Next time, evacuees subject to criminal checks

[David Farber <dave () farber net>]

Begin forwarded message:

From: dewayne () warpspeed com (Dewayne Hendricks)
Date: December 19, 2007 11:09:06 AM EST
To: Dewayne-Net Technology List <xyzzy () warpspeed com>
Subject: [Dewayne-Net] Next time, evacuees subject to criminal checks

[Note:  This item comes from friend Ken DiPietro.  DLH]

Dec. 15, 2007, 6:06PM
Next time, evacuees subject to criminal checks
State's plan calls for putting some offenders on separate bus

By TERRI LANGFORD
<http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/metropolitan/5380868.html>

Texans seeking to escape the next hurricane or state emergency by  
evacuation bus will first be submitted to criminal background checks,  
the state's emergency management director says.

The idea, according to Jack Colley, is to keep sex offenders and  
others who may be wanted by police off the same buses used by the most  
vulnerable during an evacuation: the elderly, disabled residents and  
children.

"This will allow us to help them evacuate," Colley said of sex  
offenders and others wanted for crimes. "We're not going to leave  
anyone."

Though the intent is to make sure vulnerable evacuees aren't  
victimized, Colley acknowledged that culling sex offenders and other  
criminals from a herd of evacuees during a potentially chaotic  
evacuation comes with plenty of challenges.

"We'll be able to do it," he said of the task, declining to be more  
specific about the process because of safety concerns.

He said the agency's first concern is to move people out of harm's way.

But Colley insists a better filter on who gets on an evacuation bus  
with special needs residents will eliminate potential problems.

"We're here to save lives," Colley said.

Earlier this month, it was announced AT&T Inc. has contracted with the  
Texas Governor's Division of Emergency Management to provide  
electronic wristbands for those residents wanting them, before they  
board an evacuation bus.

The wristbands would be scanned by emergency management officials and  
the person's name would be added to a bus boarding log. That person's  
name and their bus information would be sent wirelessly to the  
University of Texas Center for Space Research data center.

When the evacuee arrives at a designated shelter, the wristband would  
be scanned again to help state employees respond to inquiries from the  
public about the safety and location of evacuated family members.

[snip]


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