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.

[cbs-audio url="http://www.podtrac.com/pts/redirect.mp3/nyc.podcast.play.it/media/d0/d0/d1/d1/dV/dD/dD/11VDD_4.MP3" size="" download="" name="Bay Area Child Safety Advocate Backs Wristwatch That Alerts Parents When Children In Danger" artist="Chris Filippi"]

“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 This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)

STUDIO CITY (CBSLA.com) — Keep your kids safe with the help of KlaasKids!

Mark Klaas, father of Polly Klaas, visited the KCAL9 studios Friday to here to discuss how parents can receive DNA kits and photographs of their children, free of cost, at this year’s KlassKids Foundation’s “Print-A-Thon”!

The KlaasKids Foundation was created following the 1993 kidnap and murder of 12-year-old Polly Klaas.

Since 1994, the KlaasKids Foundation has visited more than 40 states and we have fingerprinted and photographed more than one million children.

Print-A-Thon
When: Saturday, Nov. 10th
Time: 10 am – 4 pm.
Where: First Team Real Estate
4 Corporate Plaza Suite 100
Newport Beach, California
(714) 751-2181

For more information, visit KlaasKids online.

Parents in the Morgan Hill Unified School District will now be notified twice a day if their son or daughter is absent from school.

The district will add a morning phone call if their child doesn’t attend class, as well as in the evening as is currently done. In addition, the district hopes to give parents the option of being notified by text message or email when their kid is absent.

Mark Klaas, founder of the Klaas Kids Foundation said that these changes are necessary in the wake of LaMar’s apparent kidnapping.

KCBS’ Matt Bigler Reports:[audio_link url="http://www.podtrac.com/pts/redirect.mp3/nyc.podcast.play.it/media/d0/d0/d1/d0/dC/dS/d0/10CS0_4.MP3" name="Sierra LaMar Disappearance Causes Updates In School Absence System" artist="Matt Bigler"]

”Had Marlene and Steve known hours earlier that their daughter had not shown up for school, which was totally out of character, they would have taken action much sooner than they did, and precious time would have been saved,” said Klaas.

Meanwhile, at least one other district – The Los Gatos Saratoga High School District, has changed its policy to include lunchtime notifications.

Parent notification systems were originally designed to curb truancy, not to check on the child’s safety.

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

Senate Bill 15-14, authored by Senator Joel Anderson, was the main legislation before a Senate Public Safety Committee. It would have eliminated the “automatic” appeal of every death penalty case.

”Combined, California death row inmates have been waiting for over 10,472 years for execution,” said Anderson.

The most vocal supporter of a streamlined process was Marc Klaas, whose daughter Polly was murdered in 1993.

Dan Felizatto of the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s office, who opposed the measure, said that there is a reason for the delay.

”The defendants do not have attorneys appointed for them,” said Felizatto. “This bill does nothing to resolve that problem.”

KCBS’ Dave Padilla Reports:[audio_link url="http://www.podtrac.com/pts/redirect.mp3/nyc.podcast.play.it/media/d0/d0/d1/d0/dB/dD/d2/10BD2_4.MP3" name="Sacramento Rejects Plan To Streamline California Death Penalty" artist="Dave Padilla"]

That prompted Marc Klaas, whose 12-year-old daughter was sexually assaulted and murdered by Richard Allen Davis in 1993, to lash out.

”We have 170,000 practicing lawyers in California, and only 100 of them are qualified to hear death penalty appeals?” said Klaas.

Klaas angrily yelled at committee members, saying “You people don’t care about my daughter.”

Davis has been on a death row longer than Polly Klaas was alive.

The committee rejected both measures.

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

SACRAMENTO (CBS13) – Child advocate Marc Klaas lashed out at lawmakers Tuesday at the Capitol, where two bills aimed at streamlining the death penalty process were rejected.

“How much does it cost to let this go on year after year?” he demanded of lawmakers. “How much does it cost to house Richard Allen Davis on death row?”

“I guess you can call it testimony,” he later told CBS13. “I said what I came to say, certainly.”

But Klaas’ microphone was turned off in the middle of his tirade.

“I suppose some of the words I used may have offended certain members of the committee,” he said.

He stormed out, angered after the Public Safety Committee killed two bills that would speed up the death penalty process.

“They’re the worst people on earth, committed the worst crimes, but they have an entre Legislature here in Sacramento hell bent on protecting them,” he said.

Klaas is still waiting for justice for his 12-year-old daughter, Polly, who was kidnapped and killed in the early 1990s. Her killer, Davis, waits on his second appeal.

“His definition of safe sex was to kidnap, rape and kill my child,” Klaas testified. “He’s been on death row longer than she’s been alive. He fantasizes about her. He’s admitted that on a regular basis.”

Klaas’ reasons for his plea are clear. As for the chairman’s reasons for turning off his microphone?

“The chairman handled it perfectly,” said Tony Beard, chief sergeant at arms. “Mr. Klaas handled it, he was letting his feelings be known.”

Beard said an officer stepped toward Klaas as a matter of protocol, but instead of escorting him out, Klaas left on his own.

“It’s not unusual,” Beard said. “We’re prepared for their feelings to be expressed. Sometimes it’s appropriate and sometimes it gets loud, and that does change the decorum of the room.”

Even an hour after the incident, Klaas’ rage was evident.

“Today’s probably the most frustrating moment I’ve ever had in the California state Legislature,” he said.

But he vowed to keep fighting.

Smith initially hesitated to lend his celebrity to the case, said Mark Klaas, preferring instead to be just another volunteer in the searches coordinated by the Klaas Kids Foundation for Children.

“He was reluctant to let his name be used in that way,” said Klaas, who finally prevailed upon Smith’s wife to get the football player to change his mind.

KCBS’ Matt Bigler Reports:
[audio_link url="http://www.podtrac.com/pts/redirect.mp3/nyc.podcast.play.it/media/d0/d0/d1/d0/d8/dQ/d1/108Q1_4.MP3" name="49ers Quarterback Alex Smith Joins Search For Missing Morgan Hill Girl" artist="Matt Bigler"]

“People pay attention to what celebrities say and what celebrities do. We’re hoping this will encourage other people to come out to search. We don’t want people to come out and gawk,” Klaas said.

Since LaMar disappeared on March 16, the Santa Clara County Sheriff’s Office has classified the case as an abduction likely carried out by an acquaintance.

Search and rescue crews scouring the hills of San Martin and Gilroy with cadaver dogs Thursday found no new evidence about Sierra’s whereabouts.

“They did hit a lot of terrain. They did hit a lot of open areas. Unfortunately nothing was located,” said Sgt. Jose Cardoza.

Cardoza said detectives have been checking out dozens of tips that come in every day.

The next searches based at Burnett Elementary School have been scheduled for Saturday April 7 and Wednesday April 11.

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