty, let him commit suicide. He is not worth having in the gene pool - same with McClintic.
Scum of the earth...

Cynthia
Even if a child appears to go willingly, it does not mean that the child WENT willingly with an abductor. A child who is not street-proofed may have been told something that led him/her to believe that the abductor was genuine. If the Amber Alert criteria is not changed, then a new pre-Amber alert still should be issued in some form.

David Hughes
"Tori's Law" should be the New Canadian death penalty for ALL child killers.

Helen - Bradford
Although tragic - unfortunately an Amber Alert would have done absolutely nothing to help. What are the police to do? Flash missing 8 year old with blonde hair on every overpass and lottery kiosk in the Province? Goes by name of Tori? Everybody call police when you spot her? An Amber Alert is no better than a media release when you dont have any abductor information like a vehicle licence plate or car description after confirmation - EXACTLY WHAT THE LAW SAYS NOW. A media release can have a photo for tv, internet news sites, etc. Overpasses which provide the best coverage only have 3 or 4 lines of type space - what are you going to put in there?
Anybody out there know how many 14-16 year olds 'go missing' in the province when they are really just habitual runaways where they don't like their parents rules? And the parents always say its out of character because they dont want to look like they havent raised perfect kids.

Everyday, an AMBER ALERT will be flashing across our faces showing "14 year old girl with brown hair missing from Fort Frances - Keep your eyes open and call police if seen". 20 minutes later - "Disregard - found child" soon to be followed by another one.

Not that she's to blame, but keep in mind Tori's mother waited before calling police as well.

This is pure overreaction. Lets try to be realistic and sensible in the face of this tragedy.

HM
While I think that there maybe some kind of modifying to the existing use of Amber Alert. We need to insure measures are taking to not allow misuse of the system. If this is not done the whole thing will fall apart and become redundant. This would then be of no use to the missing children.

Steve the Pundit
We can't let the emotions of the moment cloud our rational judgment. An "Amber Alert" would not have saved Tori, or will not save anyone in similar circumstances, simply because there was not enough information to mobilize the "eyes and ears" of the general public. No information on suspects, vehicles or, for that matter, whether she was really missing.

What happens if we allow incomplete facts to be broadcast under this system? A number of possibilities:

- innocent people, quietly going about their lives, could be mistaken for the real guilty party; throw in a little "frontier justice" mentality, and you could have a tragedy on top of another tragedy
- worse, if an Amber Alert is issued for any time a child is thought to be missing but eventually turns out to be at a friend's, at a mall, or hiding to see how much trouble they can cause, the public will stop paying attention. And a formerly useful tool will be lost to us forever.

Lastly, it's important to remind all the hand-wringing activists that this type of stranger abduction is extremely rare and, unfortunately, unpreventable. In the same way as carelessly dashing out in front of a moving vehicle, a young life can be snuffed out in a horrific "crime of opportunity". Parential engagement and diligence remains the best protection for all of society's children.

june sinclair
I really feel sorry for the family and the child, issuing an Amber Alert may have saved this child, who knows.

My concern, is what was an eight year old girl walking home from school alone, according to media reports her brother was to walk her home, but was unavailable, why was not a parent called then, and the school officals let the child off of school grounds, without asking any questions. Maybe the first step is to look at this schools policy (and all schools across Ontario) so nothing like this happens again.

Gabrielle from Montreal
I agree. Why should there be a minimum of signs to make it an Amber alert? If a child is missing, at such a young age... What would the worst be if an Amber alert was put in place and that the child missing turned out to be a run away? I think this law needs to be put in place, it could save lots of kids lives... and bring kids back home safe.

U of Ottawa student
Why is everyone here blaming the police? Like do you really think they were just being lazy or didnt care? Police officers are people just like everyone else and I'm sure they all did the best they could at the time.

Hindsight is always 20/20. If they had put out an amber alert and Tori had turned up a few days later at a relatives, everyone would be saying they overreacted and wasted taxpayers money.

Carole
"police did not have enough information about her disappearance to send out the special signal"

seems to me, that is just cause don't you think... it might have saved her life if it had been...

act on the spot, what's the worst that could have happened, they find her? better than not...

