About The AMBER Plan

The AMBER Plan was created in 1996 as a powerful legacy to 9-year-old Amber Hagerman, a bright little girl who was kidnapped and brutally murdered while riding her bicycle in Arlington, Texas. The tragedy shocked and outraged the entire community. Residents contacted radio stations in the Dallas area and suggested they broadcast special "alerts" over the airwaves so they could help prevent such incidents in the future.

In response to the community's concern for the safety of local children, the Dallas/Fort Worth Association of Radio Managers teamed up with local law-enforcement agencies in northern Texas and developed this innovative early warning system to help find abducted children. Statistics show that, when abducted, a child's greatest enemy is time.

About AMBER Alert Plans

The AMBER Alert Plan is a voluntary, cooperative partnership between law-enforcement agencies and broadcasters to activate an emergency bulletin to the public when a child has been abducted and it is believed that the child is in danger. In April 2003, President Bush signed the Amber Alert legislation making it a national program.

Under the AMBER Alert Plan, area radio and television stations interrupt regular programming to air information about the missing child using the Emergency Alert System or EAS (formerly known as the Emergency Broadcast System).

The AMBER Alert Plan provides law-enforcement agencies with a powerful tool to help recover abducted children and quickly apprehend the suspect. When an AMBER ALERT is activated, law-enforcement agencies immediately gain the assistance of thousands of community members who provide additional eyes and ears.

How an AMBER Alert Works

When law enforcement is notified about an abducted child, they must first determine if the case meets the local AMBER Alert Plan criteria for triggering an alert. While the criteria for each plan may vary, the U.S. Department of Justice recommends the following criteria. Most plans follow the following criteria.

1. There is reasonable belief by law enforcement that an abduction has occurred.
2. The abduction is of a child age 17 years or younger.
3. The law-enforcement agency believes that the child is in imminent danger of serious bodily injury or death.
4. There is enough descriptive information about the victim and the abduction for law enforcement to believe that the public will be able to assist in the recovery of the child.

If the criteria are met, information about the child and the incident is to the Emergency Alert System (EAS) initiating authority and other alerting partners, as specified by the applicable AMBER Alert Plan.

The AMBER Alert is transmitted through the EAS system to area radio and television stations, and it is immediately broadcast by participating stations to thousands of radio listeners, television viewers and the general public.

Some states also activate electronic road signs throughout their state, lottery machines, privately owned electronic signs, and a host of other communications means, all used to quickly spread the news about a child abduction.

For those states using the AMBER Alert Portal, the alert is also automatically spread using cell phones, pagers, fax machines and email.

Law enforcement agencies staff phone banks to receive the tips and reported sightings. It is through those tips and sightings that law enforcement have hopes of locating and recovering the child safely.