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The AFU and Urban Legend Archive Misc code adam
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The AFU and Urban Legend Archive Misc code adam
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From: am908@FreeNet.Carleton.CA (Jackie Laderoute)
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.urban
Subject: Re: Kid-snatching-in-store UL yields CODE ADAM
Date: 29 Oct 1996 16:51:18 GMT
Bruce Tindall (tindall@panix.com) writes:
> So, Low-Tech Tindall goes to the Office Max (a chain of office-supply
> stores in the U.S.) to buy some ribbons for his old typewriter, and
> is greeted by a reassuring sign in the front door to this effect:
[Code Adam]
This seems to be a direct copy of Wal-Mart's "Code Adam" program.
> Well now isn't that hysterically special. *Of course* if I lose
> my kid in a store I'll inform the store staff. One would hope they
> would not need a "program" in order to react appropriately, much
> less a "program" with a pseudo-military or pseudo-hospitally
> "code" name.
Don't count on it. The one time I lost track of a child in a department store, it took me ten minutes to find a "sales associate", another ten to convince her that I considered this a problem, twenty minutes for her to actually get a manager to respond (because she had no authority to do anything short of scanning merchandise)... by which time the misplaced toddler had been found (by me).
"Code Adam" programs establish a protocol that is known and understood by all staff, and can be implemented by any employee without trying to track down the manager, etc.
> One assumes that this is an attempt to capitalize on fears of
> child-snatching-and-clothes-and-hairstyle-changing-in-the-rest-room-
> of-retail-stores made prevalent by the UL of the same name.
Not necessarily. It's too easy for a child to simply walk out with an adult -- no disguise necessary. Still, the program is no panacea. The one show I saw talking about Wal-Mart's Code Adam program described an incident where Code Adam was instituted after a child disappeared - the doors were manned by staff who checked all large parcels, confirmed that children belonged with the adults who accompanied them. The child was recovered -- from a man who was *returning* her to the store from the parking lot where he had taken her. He was eventually convicted of kidnapping and child sexual abuse. Although this was being touted as a Code Adam success story, I found it ironic that none of the precautions would have prevented the child from being taken, as those events occured before the code was called.
I'm trying to remember the program I saw this on -- it would have been in the spring, when I was home with the flu -- some mindless talk show (Maury Povich?). As I recall, the incident took place in the US - possibly Florida. I'll see if I can dig anything up.
> The name "Adam" probably refers to Adam Walsh, a child who
> was abducted and killed -- but in a hotel, not a retail store,
> as I recall -- and whose father now hosts the U.S. TV show
> "America's Most Wanted," which enlists audience help in tracking
> down fugitives.
It does.
Jackie "non-fugitive" Laderoute
--
< o \"/ Don't play cat and mouse with me! (
---@ ) ()-() < o /"\ Jackie Laderoute am908@Freenet.Carleton.Ca (o o)
********************************************************************/\o/\
From: am908@FreeNet.Carleton.CA (Jackie Laderoute)
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.urban
Subject: Re: Kid-snatching-in-store UL yields CODE ADAM
Date: 29 Oct 1996 18:08:09 GMT
Jackie Laderoute (am908@FreeNet.Carleton.CA) writes:
> Bruce Tindall (tindall@panix.com) writes:
[Following up to my own post - how gauche.]
I was right about the program being a Wal-Mart brainchild. I found the info at:
http://www.wal-mart.com/community/codeadam.shtml
The page also mentions the case I referred to earlier (although I was off on it being in Florida):
Shoppers may notice an unusual decal in the front window
of their neighborhood store. Local Wal-Mart stores and
SAM'S Clubs are posting blue and white Code Adam decals
in their windows to remind shoppers that the in-store
child safety procedure is in effect and practiced in
their hometown store.
The Code Adam measure was named in tribute to 6-year-old
Adam Walsh, whose abduction from a Florida shopping mall
and murder in 1981 brought the horror of child abduction
to the national consciousness.
Code Adam is a special alert issued over the public
address system when a customer reports a missing child in
a Wal-Mart store or SAM'S Club. A brief description of
the child is provided to all associates, who immediately
stop their normal work to look for the child. Store
associates also monitor all exits to ensure that the
child does not leave the store.
Within 10 minutes, if the child is not found, or if the
child is seen accompanied by someone other than a parent
or guardian, store personnel notifies the local police
department for assistance.
In November 1993, the procedure stopped the attempted
abduction of a 3-year-old girl from a Wal-Mart store in
Crawfordsville, Ind. The abductor, who had a prior record
of child abduction, was arrested and later convicted.
