Amber Alert – Child Abductions Search & Recovery Program – Girls
Author: Womens UN Report Network
Date: August 27, 2012
WUNRN
Amber Hagerman
On January 13, 1996, 9-year-old Amber Hagerman was riding
her bicycle in
pull Amber off her bike, throw her into the front seat of his pickup truck, and
drive away at a high rate of speed. The neighbor called police and provided a
description of the suspect and his vehicle. Arlington Police and the FBI
interviewed other neighbors and searched for the suspect and vehicle. Local
radio and television stations covered the story in their regular newscasts.
Four days later Amber’s body was found in a drainage ditch four miles away. Her
kidnapping and murder still remain unsolved.
The AMBER Alert Program, named for 9-year-old Amber
Hagerman, is a voluntary partnership between law-enforcement agencies,
broadcasters, and transportation agencies to activate an urgent bulletin in the
most serious child-abduction cases. Broadcasters use the Emergency Alert System
(EAS) to air a description of the abducted child and suspected abductor. The
goal of an AMBER Alert is to instantly galvanize the entire community to assist
in the search for and safe recovery of the child.
Why was the AMBER Alert program created?
The AMBER Alert Program was created in 1996 as a powerful legacy to
9-year-old Amber Hagerman who was kidnapped and brutally murdered while riding
her bicycle in Arlington, Texas.
The tragedy shocked and outraged the entire community. Residents contacted
radio stations in the Dallas area and suggested they broadcast special “alerts”
over the airwaves so they could help prevent such incidents in the future.
The next year local law enforcement and broadcasters created the AMBER Alert
program in Amber Hagerman’s honor. The AMBER Alert program, also known as
America’s Missing: Broadcast Emergency Response Plan, is a program in which
broadcasters and transportation authorities immediately distribute information
about recent child abductions to the public, enabling the entire community to
assist in the search for and safe recovery of the child.
What began as a local effort in Dallas, Texas, has grown into a seamless
system of AMBER Alert programs across the country, each year saving the lives
of abducted children.
Once law enforcement has been notified about an abducted child, they must
first determine if the case meets their AMBER Alert program’s criteria. The
U.S. Department of Justice recommends the following criteria for issuing an
AMBER Alert. Guidance
on Criteria for Issuing AMBER Alerts
- There is reasonable belief by law enforcement an
abduction has occurred
- The abduction is of a child age 17 years or younger
- The law-enforcement agency believes the child is in
imminent danger of serious bodily injury or death
- There is enough descriptive information about the
victim and abduction for law enforcement to issue an AMBER Alert to assist
in the recovery of the child
- The child’s name and other critical data elements,
including the Child Abduction flag, have been entered into the National
Crime Information Center (NCIC) computer
If these criteria are met, alert information is assembled for public
distribution. This information may include descriptions and pictures of the
missing child, the suspected abductor, and a suspected vehicle along with any
other information available and valuable to identifying the child and suspect.
The information is then faxed to radio stations designated as primary
stations under the Federal Communications Commission’s (FCC) Emergency Alert
System (EAS). The primary stations send the same information to area radio and
television stations and cable systems via the EAS, and participating stations
immediately broadcast the information to millions of listeners. Radio stations
interrupt programming to announce the Alert, and television stations and cable
systems run a “crawl” on the screen along with a picture of the child.
Law enforcement also notifies the National Center for Missing &
Exploited Children (NCMEC) when an AMBER Alert is released for a specific
geographical area. Once NCMEC validates the AMBER Alert, it is entered into a
secure system and transmitted to authorized secondary distributors for
dissemination to customers within the geographic areas specified.
Some states are also incorporating electronic highway billboards in their
AMBER Plans. The billboards, typically used to disseminate traffic information
to drivers, now alert the public of abducted children by displaying pertinent
information about the child, abductor, or suspected vehicle that drivers might
look for on highways.
Does the National Center for Missing &
Exploited Children issue AMBER Alerts?
The National Center for Missing & Exploited Children (NCMEC) releases
AMBER Alerts to secondary distributors, once we are notified by law
enforcement that an Alert has been released for a specific geographical area.
Once NCMEC validates the AMBER Alert, it is entered into a secure system and
transmitted to authorized secondary distributors for dissemination to customers
within the geographic areas specified.
Secondary distributors are defined as companies, businesses, or
organizations that have the capability to deliver geographically targeted
messages to their customers; and have a signed Memorandum of Understanding with
NCMEC. Internet service providers (ISPs) are an example of secondary
distributors.
Only law enforcement can initiate and release AMBER Alerts for primary
distribution.
What should I do when an AMBER Alert is issued?
The AMBER Alert message encourages the public to look for the abducted child
or suspect. You become the eyes and ears of local law enforcement.
In the event you spot a child, adult, or vehicle fitting the AMBER Alert
description, immediately call the telephone number given in the AMBER Alert and
provide authorities with as much information as you know.
What are Wireless AMBER Alerts and how do I
sign up?
Wireless AMBER Alerts is an initiative to distribute AMBER Alerts to
wireless subscribers who opt to receive the messages. Cell phone subscribers
capable of receiving text messages — and whose wireless carrier participates in
the Wireless AMBER Alerts Initiative — may elect to receive alerts by registering
at www.wirelessamberalerts.org
or their wireless carrier’s web site. Users may designate up to five zip codes
from which they’d like to be alerted in the case of an AMBER Alert activation.
Categories: Releases
