[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 67 (Friday, May 22, 1998)]
[Senate]
[Page S5473]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                       A TRIBUTE TO ROBERT BOWEN
              WINNER OF 1998 VITA WIRELESS SAMARITAN AWARD

 Mr. SMITH of New Hampshire. Mr. President, I rise today to 
congratulate Robert Bowen for receiving the 1998 VITA Wireless 
Samaritan Award. The award is given by the Cellular Telecommunications 
Industry to recognize the contributions of individuals who used their 
cellular phone to heroically help their communities. Robert is a clear 
example of how matching emergency situations with technology can impact 
people's lives.
  Robert Bowen is a police officer who is the head of the Keene Crime 
Watch Bike Patrol. Robert was on patrol one day when the local police 
received a frantic call reporting a missing child. The police, in turn, 
alerted Robert on his wireless phone. An eight-year-old, who had run 
away from home, was nowhere to be found and was in need of his daily 
medication. Robert headed out on the wooded trails to an area he knew 
was a popular congregation spot for area children. He quickly spotted 
the boy and doubled back to alert the boy's father. The father and son 
were reunited, and Robert called the police department on his wireless 
phone to let them know they could call off their search.
  The Keene Crime Watch Bike Patrol, armed with wireless phones, has 
found lost children, stopped crimes and brush fires and assisted in 
similar emergency situations for the past two years. I congratulate 
Robert for his courage and for demonstrating how police forces are 
utilizing modern technology to protect their communities. I am very 
honored to have Robert Bowen as a police officer in the Granite State, 
and it is with great pride that I represent him in the U.S. 
Senate.

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