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'America's Most Wanted' Host Calls for New State Laws During Westfield Speech

Walsh educates audience on Adam Walsh Act compliance and DNA upon arrest laws.

The host of “America’s Most Wanted” used his speech in Westfield Sunday night to press for new criminal justice laws in New Jersey, along with educating the audience about child safety.

John Walsh, who was propelled from his life as a South Florida hotel builder to be a safety advocate following the 1981 abduction and murder of his son, Adam, told the audience that New Jersey needs to be in compliance with the federal Adam Walsh Act’s sex offender registry guidelines, along with implementing DNA collection upon arrest in the state.

“New Jersey has not deemed it important enough to pass the legislation,” Walsh said to the audience at the , which included Assemblyman Jon Bramnick (R-Westfield), the ranking minority member of the Assembly Law and Public Safety Committee. “What the hell is New Jersey waiting for? Saddle up guys.”

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The Adam Walsh Act, signed into law by President George. W. Bush in 2006, creates a national sex offender registry, including a three-tier system for ranking sex offenders. The law requires tier three offenders, the highest level, required to update their location with law enforcement every three months for life. Tier two offenders are required to update their location every six months during a 25 year registration period and tier one offenders need to update their registration every year for a 15 year registration period.

State level legislation is needed to implement the federal law. According to the National Conference of State Legislatures, seven states – Delaware, Florida, Michigan, Nevada, Ohio, South Dakota and Wyoming – along with Guam and three Native American tribes are in compliance with the federal law as of May 12.

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In the case of DNA upon arrest, Walsh said the law would require states to do a DNA swab when an arrest is made and then enter the material in a national database for law enforcement. He said roughly half the states have implemented the law, with New Jersey being one not to. Walsh indicated that concerns over funding and civil liberties.

“We put a man on the moon. We have a space station. We don’t have a national DNA database,” Walsh said. “States like New Jersey don’t have DNA on arrest. California implemented it and they were broke. Arnold Schwarzenegger was the governor and he said they’d do it. He said I don’t care what the expense is.”

Walsh said the concerns over funding for both items can be negated due to the impact on law enforcement, along with federal funds being available for the implementation of both laws on the state level. He noted that since DNA upon arrest has been implemented 150 innocent people were freed from jail and 3,000 cold cases were solved.

During a reception prior to the speech, Walsh had the chance to lobby Senate Minority Leader Tom Kean Jr. (R – Westfield) and Bramnick the two issues. Both legislators expressed concern to Walsh over the lack of both laws in New Jersey. During the conversation, Union County Prosecutor Theodore Romankow noted how the two laws could help him from a law enforcement perspective.

In an interview following Walsh’s speech, Bramnick said he is aware of a bill to create a DNA upon arrest law in New Jersey and said he is in support of it. He said he needed to do more research into the Adam Walsh Act and if there was legislative action in New Jersey on the subject.

During his conversation with Bramnick and Kean and in his speech, Walsh expressed frustration with the federalism system of state implementation of federal laws. During his conversation with the state legislators, Walsh blamed New York Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver (D-Manhattan) for blocking a vote in his chamber on the DNA bill after the state Senate passed the bill.

“This is a country of 50 little countries and it’s tough to get anything done,” Walsh said the audience. “I’ve had more success on the federal level. The states are a hodge podge.

The audience, which spanned multiple towns around the region, seemed most interested in Walsh’s comments on child safety, including Internet safety.

“It was awesome,” said Beth Dombroski of Westfield. “It was right on target with our kids and texting.”

Walsh told the audience, made up of both parents and children, to be careful online. He said this includes teens not providing personal information to strangers and friending their parents on Facebook so parents can know what their children are doing on the social networking site.

Walsh stressed the importance of kids texting safely and not engaging in sexting. He said that he also wants to see texting while driving bans implemented in all states. Walsh talked about the work of the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, which he and his wife, Reve, founded on the issue of child sex crimes. He told the children in the audience to not be afraid to say something if they see something online.

“If you see sexting and it disturbs you, you have to tell your parents,” Walsh said. “Sexting is a huge problem, it is stupid.”

Walsh said the NCMEC has been working to identify child molesters and child porn rings, with a team in the center dedicated solely to the issue. Walsh was propelled to advocacy after his son was kidnapped from a Florida Sears in 1981 and found decapitated 16 days later. Walsh and his wife created NCMEC and he has traveled the country working with law enforcement on child safety issues, in addition to hosting the nationally televised crime show for over two decades. Walsh noted the the center has created a bullying prevention curriculum for all grade levels and said he would like to see all school districts implement the curriculum.

Walsh’s remarks hit home with Westfield Councilwoman Joann Neylan, who earlier in her career prosecuted crimes against children in Brooklyn.

“I thought that John Walsh was extremely passionate,” she said. “People like John Walsh and this organization are doing God’s work. I was honored to be here. Being someone who dealt with child crime, it is horrendous.”

The event, which was organized by Westfield residents Paul Hewett and Drew Ertman, was a fundraiser for the NCMEC. The event raised over $50,000 for the center, with Hewett saying a final total not being available pending an auction and sales of “America’s Most Wanted” clothing at the event.

Walsh stressed the need for donations to the center, which receives half it’s budget from the federal government and praised Hewett and Ertman for hosting the event.

“I think it’s incredible you had this event,” he said. “You set the gold standard for New Jersey.”


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