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| Patricias Law Enacted in NJ | |
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| Tweet Topic Started: Mar 28 2008, 07:04 AM (733 Views) | |
| Ell | Mar 28 2008, 07:04 AM Post #1 |
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Heart of Gold
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Backed by hope, law is enacted A bill named for a missing Bogota woman has given law enforcement officials specific instructions to follow when missing persons cases arise. With Gov. Jon Corzine’s signature, the state enacted Patricia’s Law, which requires authorities to immediately collect DNA material and enter it into a national database when a missing person is reported. Photo/Mark J. Bonamo Bogota's Jim Viola was instrumental in the drafting and passage of Patricia's Law. With the support of state Sen. Loretta Weinberg (D-Teaneck) and Attorney General Anne Milgram, among others, Bogota resident Jim Viola developed the law in partnership with local government officials after his wife, Patricia Marie, vanished seven years ago. Patricia was last seen Feb. 13, 2001, leaving her Chestnut Avenue home. "I began working on this law soon after Pat went missing. I was frustrated that I had no answers and that certain actions weren’t take as quickly as they could have been," said Viola, who also worked with 37th District assembly members Valerie Vainieri Huttle and Gordon Johnson. The governor, speaking during last Wednesday’s conference at Bogota Borough Hall, acknowledged Viola’s dedication and commitment to making Patricia’s Law a reality. "I want to thank Jim and his family for their efforts to take a tragedy and turn it into a greater opportunity for our broader society," Corzine said. "I can only imagine the kind of pain Jim has gone through; this issue definitely needed to be put into public policy. We need to use the power of DNA technology to help locate missing persons." Under Patricia’s Law, law enforcement agencies must accept, without delay, any report of a missing person and cannot refuse to accept such reports for any reason. One of the more important elements to this legislation states that if a person is missing for more than 30 days, a DNA reference sample must be secured from the family and forwarded to the appropriate agency for analysis and entry into the Combined DNA Index System for Missing Persons. Once the DNA profile is available, the missing persons record in the National Crime Information System is updated to reflect that DNA is available. In support of Patricia’s Law, Milgram last Wednesday announced the Missing Persons DNA Identification Project. Launched by the New Jersey State Police, the initiative handles long-term missing and unidentified deceased persons cases. The goal of this project, Milgram said, is to cross-match DNA from the state’s missing persons database with the DNA from the state’s unidentified remains. "New Jersey takes the national lead for identifying the deceased and missing. We are very proud to be the model for other states to follow," Milgram said. Viola is equally proud and said that the attorney general’s office really "brought everything together" regarding Patricia’s Law "The State Police project and Patricia’s Law are forcing law enforcers to take and use DNA samples to track locations of the missing. This is what we needed to happen; it’s great," Viola said. Viola continues to offer a $10,000 reward to anyone who can provide information leading to his wife’s safe return home. Visit www.patriciaviolamissing.homestead.com for more information on Patricia Viola’s case and for general information on missing persons. http://hackensackchronicle.com/NC/0/154.html Jim Viola |
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Ell Only after the last tree has been cut down; Only after the last fish has been caught; Only after the last river has been poisoned; Only then will you realize that money cannot be eaten. | |
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| oldies4mari2004 | Mar 28 2008, 11:03 AM Post #2 |
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This is great and I hope all the states will follow right behind as this is so needed.Time is so important and should be acted on right away especially if the person is mentally,physically impaired and the elderly,children and in the cases of abductions,domestic violence.Homeless persons,and prostitues and drug and alchol cases.All of these are human beings.I firmly believe that if action is taken right away that many lives would be saved.Alot of these people that have disappeared would not have left on their own and left children and all their belongings behind.True some may do that but very few.Runaways most of the time come back home but not in all cases and if we would stop and think that maybe they might be in danger.There are many that we thought were runaways but in fact were murdered and many lie for many,many years before they were found.I understand that there is such a case load and all we can do is our best to try and solve these missing and unidentifieds.With DNA things are better and alot more will be identified and the missing found.I am so glad everytime another person is arrested for a crime they thought they would never get caught.I do not care if this person is 80 years old if they killed or did harm to another human being then they deserve what they get.Also Great job Jim Viola has done and hooray for New Jersey.
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| tamyou | Mar 28 2008, 10:21 PM Post #3 |
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That is truly wonderful!!!! I wish all states had that law!! Then maybe a whole bunch of missing people would be found alot faster. Or at least id'd alot sooner. WAY TO GO JIM!!!!!!!!
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| monkalup | Mar 29 2008, 12:19 AM Post #4 |
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The Old Heifer! An oxymoron, of course.
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I'm so proud of Jim Viola and the leaders of NJ! A shining example for other states to follow! |
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Lauran "If you have a chance to accomplish something that will make things better for people coming behind you, and you don't do that, you are wasting your time on this earth." The late, great Roberto Clemente. In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, any copyrighted work in this message is distributed under fair use without profit or payment for non-profit research and educational purposes only. | |
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| Dianne | Mar 30 2008, 02:11 AM Post #5 |
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Ditto! |
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All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing. ~Edmund Burke | |
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This is great and I hope all the states will follow right behind as this is so needed.Time is so important and should be acted on right away especially if the person is mentally,physically impaired and the elderly,children and in the cases of abductions,domestic violence.Homeless persons,and prostitues and drug and alchol cases.All of these are human beings.I firmly believe that if action is taken right away that many lives would be saved.Alot of these people that have disappeared would not have left on their own and left children and all their belongings behind.True some may do that but very few.Runaways most of the time come back home but not in all cases and if we would stop and think that maybe they might be in danger.There are many that we thought were runaways but in fact were murdered and many lie for many,many years before they were found.I understand that there is such a case load and all we can do is our best to try and solve these missing and unidentifieds.With DNA things are better and alot more will be identified and the missing found.I am so glad everytime another person is arrested for a crime they thought they would never get caught.I do not care if this person is 80 years old if they killed or did harm to another human being then they deserve what they get.Also Great job Jim Viola has done and hooray for New Jersey.
3:23 AM Jul 11