Amber Alert Report

The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children has released their 2007 Amber Alert report with some very interesting statistics on various topics related to the system such as the number of Alerts issued, where they were issued, and the age of the children. Partnering with the Department of Justice on the 43 page report, it contains some fantastic information, including guidelines for an Amber Alert and the actual definition of an Amber Alert.

Once law enforcement has been notified about an abducted child, they must first determine if the case meets their program’s AMBER Alert criteria. The Department of Justice’s recommended guidelines are:

• There is reasonable belief by law enforcement an abduction has occurred
• The abduction is of a child age 17 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) database

When an AMBER Alert is first issued the case is categorized as 1 of the 4 types listed below.

-A Family Abduction (FA) occurs when an individual between birth and 17 years of age is abducted from his or her custodial parent or legal guardian by a noncustodial family member,who is related to the child by blood or marriage.
-A Nonfamily Abduction (NFA) occurs when a child, age 17 or younger, is abducted by someone who is unknown to the child or his or her family, an acquaintance, or someone who is unidentifiable as either.
-Lost, Injured, or Otherwise Missing (LIM) refers to any missing child where there are insufficient facts to determine the cause of a child’s disappearance as well as any child age 10 or younger who is missing on his or her own accord. Absent facts to the contrary, the law-enforcement agency should assume the child is endangered, act accordingly, and follow all the investigative steps of a Nonfamily Abduction case. These children are also referred to as Endangered Missing.
-An Endangered Runaway (ERU) is any missing child between 11 and 17 years of age, who is missing on his or her own accord without permission from his or her parent or legal guardian.

Here is the 2007 Amber Alert Report if you would like to read it in full.