News 14 Carolina - Political Connections

Interesting news about the state lottery just released. Curious how lottery opponents feel about this.

"RALEIGH -- The N.C. Center for Missing Persons and N.C. Education Lottery have partnered to spread the word when children are abducted or endangered. Beginning next Tuesday, May 1st, emergency notifications will appear on every lottery terminal in the state when an AMBER Alert is issued.
“The first few hours after a child is abducted are the most critical,” said Secretary Bryan Beatty of the N.C. Department of Crime Control and Public Safety. “And the more people you have looking for the abductor and child, the better our chances are of finding them safely. Spreading the word through the lottery terminals is an easy way to reach thousands of people almost instantly.”
The electronic crawl message will first appear on the retail location’s lottery terminal alerting the employee that a child has been abducted. The employee will be able to print out the details to provide to customers so they, too, can be on the lookout for the missing child. In addition, an electronic scrolling AMBER Alert message will appear on the video screen at the terminal that can be seen by every customer.
“We are so pleased our services will aid in expanding the reach to thousands of people when trying to get the word out about a missing child,” said Tom Shaheen, NCEL executive director. “While we always hope the alert won’t be needed, we believe that adding this very large line of communication will only enhance the extremely important process. It also is another way that the NCEL’s services will benefit the citizens of North Carolina.”

North Carolina established the AMBER Alert program in June 2003 under the N.C. Center for Missing Persons, a division of the N.C. Department of Crime Control and Public Safety. The center issues notifications to the public and media when a child 17 years of age or younger has been abducted or is in serious danger. "