AMBER ALERTs

I heard an interesting fact on NPR's Morning Edition this morning (Wednesday 21 Aug).  Despite what you would believe from the popular press, the number of stranger abduptions of children across the US has actually decreased from about 300 per year in 1990 to about 100 per year nowadays.

Here's the story description:

"NPR's Howard Berkes reports that child abductions in the United States are rare and the number is declining. But attention given to recent cases has triggered anxiety in parents and children. (8:39)"

You can hear the story on the web at

http://search.npr.org/cf/cmn/segment_display.cfm?segID=148669

For those of you who want to be notified of emergency events in your area via e-mail, pager, text on a cell phone, etc. check out

THE EMERGENCY EMAIL & WIRELESS NETWORK
at http://www.emergencyemail.org/

They now offer AMBER Alerts as an option if the program is in use in your area.

73

Gary Wilson, K2GW

 

I'm entering a post by my good friend, N2HX, who is both a personal friend and the co-author of the New Jersey Amber Alert Plan. It provides insight into how the system is supposed to work to avoid false alarms, but I  think it also shows there's probably little need for rebroadcasting them automaticaly on Amateur repeaters:

"Greetings. Bob, N2HX here. I'm the communications officer for the NJ Office of Emergency Management. As the co-author of the Amber Alert Plan for NJ I'd like to complement this forum for taking an interest in this activity. I would like someone to correct the forum header, however. The Amber Alert plan is to recover ANY missing child, not just girls. Because the media follow the philosophy of "If it bleeds it leads", they got the notion that an abducted girl is somehow more tragic than an abducted boy. Obviously that's not true.

Now on to our procedures here in New Jersey. First, our SOP requires that the local police thoroughly investigate the incident before they call us. The NJ State Police is the only entity than can approve an actual Amber Alert. When we get the call our missing persons unit confers with the local PD to ascertain if the abduction qualifies as an Amber Alert. If the abduction meets the criteria, we activate the EAS system both through direct contact with the "local primary" EAS station and via National Weather Service. The major criteria are: age less than 18 years old, abduction with criminal intent  (not some irate grandparent or estranged spouse), and most importantly the abduction must be less than an hour old. The NWS will translate the abduction information into an announcement which will be broadcast over the NOAA weather radios that serve NJ (there are 6). NWS also has the ability to trigger EAS decoders for all participating EAS radio, tv, and cable stations. We also activate the alpha numeric highway signs, notify UPS and Fed EX, the electrical utilities, and other entities that have either vehicles or walking personnel on the roads (such as meter readers).

As the state's RACES officer, I would say the easiest way to hear an Amber Alert would be to monitor your local NOAA frequency. Clearly your state would have to have such an agreement in place between state law enforcement and NWS. NOAA weather radio is legally an all hazard warning system, so it's perfectly OK for a forecast office to air these kinds of alerts.

That's our system in a nutshell. The success of the Amber Alert system is mostly based on good law enforcement (to determine whether the criteria are met). Too many activations will only serve to desensitize the public. Like all good citizens, hams must listen and observe and follow directions. Nothing more."

73

Gary, K2GW

 

I agree, however, this must be limited strictly to communication and nothing else. As a former LEO, I have found that there are as many stories as there are people involved but those not as close to the situation, tend to have a more accurate view. Therefore if the involvement is strictly limited to communication and not the HT toting, runabout wannabees, the involvement will be more helpful and accurate.
Thanks for another great idea for Amateurs to get invlolved and justify our public existence.
WA4BWO; Dave.