Receiving an AMBER Alert is something that we have all grown accustomed to in recent years. We receive messages on our mobile phones, or hear television and radio messages describing a potential victim and suspected perpetrator. AMBER alerts have become a valuable tool in deploying emergency management resources in a critical time. However, few of us are aware of the tragic events that led to the advent of the AMBER Alert system.
The Amber Behind the AMBER Alert System
The AMBER Alert system, or America’s Missing: Broadcast Emergency Response, is the namesake of Amber Hagerman. On the night of January 13, 1996, Amber and her brother were riding their bicycles in a parking lot in downtown Arlington, Texas. After being gone for only 8 minutes, Amber was abducted by an unknown individual. Despite a well-deployed emergency management program and widespread coverage in the local media, Amber’s mutilated body was discovered in a creek 4 days later only a few miles from her home. The crime remains unsolved.
From Amber Hagerman to AMBER Alert
From there, the AMBER Alert grew organically. Local residents began wondering aloud that if local news outlets can alert residents of severe weather and other similar events, why not do the same when a child is abducted? Broadcasters in the Dallas-Fort Worth area began partnering with local law enforcement to develop an early warning system for abducted children. Throughout 1996, other jurisdictions around the country began establishing similar emergency management programs to notify the public when a child was abducted.
Spreading Internationally
Despite this early traction, by the end of 2001, only four states had statewide AMBER Alert emergency preparedness plans. In 2002, the White House convened a conference on missing, exploited, and runaway children. It was at this point the AMBER Alert emergency management program came into national focus. On April 30, 2003, President George W. Bush signed the PROTECT Act into law, which provided the emergency preparedness and response tools necessary to create a national AMBER Alert program. With this support, Hawaii became the 50th state to complete its statewide AMBER Alert emergency preparedness plan in February 2005. The AMBER Alert system has spread to countries throughout the world and is specifically responsible for the rescue of over 900 children.
(Read more at https://www.waldenu.edu/online-masters-programs/ms-in-criminal-justice/resource/the-history-of-the-amber-alert#dR4L1B6AcOvSZLIX.99 )
Canada’s system began in December 2002, when Alberta launched the first province-wide system. At the time, Alberta Solicitor-General Heather Forsyth said “We anticipate an Amber Alert will only be issued once a year in Alberta. We hope we never have to use it, but if a child is abducted Amber Alert is another tool police can use to find them and help them bring the child home safely.” The Alberta government committed to spending more than CA$1 million to expanding the province’s emergency warning system so that it could be used effectively for Amber Alerts. Other Canadian provinces soon adopted the system, and by May 2004, Saskatchewan was the only province that had not established an Amber Alert system. Within the next year, the program was in use throughout the country.
Amber Alerts may also be distributed via the Alert Ready emergency alert system, which disrupts programming on all radio, television stations, and television providers in the relevant region to display and play audio of Amber Alert information. In 2018, Alert Ready introduced alerts on supported mobile devices. When an alert is broadcast, a distinct sound is played and a link to find more information is displayed onscreen. Currently, there is no way to deactivate Amber Alerts on mobile devices in Canada, even if the device is in silent and/or Do Not Disturb modes, which has provoked controversy. These series of multiple blaring alarms going off in the middle of the night have caused residents to complain, often by calling 911. However, there are concerns that hearing repeated alarms may cause Canadians to ignore the alarm when the system is used to warn of life-threatening emergencies.
