Origin of Amber Alerts
Name
Origin of Amber Alerts
December 9, 2010
Research Paper
I’m sure we all can admit that we have changed the channel on the television when those loud Amber Alerts float across the screen, but do we really know exactly what they’re for or how they were created? It may hurt to know what you’ve been ignoring. The creation of Amber Alerts is rather interesting and as well as heartbreaking but first, let’s get an idea of what the Amber Alert is for. The amber alert is a notification system to law enforcement and the media about child abductions. The purpose of Amber alerts is to notify the public when a child has been abducted and is in danger. They use radio, television, freeway message boards and many other methods to inform the public in the search of a child and stopping the perpetrator. Their goals are to obviously recover each abducted child before they meet any type of physical harm. However, Amber Alerts are not appropriate in all cases. Each case has to meet the criteria before deciding if the case is worthy enough. Here are a few guidelines each state has to approve before the alert can be activated. The victim is in imminent danger of death of serious harm, the child is under 18 years of age, there is no evidence of foul play, and enough descriptive information to be able to recognize the child. If there is not enough evidence to send out the message, other investigation tools will be employed, such as tracking dogs, neighborhood watches, evidence collection and a check of the state sex offender registry. The Amber Alert is not intended to report runaways, missing persons, or lost children; resolve custody or visitation disputes or address school truancy problems. Although, the bad thing about taking the time to decide if the case calls for a special news bulletin is the time it takes. Statistics show parents wait an average of two hours before notifying the police their child is missing; however, other statistics show the 74% of children who
Origin of Amber Alerts
December 9, 2010
Research Paper
I’m sure we all can admit that we have changed the channel on the television when those loud Amber Alerts float across the screen, but do we really know exactly what they’re for or how they were created? It may hurt to know what you’ve been ignoring. The creation of Amber Alerts is rather interesting and as well as heartbreaking but first, let’s get an idea of what the Amber Alert is for. The amber alert is a notification system to law enforcement and the media about child abductions. The purpose of Amber alerts is to notify the public when a child has been abducted and is in danger. They use radio, television, freeway message boards and many other methods to inform the public in the search of a child and stopping the perpetrator. Their goals are to obviously recover each abducted child before they meet any type of physical harm. However, Amber Alerts are not appropriate in all cases. Each case has to meet the criteria before deciding if the case is worthy enough. Here are a few guidelines each state has to approve before the alert can be activated. The victim is in imminent danger of death of serious harm, the child is under 18 years of age, there is no evidence of foul play, and enough descriptive information to be able to recognize the child. If there is not enough evidence to send out the message, other investigation tools will be employed, such as tracking dogs, neighborhood watches, evidence collection and a check of the state sex offender registry. The Amber Alert is not intended to report runaways, missing persons, or lost children; resolve custody or visitation disputes or address school truancy problems. Although, the bad thing about taking the time to decide if the case calls for a special news bulletin is the time it takes. Statistics show parents wait an average of two hours before notifying the police their child is missing; however, other statistics show the 74% of children who
Cited: 1.) http://www.amberalertcreator.com/ 2.) http://www.amberalert.gov/ 3.) http://www.ncjrs.gov/html/ojjdp/amberalert/000712/index.html 4.) http://www.midohioamberalert.org/origin_Amber.htm 5.) http://www.barrypopik.com/index.php/texas/entry/amber_alert/ 6.) http://www.missingkids.com/missingkids/servlet/PageServlet?LanguageCountry=en_US&PageId=2810#1 7.) http://www.iowabroadcasters.com/ambrhist.htm