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Bay Area Child Safety Advocate Backs Wristwatch That Alerts Parents When Children In Danger

SAN FRANCISCO (KCBS) - A wristwatch that sends alerts when its wearer is in danger, still months away from hitting stores, has already garnered a high-profile endorsement from child safety advocate Mark Klaas.

The Leo Wristwatch features GPS technology as well as a band that contains woven titanium steel that, if tampered with, sends an emergency notification to authorities and to parents.

Bay Area Child Safety Advocate Backs Wristwatch That Alerts Parents When Children In Danger

"This is the kind of product that would have saved my daughter's life had it been available in 1993," Klaas said Thursday at a news conference in Los Angeles.

The Petaluma resident founded the KlaasKids Foundation in the years after his 12-year-old daughter was kidnapped and later murdered.

Besides preventing kidnappings, Klaas said such a device could be useful during a school crisis such as the one in Newtown, Connecticut, even as he acknowledged its limitations.

"If we could have gotten first responders there even sooner, might it have made a difference in the lives of children? We don't know, but we do know that the sooner the response occurs, the safer children are going to be," said Klaas, adding that he is not being paid for his support of product.

Inventor Jason Sullivan said he expects the Leo Wristwatch to be available for sale in spring of 2013.

(Copyright 2012 by CBS San Francisco. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)

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