Governor’s Veto of Missing-Children Bill Criticized

Gov. George Deukmejian’s veto of a bill that would have set up a computerized clearinghouse to store information on missing children means he is soft on law-and-order issues, a group that lobbied for the measure said Thursday.

David Collins, co-president of San Francisco-based America’s Missing Children Foundation, said during a news conference at the Adam Walsh Child Resource Center in Orange that Deukmejian “turned his back on the 3,000 children who will be kidnaped” in California in the next year.

“With the sweep of a pen, he whisked away their safety. I am totally embarrassed by the governor’s non-support,” said Collins, whose son Kevin is a missing child.

The measure, sponsored by Assemblyman Gray Davis (D-Los Angeles), would have appropriated $337,000 for studies to set up the computerized system to track missing children. The computer would store all information related to a child’s abduction and information on all suspects in each case.

Twenty-four states now have such a system. Had it been implemented in California, it would have been linked to the computers in those states to allow law enforcement agencies to share the information.

Patty Bradbury of Huntington Beach, whose daughter Laura disappeared at Joshua Tree National Forest almost two years ago, said such a system could have given law enforcement officials a quick start in investigating her child’s abduction.

“It took 18 days to get the information about Laura out. With the clearinghouse, it would have taken 24 hours,” she said tearfully. “It makes you wonder if our children really matter at all (to Deukmejian).”

In his veto message, the governor said he was rejecting the bill for budgetary reasons, adding that the clearinghouse would have cost the state $1.2 million a year.

Donna L. Lipper, the governor’s assistant press secretary, said Davis’ bill did not specify the source of continued funding for the clearinghouse.

But Collins said that reasoning “was unacceptable. There is no doubt that this should be emergency legislation.”

Collins said that, despite the setback, citizens groups and law enforcement authorities would continue to push for implementation of the measure, which was passed unanimously by the Assembly and the Senate. He said Sen. William Campbell (R-Hacienda Heights) has offered to carry the bill when the Legislature reconvenes in January.

Susan Davidson, director of the Adam Walsh Center, said the state currently has a computerized system to keep track of stolen automobiles.

“If your car is stolen, it will be in the computer immediately,” she said. “But if your child is kidnaped, the information will be stored manually on a card. Pray that your car is taken and not your child.”