April 9, 2010
Amber Alerts: Be Prepared For When They Are Not Issued Too!
The Amber Alert system is a wonderful tool for law enforcement, helping to recover hundreds of missing kids every year. However, there is a MAJOR misconception that as soon as a child goes missing, an Amber Alert is issued. In fact, this is NOT the case at all. 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 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 a 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.
A prime example of an Amber Alert not issuing is the current case of a missing 12 year old Colorado girl, Kayleah Wilson. Kayleah went missing from her home in Greeley, Colorado almost 2 weeks ago, and because law enforcement was unable to determine the exact nature of her disappearance, an Amber Alert has not issued
(please see http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-504083_162-20001931-504083.html for more information).
InstantAmber gives parents the opportunity to be as prepared as possible in the event of a missing child emergency. With InstantAmber, your child may be found well before an Amber Alert has to be issued. With InstantAmber, if an Amber Alert is going to be issued, it will be issued more quickly because you have done all of the necessary work proactively. And if an Amber Alert doesn’t issue, you are still armed with an invaluable, powerful tool!
