New law makes changes to Florida’s ‘Purple Alert’ missing person reporting system

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – Gov. Ron DeSantis signed legislation on Thursday amending the requirements and regulations needed to issue Purple Alerts.

Purple Alerts allow law enforcement to issue notices to the public when attempting to locate missing adults suffering from a mental or cognitive disabilities.

HB 937 creates two levels of activation under the Purple Alert: local and statewide.

The legislation requires local law enforcement to develop their own policies for the activation of a local Purple Alert.

When activating a local Purple Alert, agencies must contact news outlets in the affected area and inform all on-duty officers about the situation.

A law enforcement agency may issue a statewide alert when the investigation indicates the there is an identifiable vehicle involved.

The Florida Department of Law Enforcement must then coordinate with the Florida Department of Transportation, the Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles and the Department of the Lottery to distribute messaging and critical information to the public.

Notifications and alerts would then be displayed on road signs and lottery terminals in gas stations, convenience stores, supermarkets and other places. People who are also subscribed to Purple Alerts will reactive the information.

Reps. Joe Casello, D-Boynton Beach, and Tom Keen, D-Orlando, sponsored the bill. Sen. Lori Berman, D-Boynton Beach, filed the Senate companion.

The legislation will go into effect on July 1.