To start off, does the program actually help locate abducted children?
In short, yes. Here are two examples of the many from 2019.
On February 14, 2019 an AMBER Alert was issued by Peel Police for an eleven-year-old girl. A man driving home from work heard the AMBER Alert come across his radio and he was attentive to the details. Shortly after hearing the Alert, he spotted a vehicle with a matching description travelling along Highway 11 northbound just past Barrie. He then quickly called the police. The police arrested the suspect 130 kilometres away from his last seen location. Sadly, the girl was found deceased at the suspect’s home.
On April 25, 2019 an AMBER Alert was issued by Peel Police for a five-year-old boy who was allegedly abducted from the Mississauga area. Less than two hours after the AMBER Alert was issued, he was spotted by an employee in a KFC in Tilbury, a location almost 300 kilometres away. The employee then contacted police and the boy was found safe and uninjured.
Year in Review
There were a total of eight AMBER Alerts activated in 2019. That included 12 abducted children within the province in 2019. Of those 12 children, 11 of them were located safely and six out of the eight suspects were arrested. None of the AMBER Alerts in 2019 were requested by the Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) – all were municipal or regional police service investigations. All of the 2019 activated AMBER Alerts were familial. Only when a parental abduction meets all the guidelines of an AMBER Alert, can it then be requested by the investigating agency.
Why ‘AMBER’ Alert?
The AMBER Alert is a warning system that was developed following the kidnapping and murder of nine-year-old Amber Hagerman in 1996 in Texas. There are many countries around the world that use the AMBER Alert program or a similar child abduction emergency alert system. In Canada, AMBER Alert programs are provincially operated, always alerting the entire province. While most provinces have AMBER Alert committees, only law enforcement can actually issue an AMBER Alert.
Do I have to receive loud tones and messages to my phone?
Yes, you do. And no, you cannot opt out of them. Given the importance of warning Canadians of imminent threats to the safety of life and property, the CRTC requires that all FM radio, AM radio, over-the-air television stations, subscription-based broadcasting service providers and wireless service providers participate in the National Public Alerting System (NPAS). Therefore, it is not possible to opt out of receiving AMBER Alerts. In developing an alert program, government officials agreed on a specific list of the types of alerts that are considered a threat to life. This list, which includes AMBER Alerts, also includes various emergency situations. In Ontario, emergency alerts that are not AMBER Alerts are issued by the Provincial Emergency Operations Centre (PEOC) and AMBER Alerts are issued by the OPP.
But I live way too far away to assist.
Time is critical in saving the lives of abducted children, and with time comes a growing geography of concern. The AMBER Alert on April 25, 2019 concluded at a distance of over 290 kilometres and the AMBER Alert on May 14, 2019 concluded at a distance of over 400 kilometres within a few short hours.
Once a child is abducted, there is no way to determine the exact location the abductor is headed. As the abductor could travel quickly, it is important to alert the entire province. The abductor or vehicle information may be known to people in other areas of the province and issuing the Alert province wide may result in more information to assist with the investigation.
Are there any new updates to help advance the program?
The OPP in collaboration with the Ontario AMBER Alert Steering Committee has reviewed and enhanced the AMBER Alert activation process in order to decrease the amount of time of activation. This includes a review of our operating checklist and the creation of a new AMBER Alert website (soon to be launched). In order to improve response times and reduce redundancy in the activation and cancelation processes, the OPP is pursuing a Trusted Feed technology upgrade to automatically feed the information to the Alert Ready System instead of the current manual user interface input. This process is also more secure than the existing process.
‘Your child has been abducted. Those are words no parent ever wants to hear. You may be sick to your stomach and feel helpless. I know as a parent, you want every possible set of eyes on the lookout in hopes for a safe return of your child. That is the purpose of the AMBER Alert Program.’ –OPP Inspector Angie McCollum.
AMBER Alerts can also be viewed on the AMBER Alert Social Media Accounts, as well as Ministry of Transportation highway message boards and Ontario Lottery and Gaming terminals.
Twitter -@AMBERAlertONT
Facebook -@AMBERalertON
In Ontario, the OPP only issues AMBER Alerts. All other emergency alerts (e.g., tornados, hazardous substances, civil emergencies, etc.) are issued by the Provincial Emergency Operations Centre (PEOC).
