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The Amber Plan, a feature of the Emergency Alert System (EAS),
aids in the rescue of kidnapped children.
Background
The AMBER Plan is named for a 9-year-old girl kidnapped
and later found dead. In response to that tragedy, radio stations agreed to
repeat news bulletins about abducted children, hoping that the bulletins might
help save the life of a child.
The name now stands for America's Missing:
Broadcast Emergency Response.
It Works Like This:
Once law enforcement officials confirm a missing child
report, an Amber Alert is sent to radio stations, television stations, and
cable companies, and can be text messaged without charges to some wireless
telephone subscribers. Broadcasters interrupt programming to relay the
information using the EAS to voluntarily deliver the information to the
community - the same concept that is used during severe weather or national
emergencies. A description of the abducted child, suspected abductor, and
details of the abduction are broadcast to millions of listeners and viewers.
(The Alert is read after a distinctive sound tone and the announcement:
"This is an AMBER Alert.") The Alert also provides information about
how members of the public who have information relating to the abduction may
contact the police or other appropriate law enforcement agency.
The goal of AMBER Alerts is to galvanize an entire
community, adding millions of extra eyes and ears to watch, listen, and help
in the safe return of the child and apprehension of the suspect.
Law enforcement officials will activate an AMBER Alert
if:
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They believe an abduction has occurred and the child
is in imminent danger of serious bodily injury or death.
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They have enough descriptive information about the
victim and the abduction for an AMBER Alert to assist in the recovery of
the child.
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The abduction is of a child age 17 years or younger.
What You Can Do:
Under a program operated by the National Center for
Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC), subscribers of participating wireless
service providers can receive AMBER Alerts as text messages on their wireless
devices without being charged. Check with your wireless service provider to
determine whether it participates in this program. To register to receive
Alerts and designate the geographic area (up to five zip codes) for which you
wish to receive them, go to www.wirelessamberalerts.org.
You can use this same address to stop receiving Alerts if you no longer wish
to participate. If you change your wireless service provider, you must
re-register.
In any case, if you see a child, adult, or vehicle
fitting an AMBER Alert description, immediately call the telephone number
given in the AMBER Alert and provide authorities with as much information as
possible.
Remember:
AMBER Alerts are only used for the most serious child
abduction cases, when authorities believe a child is in imminent danger of
serious bodily injury or death, not for runaways or many parental abductions.
For additional information on the AMBER Plan, visit the
NCMEC Web site at www.missingkids.com.
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Federal Communications Commission