"There are contingencies for protecting shoppers from
fire and tornadoes, and now Wal-Mart has created a
program that can help all retailers fight an even more
frightening problem - missing children," said John Walsh,
father of Adam Walsh and a national child advocate who
hosted television's "America's Most Wanted."
The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children
(NCMEC) reports that 114,600 child abductions occur in
the United States each year.
"Code Adam is a powerful way to fight child abductions,"
said Betsy Reithemeyer, a spokesperson for Wal-Mart. "We
are posting Code Adam decals in all our store windows to
remind parents that this safety measure is in place at
their local store. We hope other retailers in the
community will join the fight against child abductions by
implementing the program; it's easy and effective."
Wal-Mart is making available to other concerned retailers
a free plan for executing the Code Adam program.
Interested businesses can request the Code Adam plan by
writing to:
Ms. Betsy Reithemeyer
Wal-Mart Stores, Inc.
702 SW 8th Street
Bentonville, AR 72716
or you may send e-mail to bbreith@wal-mart.com
Code Adam became one of the country's largest child
safety programs when it was rolled out to nearly 2,500
Wal-Mart Stores and SAM'S Clubs in 1995. Wal-Mart was
selected by members of the United States Senate and
Childhelp USA to receive special recognition for Code
Adam as a program which is helping children and families
succeed.
Other retailers are joining the effort to curb child
abductions by requesting information on the safety
measure. In Nebraska, Governor Ben Nelson declared a
"Code Adam Week" and urged all of the state's retailers
to adopt the procedure.
How The Code Adam Program Got Started
Every year, hundreds of children are abducted by
strangers. Tragically, many of these children are never
returned to their families. When Bill Burns, the Loss
Prevention Supervisor for Wal-Mart District 186, read a
newspaper article about an attempted abduction at a
shopping mall in Indianapolis last year, he decided to do
something about it.
Bill's idea was a special store code to be used in the
event of an abduction or attempted abduction. Dawn Lane,
the Safety Team Leader of Wal-Mart Store No. 1655 in
Crawfordsville, Ind., came up with the idea of naming it
"Code Adam" in memory of young Adam Walsh, who was
tragically abducted from a shopping mall in Florida, then
killed.
Another section of the page outlines a "success" story:
SEVEN-YEAR-OLD MISSISSIPPI GIRL SAFE AT HOME
THANKS TO QUICK RESPONSE BY WAL-MART, LOCAL
POLICE
Arlington, Virginia - Although no one could have
anticipated a child abduction in a retail store in rural
Mississippi on Saturday night, there was perhaps no store
better prepared for such a case than the Wal-Mart in
Pascagoula. At approximately, 11:00 p.m., September 23rd,
a local 7-year-old disappeared while shopping with her
parents, and the store's Code Adam policy kicked in to
quickly search for her. By 6:00 the following morning,
thanks to outstanding work by the Pascagoula Police
Department, the child was recovered safely a state away.
In March 1994, more than 2,000 Wal-Marts nationwide
instituted a new security policy named in tribute to
abducted and murdered child, Adam Walsh. Implemented
after an attempted abduction of another 3-year-old girl
from a Wal-Mart store in Crawfordsville, Ind., the safety
procedure calls for immediate action from Wal-Mart
associates. Code Adam is immediately announced over the
public address system, store personnel stop normal job
responsibilities to look for the lost child and move to
monitor all store exits to ensure that the child does not
leave the store.
Although Wal-Mart personnel followed Code Adam on
Saturday evening, with staff fanning out into the parking
lot searching for the child, the abductor had already
left the premises with the girl. Into the early hours of
the morning, Sunday, Wal-Mart staff continued to assist
local police by calling in their store photographer to
participate in the preparation of missing child posters.
In a separate new program kicked off in August, Wal-Mart
stores also post images of missing children throughout
their retail chain nationwide.
While I'm not doubting the sincerity of Wal-Mart or other stores implementing this program, it's still notable that in both of the cases outlined, the abductor had already left the store with the child *before* the code was implemented. (There is a letter on the page from a grateful mother whose daughter was found by a "Code Adam", but no indication in that case that any abduction was involved.)
I also find it interesting to note the difference between two statistics given on the page:
"The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) reports that 114,600 child abductions occur in the United States each year." is followed in another section by "According to the U.S. Department of Justice, up to 4,600 children are victims of non-family abduction annually."
Jackie "decoded" Laderoute
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