AMBER Alert Awareness Day 2007

As the New Year begins, we commemorate National AMBER Alert Awareness Day and the life and legacy of Amber Hagerman. In doing so, we reflect upon the enormous strides we have made under the AMBER Alert program, and on the children whose lives have been touched by AMBER Alert.

In the last 11 years, AMBER Alert has helped to recover 311 children. We have expanded our base of partners. We are working with states and communities to strengthen the AMBER network. In addition to enhancing partnerships with law enforcement officers, broadcasters, and transportation officials, we are working with the wireless and trucking industries to broaden the scope of AMBER Alert. The wireless effort has the potential to reach 190 million people through cell phone text messages. That's millions of eyes and ears available to return children safely to their families.

We have expanded our network across borders and into Indian Country. Our AMBER Alert Working Group includes representatives from the Mexican police and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, and we have devoted a great deal of time and attention to improving coordination with Tribes.

I am honored to be part of this shared commitment to protecting children through the joint investment of our time, resources, and energies. That collaboration is the essence of the AMBER Alert program, and I am so proud of our accomplishments. But we still have work to do.

This year, we plan to continue our efforts in Indian Country by helping tribes develop the infrastructure needed to implement effective AMBER Alert programs. We will continue to train law enforcement officers on the proper use of the Child Abduction and AMBER identifiers in the National Crime Information Center database, and we will work with the FBI to develop a "query" system which leads the data entry officer through the process. We also hope to recruit additional partners as secondary distribution groups. And we are exploring the expansion of OJP's successful Cold Case Training series, developed and delivered by OJP's National Institute of Justice and the National Forensic Science Training Center, to include a component on cold cases involving child victims.

As we plan our activities for the New Year, please be sure to mark your calendars for National Missing Children's Day on May 23. As part of our preparations for the National Missing Children's Day event, we are seeking nominations for the Foundation of the Year Award for Service to Missing and Exploited Children; Corporation of the Year Award for Service to Missing and Exploited Children; Missing Children's Non-Profit Organization of the Year Award; AMBER Citizen Award; and the AMBER Alert Coordinator of the Year Award. Please save the date and send us your best!

We have much to be proud of and much still to do. Our nationally coordinated efforts have transformed AMBER Alert from an effective emergency response system into a powerful force in fighting—and preventing—crime. We will build on that momentum in 2007, and come this time next year, we will be able to report that our children are even better protected.

Regina B. Schofield, National AMBER Alert Coordinator
January 2007