Jenna
I can't stop thinking of this little girl. This is so tragic. If it were my little girl missing I would want an amber alert out for her STAT. So what if there is no car description? The police had a description of what she was wearing, her height, weight, colour of her hair, eyes. Spread that info as quickly as possible. Maybe for Tori someone would have seen her in that car at the gas station or home depot and called 911. I know I pay very close attention to the details of an amber alert and keep a close eye. Again, nothing to lose and so much to save. Our children are worth it.

Dan Folkerson Guelph
Fantastic Idea, to lower the credentials of the Amber Alert.
Look at the large Box Stores Like Wal-Mart, they have amber alerts, and they appear to work very well.


so Kudos go out to all who signed the petition.

Joe, Waterloo
Wayne, Waterloo - Very well said! You should all listen to him.

Abusing the AA system would render it useless.

I do agree that the penalty for child crime should be much more severe.

Rest in peace Tori.

bellainottawa
To Paul from Chilliwack-

Before you paint all OPP with the same brush, please use your brains. As a sister of an OPP detective,what you are saying is false and misleading.

Andy In Cambridge
to Paul, Chilliwack:

It was not the OPP that are to blame for the amber alert not being issued, but rather the Oxford Community Police. They are the ones who dropped the ball. The OPP took over the investigation from them, and have accomplished much more than they ever did.

Gurn
An amber alert was issued yesterday in Michigan for a 5 year old missing girl.No abductor or vehicle mentioned in the alert,just that she was last seen riding her bicycle.
Hmmmmm
Makes one think.

Dave In Perth
Any change that helps a child is welcome. The system in use now is broken.

Jay
Carole
You can't say the worst is the would find her.Many kids go missing the amber is issued yet in a good amount of time still it did not help.

kc in alberta
They refused to consider it abduction because "she appeared to go willingly".

What a foolish statement from police given that the majority of child sexual assaults and other crimes against children are committed by persons familiar to the child.

Also haven't these police ever heard of the "help me find my lost puppy" scam that these sickos use to lure kids to come "willingly" with them?

I've never heard such lame excuses.

For the peole defending the absense of an Amber alert due to lack of details there is nothing to be lost by giving an alert even if there is little detail.

At least more eyes would be looking sooner even if all that is known is a description of the child.

John Ottawa
Agree some with (harsh but). I don't know much about this amber alert, think maybe it may help, especially with these younger kids. I have always had someone to walk home with as my older brothers or sisters and both most of the time(Large family). I know Woodstock well, was raised there, the family lived pactically next door to the school previously, jump the fence and they are home so to speek. But after the move, I agree that these children should of been walked home by an adult of some sort. I also agree that where they moved to, isn't really far either, but just after the move, there should of been some more caution taken. Ours hearts are really saddened of what has happened.

Jim, Barrie Ontario
To Paul, Chilliwack
Maybe you should get your facts correct before you start slandering the OPP. It was the The Woodstock Community Police that originally started this investigation and made some errors before the OPP was called in to take over the investigation and make arrests.

Mindy Coquitlam
As I sit here and read through the comments that have been posted so far, it saddens me that as a collective, we are trying to place blame on everyone EXCEPT where it belongs. The people who took Tori, and consequently took her life are the ONLY ones to blame for this tragedy. Sure the AA may have helped, and the parents could have notified the police earlier, and the teachers could have stood watch over Tori, and every other child at the school to make sure person who picked them up was the person who was supposed to, and it goes on and on about who should have done what in order to prevent this.

If the reports are correct, regardless if all these things had been done, and Tori was killed shortly after being abducted, then the blame and owness is on the abductors, and the ABDUCTORS ALONE. The AA system should be reviewed, as should any procedure because as hard as we fight the predators, they are constantly evolving and our job as parents, civilians, civil servants is to try and stay one step ahead. Instead of focusing on the "would have, and could haves" why not look to improving? No procedure is perfect, which means there is always room for improvement, so why not look at changes to the AA system?

My heart goes out to Tori's parents, regardless if the dad has a negative past. No parent should have to live through such a tragedy of losing a child.

Angry Mom in Montreal
Day late and a child short on this one! SHAME on YOU!

Bob Kincardine Ontario
Paul Chilliwack

It wasn't the OPP in the first instance to investigate. They took over the investigation after the Local small Force screwed up Royaly.

Keep your RCMP, I will take the OPP anyday, especially with Julian Fantino running the show there.