America's missing: Broadcast emergency response - Marking 20 years of the AMBER alert system

On January 13, 1996, 9 year-old Amber Hagerman of Texas was abducted and subsequently assaulted and murdered. Although this heinous crime remains unsolved 20 years later, it resulted in the creation of the highly-successful... [ view full abstract ]

On January 13, 1996, 9 year-old Amber Hagerman of Texas was abducted and subsequently assaulted and murdered. Although this heinous crime remains unsolved 20 years later, it resulted in the creation of the highly-successful AMBER Alert System. Since its inception, the system has aided in the rescue and safe return of nearly 800 children.

Managed by the United States Department of Justice’s (DOJ’s) Office of Justice Programs, the AMBER (America’s Missing: Broadcast Emergency Response) Alert System began in Dallas-Fort Worth, Texas, USA. Broadcasters there collaborated with local police to develop an early warning system that would help find abducted children. The system is now utilized in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, Indian country, Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, and 22 foreign countries. In addition to radio and TV, its messages are delivered via Department of Transportation signs, cell phone notifications, digital billboards, Internet service providers, text alerts, and web and social media posts.

In its role as secondary distributor of AMBER Alerts, the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children has developed innovative public-private partnerships with organizations such as Google, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Bing and Uber. Facebook users now receive geo-targeted alerts, which help expand child protection resources into new and critical areas via social media.

The AMBER Alert Training and Technical Assistance Program provides technical assistance training and services to Federal, state, local and tribal law enforcement agencies and other key AMBER Alert stakeholders. Its goal is to increase collaboration, improve skills, and develop and implement effective policies and evidence-based practices to protect and safely recover missing, endangered, and abducted children. The Child Abduction Response Team training is a multi-disciplinary approach to responding to a missing or abducted child incident. A recently-released tribal database offers important child protection and human trafficking prevention resources to tribal communities.