AMBER Alert Portal: Frequently Asked Questions
Immediately call 911 and file a missing persons report. Be prepared to provide the police with
- A detailed description
- A recent photo of the child
- A description of the clothing worn by the child at the time of abduction
- A description of the abductor
- A description of the vehicle used in the abduction, and the direction of flight
Back to Top
Crimes against children, particularly cases involving non-family abductions, continue to be an area of concern for law enforcement authorities.? Information gleaned from national studies conducted on this topic has revealed that children abducted with the intent to commit homicide are killed within the first hours to one day of the abduction.? Time is critical in saving the lives of abducted children.? The creation of the Amber Alert Plan is an effort to enhance law enforcement?s ability to respond to these incidents in the hope of preventing the victimization of children anddeter offenders from committing these types of crimes.
Back to Top
Be observant! You become the additional eyes and ears for law enforcement to see or hear anything that may provide information to law enforcement in the rescuing or the child and apprehending the perpetrator.
- Take no action yourself.
- Call 911 immediately.
- Provide law enforcement with as much information as you possible can.
- Expedience is paramount and time is of the essence in recovering the child and preventing further harm.
Back to Top
The general public is asked, when an AMBER Alert is issued, to be alert to traffic and, if the vehicle, abductor and/or child are seen, to contact the local law enforcement agency immediately with the sighting information.
- This would be a time to use the 911 emergency number
Back to Top
What are the Activation Criteria?
Each program, whether local, state, or regional, establishes its own AMBER Plan criteria; however, the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children suggests three criteria that should be met before an Alert is activated.
- Law enforcement confirms a child has been abducted.
- Law enforcement believes the circumstances surrounding the abduction indicate that the child is in danger of serious bodily harm or death.
- There is enough descriptive information about the child, abductor, and/or suspects vehicle to believe an immediate broadcast alert will help.
Age criteria vary from plan to plan. Most plans currently in effect consider activation for a child under the age of eighteen. For the specifics on the criteria for your area Click Here.
All plans are limited to abducted children, and, therefore, exclude children believed to be parental abductions, runaways or thrown away children from home.
Back to Top
Once law enforcement has been notified about an abducted child, they must first determine if the case meets the AMBER Plan's criteria for activating an Amber Alert in that particular jurisdiction.
Each program, whether local, state, or regional, establishes its own AMBER Plan criteria. There are primary points to each criteria that should be met before an Alert is activated.
If the criteria are met, alert information will be put together for public broadcast through the Emergency Alert System to all radio and television stations. Some areas are also set up to give notice through highway signs, all forms of electronic media, e-mail, lottery commissions, and private sector partners.
After the information is broadcast, it is hoped that the child will be rescued or recovered quickly and unharmed.
Back to Top
Law Enforcement will:
- Gather information about the abduction as fast as they can
- Analyze the information to determine if basic Amber Alert criteria are met:
- The investigating agency will request an Amber Alert Activation through the established criteria for their area.
Back to Top
The media has at its disposal the ability to notify large numbers of citizens of an abduction in an extremely short period of time. Their role is to get the word out as quickly as possible to augment the search process by law enforcement.
Back to Top
No, but the success of the program depends greatly on the maximum number of people hearing the message and being on the lookout for the abductor. If a child in your community were abducted, you would certainly want the benefit of the Amber Alert Program. For that reason nearly all stations are supporting the Amber Plan as are the national organizations associated with broadcasters.
Back to Top
This varies according the guidelines of the different plans throughout the country. Most generally, they are made every 15 to 30 minutes over a two to five hour block of time. Of course, this depends on the area of the Alert and what the case dictates. Each incident is always unique unto itself and no two abductions are the same. Dynamics of the case change quite rapidly and do not always follow a specific pattern. Law enforcement will make the requests for broadcasts accordingly.
Back to Top
|
|
