Saturday, September 4, 2010

Two fathers are riding their bikes across the country to bring attention to crimes against children. Ahmad Rivazfar and Ed Smart both have a very personal connection with the subject.

Smart and Rivazfar are trying to raise awareness and money advocating for laws to protect children. Their mission is to enact legislation that will help in the prevention of child crimes.

"The one thing we all have in common is the commitment to our children," Ed Smart said shortly after he pulled up to Campbell Plaza in Salina. "Having gone through the nightmare that we have, our endeavor is to stop predatory crimes and to see that other families don't have to go through what we've been through."

The two men stopped in Salina Saturday in their quest for protecting and recovering children from abuse and abduction.

"They may be 30% of our population, but they are 100% of our future," Rivazfar said. "It's time for all of us, not just a couple of old guys, to stand up and support our kids."

Smart and Rivazfar are riding with the Surviving Parents Coalition, a group which was founded by parents of murdered or abducted children. one of their main goals is to get a law in every state designed to take DNA swabs from every person arrested for a felony crime, instead of waiting until they are convicted.

"Nobody in their sane mind would ask to join this kind of group," said Maggie Zingman. "But when you do join that group, you find all these unbelievable people."

Kansas is among 21 states that have passed legislation allowing authorities to collect DNA samples from people arrested for felonies. The attorney general has been working the last two years to clear a backlog of thousands of DNA samples.

"To really solve crimes, you need a big database of samples," said Steve Six, (D), Kansas Attorney General. "People arrested for felonies, I think, are a fair target to put into the database and it'll help us solve crimes down the road."

From Salina, Ed Smart and Ahmad Rivazfar will head to Colby, Ks, on Sunday. Their cross-country 'Ride For Their Lives' will take them from New York to Los Angeles in 30 days.