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About the AMBER Plan
What is the AMBER Plan?
The AMBER Plan is a voluntary partnership between law-enforcement agencies
and broadcasters to activate an urgent bulletin in the most serious child-abduction
cases.
Broadcasters use the Emergency Alert System (EAS), formerly called the
Emergency Broadcast System, to air a description of the abducted child
and suspected abductor.
This is the same concept used during severe weather emergencies. The
goal of the AMBER Alert is to instantly galvanize the entire community
to assist in the search for and safe return of the child.
Why Was the AMBER Plan Created?
The AMBER Plan was created in 1997 as a powerful legacy
to 9-year-old Amber Hagerman, a bright little girl 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 that they could help prevent such
incidents in the future.
In response to the community’s concern for the safety of local children,
the Dallas/Fort Worth Association of Radio Managers teamed up with local
law-enforcement agencies in northern Texas and developed this innovative
early warning system to help find abducted children. Statistics
show that, when abducted, a child’s greatest enemy is time.
How Does the AMBER Plan Work?
Once law enforcement has been notified about an abducted child, they
must first determine if the case meets the AMBER Plan’s criteria for triggering
an
alert.
Recognizing the importance of local determination of AMBER Alert criteria,
while acknowledging the importance of consistency across the country to
help ensure a smooth AMBER Alert system, the U.S. Department of Justice
recommends the criteria listed below for AMBER Alert programs nationwide.
- There is reasonable belief by law enforcement that an abduction has
occurred
- The abduction is of a child age 17 years or younger
- The law-enforcement agency believes that the child is in imminent
danger of serious bodily injury or death
- There is enough descriptive information about the victim and the 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)
If these criteria are met, alert information must be put together for
public
distribution. This information can include descriptions and pictures of
the missing child, the suspected abductor, a suspected vehicle, and 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 Emergency Alert System (EAS).
The primary stations send the same information to area radio and television
stations and cable systems via the EAS, and it is immediately broadcast
by
participating stations 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.
Some states are also incorporating electronic highway billboards in their
Plans. The billboards, typically used to disseminate traffic information
to drivers, now alert the public of abducted children, displaying pertinent
information about the child, abductor or suspected vehicle that drivers
might look for on highways.
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