Gov. Quinn Visits Elmhurst to Sign Bill That Will 'Help Save Lives'

Gov. Pat Quinn and a host of other Illinois lawmakers were in Elmhurst this morning for the signing of House Bill 1610.

The bill provides a new legal use of 911 technology to quickly locate cognitively impaired people who might wander away from home, like children with autism and adults with dementia or Alzheimer’s.

The new law was named after James O’Brien, a child with autism who lives in Elmhurst.

In June of 2007, at the age of 7, he disappeared from his Elmhurst home. Police, firefighters, neighbors and shopkeepers searched for the boy for more than two hours before he was found.

“Just as the blood hounds started their trek from our house, a Jewel employee spotted James in the DVD aisle with a bag of cheese puffs,” said Nancy O’Brien, James’s mother. “Thank God for the neighborhood, neighbors and mayor, who listened when I said to him afterwards that we need to find a GPS system to help us find our kids.”

Elmhurst Mayor Pete DiCianni, who also has a child with autism, said Elmhurst Police Chief Steve Neubauer researched a variety of technological ways to find people who are missing, and settled on a special wristband.

“We researched a cell company that has actually put a chip in a wristband, and upon activation it will call 911 every 30 to 60 seconds,” DiCianni said.

In order for police to activate the signal to track the person wearing the wristband, a missing person report must be filed.

“That’s the safeguard so that it doesn’t become out of hand and onerous for public safety personnel,” said state Rep. Karen May (D-58th, Highland Park), chief sponsor of the bill in the House.

“We actually had laws that prevented this,” said May, who also is chairman of the House Telecommunications Committee. “I was so pleased when Mayor DiCianni brought it up to me over a year ago.”

The device costs about $160, and the monthly service is about $20 to $25 a month, DiCianni said. He is working on a public-private partnership to make the device available to all who need it in Elmhurst.

“We are looking at public-private partnerships where the city may match a certain dollar amount that (would be provided by) the private side,” he said.

DiCianni is chairman of Elmhurst Children’s Assistance Foundation, which provides funds for families of people with challenges.

“We’ve been raising money since the early ‘90s. This is something we’re looking to fund through organizations like ECAF, along with a public match, ideally from the city of Elmhurst,” he said.

There is a model to follow in Elmhurst, May said.

“Mayor, I hope you share your experience of the public-private partnership with the rest of the municipalities throughout the state,” she said.

Quinn thanked everyone for their commitment in getting the bill passed.

“The No. 1 cause of death for children with autism is drowning,” he said. “It’s important that we are able to locate everyone, every time. This is life-saving legislation.”

Elmhurst was the first stop of Quinn's tour of DuPage County Wednesday. He then visited Naperville to sign legislation requiring child care providers to have training in Sudden Infant Death Syndrome.

He followed that with a visit to Wheaton to sign legislation to increase the ability of counties to examine the activities of local government agencies under their control. Senate Bill 541 was pushed by DuPage County Board Chairman Dan Cronin of Elmhurst in the wake of a scandal at the DuPage County Water Commission, which had mismanaged its books to the tune of $70 million in "lost" cash reserves.