MARYLAND -  Each year, an average of  14,000 people are reported missing in the state of Maryland, from which only about 12,000 are located.  Many of them are children. Both the Maryland State Police and the Maryland Lottery have come up with a strategic partnership to provide a more extensive system to protect the state’s children. Powerball lottery  

“We all know when a child is abducted someone knows something and we depend on the public’s participation to help us in that effort,” said Robert Hoever, with the Center of Missing & Exploited Children.  So as soon as the Police get the call, an AMBER Alert is activated. “We’ll give all the information on the child, the best description given, if there’s any suspect information and tag numbers,” said Trooper First Class Richard Keidel with the Maryland State Police. Mega lottery

By partnering with Maryland’s Lottery, once the AMBER Alert is triggered, through the lottery’s new InMotion technology, within 15 minutes of a notification, an AMBER Alert can be displayed on the lottery’s 17-inch flat screen monitors.  The monitors are currently located at more than 3,700 Lottery retailers, including gas stations, convenience stores, bars & restaurants and other venues across the state. This expands the visibility of an AMBER Alert and helps to get important information about a missing child to a wide audience across the state. 

 ”Having the more people seeing it the more eyes that are on there will help us get that person and help us get that child back and that is worth its weight in gold,” said Keidel. Lotteries

When the program is completely implemented, AMBER Alerts will be displayed on more than 4,200 Lottery InMotion screens throughout Maryland.

Maryland Lottery director Stephen Martino has expressed that they are happy to be able to contribute to this cause and is proud that Maryland Lottery is joining forces with the State Police to bring children home safely. 

 “Partnerships are vital to the success of any endeavor, especially one involving law enforcement, the public and the search for a missing child,” said Colonel Marcus L. Brown, superintendent of the Maryland State Police.  “This innovative technology will establish a more efficient communication between our citizens and the police, intensifying the efforts we can make together to safely locate Maryland’s missing children even sooner.”

Maryland Lottery supports many important state programs and services including education, public safety and health, human resources and the environment.