Code Amber
I came across Grapevine Ramblings yesterday (because of his Spelling Bee post) and saw that it had a Code Amber Alert Ticker. I had not seen these before and thought it might be something that my blog could benefit from. What the ticker will do: whenever an AMBER Alert is issued by a city/county … the ticker will turn amber yellow and give brief details of the situation. If you want more details, just click the ticker and it will give you the most updated information. Once the situation is resolved or if there is no new information for five days, the ticker defaults back to it’s normal message. At any time for more information on Code Amber, click the ticker or the Code Amber button on my sidebar under Categories. I’ve also added the BeyondMissing.org’s banner at the bottom of my blog … founded in 2001 by Marc Klaas, whose daughter was kidnapped and murdered, this sites banner will scroll through current missing children cases and offer a picture of the child when one is available. Both resources are very important in saving the lives of missing children.
“When a child is abducted, every minute counts.”
~ Gov. Rick Perry
A growing number of blogs have found this ticker the same way I did … by seeing it on another blog. I feel this is a very good and important cause, which is why it is now the first thing you see under my header. The AMBER Alert program is very successful and the only way it will continue to save the lives of children all over the country is for as many people as possible to have access to the pertinent information as soon as possible.
The history of the Amber Alert sadly started here, in North Texas. On Code Amber’s front page, a brief history of the Amber Alert is given.
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 that 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.
In April, 2003, President Bush signed the Amber Alert legislation making it a national program. While the Amber Alert system is now mandated across the country, some states are still trying to implement the procedures necessary in bringing the alerts to the public. Hampered by outdated Emergency Broadcast guidelines and different activation criteria in each state, the system needs a fair amount of fine-tuning to be optimally effective. Code Amber is on the cutting edge with the technology helping to make that a reality.
The AMBER Alert system is not only named after Amber Hagerman, it also stands for “America’s Missing: Broadcast Emergency Response.” President Bush signed the PROTECT Act in April of 2003.
This law, the Protect Act of 2003, will greatly assist law enforcement in tracking criminals who would harm our children, and will greatly help in rescuing the youngest victims of crime. With my signature, this new law will formally establish the federal government’s role in the Amber Alert system and will make punishment for federal crimes against children more severe.
The Amber Alert system is now implemented in some way in all 50 states. And, it has expanded beyond our borders!!! Almost every province in Canada has a growing Amber Alert system. There are currently 9 alert plans in Canada and 4 in England. Earlier this year in May … Australian residents in Brisbane had their first “child abduction alert,” which ended in the successful recovery of the 4-year-old little girl. The National Center for Missing & Exploited Children has links to 15 countries with help for missing kids in those countries, in addition to their U.S.A. homepage.
A Few State’s Sucess Rates:
Colorado ~ Every time the Amber Alert system has been activated in Colorado, the child has returned home safely.
Arizona ~ “Anytime we’ve initiated it, we’ve had a 100 percent success rate in getting our kids back.” - Officer Dan Palmer of the Arizona Department of Public Safety
Utah ~ “In 10 of the 11 cases, the victim was safely recovered, for a 91 percent success rate.”
More links:
National Incident Notification Network ~ Proof Amber Alert system works Connecticut
DoJ: Report to the White House On AMBER Alert October 2004 (pdf)
Polly Klaas Foundation
When Your Child Is Missing: A Family Survival Guide
The Jenna Hart Abduction Story: How We Got Our Daughter Home Safely
BeyondMissing.com
Current/Recent Amber Alerts