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Wednesday, August 6, 2008
Highways Signs Aid In Police Searches
In May, Gov. Charlie Crist signed an executive order creating the Florida Law Enforcement Officers Alert Plan.
The order calls for the use of the electronic message signs found along I-95, Florida’s Turnpike and other highways to broadcast information to the public in specific cases when an officer is killed or seriously wounded.
However, the signs could not be used Tuesday when Donald J. Pettit, an agent for U.S. Customs and Border Protection, was shot and killed outside a Pembroke Pines post office.
Police were able to identify the shooter’s car as a green or grey Chrysler 300, but did not have any information on the license tag. Coincidentally, Pettit was driving the same model car.
To activate the message signs, a complete or partial tag number must be available.
The LEO Alert Plan was modeled after the Amber Alerts, which are used throughout the country to help find abducted children. It directs the Florida Department of Transportation and Florida Highway Patrol to coordinate with the Florida Department of Law Enforcement in putting out the information.
The objective is to help gather as much information as possible, increasing the chances of capturing the suspect before he (or she) can get out of the state.
In the Pettit case, anyone with information should call Broward County Crime Stoppers at 954-493-8477 or go online at www.browardcrimestoppers.org. There’s a $275,000 reward for tips leading to the suspect’s arrest.
