DETROIT — Police in Wisconsin are crediting General Motors’ OnStar system and the AMBER Alert program with the successful rescue of a 17-month-old child taken from his mother’s home. Although this was a stolen vehicle, the child, who was the subject of an AMBER Alert, was recovered in good condition hours after several men were arrested in connection with beating the child’s mother, abducting the child, and stealing the mother’s 2005 Pontiac Grand Prix, which was equipped with the OnStar safety and security system. Police saved precious time by working with an OnStar advisor to locate the stolen vehicle and, later, two suspects. Through questioning, a third suspect who was holding the child was located. OnStar joined with the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children last year in an effort to use OnStar technology and its more than 3 million subscribers to locate missing and abducted children. NCMEC helped develop the AMBER Alert program nationwide, a successful partnership between the nation’s law enforcement agencies and radio and television stations that activates emergency bulletins to the public when a child is abducted and believed to be in danger. An OnStar subscriber who wants to report emergency information related to an AMBER alert or a lost child can press the red OnStar emergency button in his or her vehicle. Immediately, the subscriber will be connected with an OnStar emergency services advisor, who will expedite the call to a 911 dispatcher. Each month, GM’s OnStar receives about 14,000 emergency assistance calls, as well as 4,500 Good Samaritan calls.
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