Amber Alert on airwaves tracks missing children

Media alerts similar to weather warnings are broadcast in the critical first three hours after kidnapping as part of a US emergency response system

In the past few months, there have been a number of high-profile child abductions in the United States. Some cases - such as that of five-year-old Samantha Runnion in California - have ended tragically but a few have had happier endings, thanks in part to an alert system called Amber which stands for America's Missing: Broadcast Emergency Response.

Three weeks ago, two California teenagers were kidnapped and sexually assaulted but escaped 12 hours later after the police arrived and shot to death their abductor. On that occasion, Amber Alert was used statewide for the first time.

The California plan used the emergency alert system to distribute quickly information about the abductor's stolen white Ford Bronco on radio, television, the internet and electronic traffic signs. At least two motorists recognised the stolen Bronco and one of these callers reported the licence number. Helicopters dispatched to the area spotted the vehicle and alerted the sheriff's deputies who were in pursuit on the ground. The police saved the two girls - aged 16 and 17 - who they said were probably only minutes away from being killed.

Last week, a month-old baby girl was snatched from the family's mini-van in a Wal-Mart parking lot in Abilene, Texas. This case prompted the state's first Amber Alert. The baby was found unharmed 125 miles away when employees in a nursing home heard an alert on television and radio and notified the police that a female employee had shown up with the baby.

The Amber Alert system is used to track missing children by transmitting media bulletins, similar to weather warnings. The system was created in 1996 by Dallas broadcasters after a girl called Amber Hagerman was kidnapped and murdered while riding her bike in Arlington, Texas. Residents contacted radio stations in the Dallas area and suggested they broadcast special alerts over the airwaves so they could help prevent such kidnappings in the future. The Dallas/Fort Worth Association of Radio Managers teamed up with local law enforcement agencies in northern Texas and developed this early warning system to help find abducted children.

In autumn 2001, the National Centre for Missing and Exploited Children initiated the Amber Plan. The goal is to assist cities and towns across America with creating their own emergency alert plan. It is a voluntary partnership between law enforcement agencies and broadcasters to activate an urgent bulletin in the most serious child abduction cases. To date, the Amber Plan has been credited with recovering 22 children across the country.

Media broadcasters use the Emergency Alert System to air a description of the missing child and suspected abductor. Electronic highway signs flash emergency alerts to motorists when a stranger abducts a child. In many states, these boards are currently only used to broadcast traffic alerts such as those regarding snarl-ups, accidents and diversions. However, some also display descriptions of kidnapping suspects' vehicles.

Since the Amber Plan's recent successes in tracking missing children, several states have decided to roll it out, including New York and New Jersey. Thirty-two cities, counties and towns have adopted the plan and 15 states already use the system.

Governor George Pataki of New York said the Amber system was already up and running in some parts of the state and Governor James McGreevey said it would be implemented in New Jersey by the end of September.

"The Amber Alert system is about finding missing children and catching their abductors within the most critical time period - the first three hours after the kidnapping," Governor McGreevey said when he announced that the Office of the Attorney General and the state police had been working on designing a system for New Jersey in association with the broadcast community.

Under his administration's plan, the Amber system would involve television and radio stations transmitting an emergency alert to inform the public that a child has been abducted. The alert would include a description of the missing child and the suspected abductor as well as police contact information. The alert would be broadcast every 15 minutes during the first three hours immediately after the state police issue a "notice of abduction." There is currently no universal standard for issuing an alert but legislation pending in Sacramento, California, would stipulate alert guidelines.

The general rules are that once law enforcement has been notified about an abducted child, it must determine if the case meets the Amber Plan's criteria for triggering an alert. That means confirming that a child aged 18 years or younger has been abducted and that the child is in imminent danger.

There also must be enough information about the child, the abductor and/or the suspect's vehicle to believe an immediate broadcast alert would help.

Next month, two senators plan to propose legislation to create a nationwide Amber Alert network. The bill being proposed by Senator Dianne Feinstein, Democrat of California, and Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison, Republican of Texas, would give those law enforcement agencies using Amber Alert's access to the FBI's database of DNA and biographical information on criminals.