How much attention do you pay to Amber Alerts? Are they effective?
The Associated Press has a story out today that analyzes how effective the Amber Alert system is in the variety of states that use it. For those who may not remember, Amber Alerts are “a voluntary partnership between law-enforcement agencies, broadcasters, transportation agencies, and the wireless industry, to activate an urgent bulletin in the most serious child-abduction cases.”
The AP’s story says “despite a federal law meant to create a uniform system, (there are) wide variations in what triggers an Amber Alert from one state to the next, which can heighten the tension when a suspect crosses state lines.”
Check out the story here. Here’s an interesting excerpt:
That poor record-keeping makes it difficult to tell whether investigators have ever missed a chance to safely recover an abducted child because of differences in the state laws and their application.
Twelve states refuse to put out an alert when a parent calls police amid a custody fight, while others see that as a legitimate reason to enlist help from the public. Twelve states issue Amber Alerts for adults with mental or physical disabilities, while other states save their bulletins solely for abducted children.
Among the disparities those different interpretations create: New Jersey has issued just four alerts since 2005, while Michigan - with an only slightly larger population - has issued 100.
Is this law effective? Could it be more so? How much attention do you pay when you hear about an Amber Alert in our area? Does it perk your antenna, or not?
Kurt is the director of social media for the Post-Dispatch, where he has worked since August 2002. He's been a journalist since 1982, covering municipal government, courts, education and two hurricanes as a reporter before becoming an editor. 
What better tool do we have than the media to get the message across that a child is missing? I am very receptive to these alerts when I see them scrawled across my TV screen. What makes me mad is that it is not used for all missing children no matter what the reason. Why put a criteria on when a child is considered missing. If a parent calls the police and they can’t find their child what harm is there in putting it out on the largest tool we have? So what if it is a false alarm, better safe than sorry.
All states need to get on board and they have to present a unified front on how this life saving alert is going to be implimented. We are a large nation of people. Millions of us are on the roads at all hours of the day. We can be effective in finding lost or kidnapped children if we are given this info in a timely manner and not hours after the fact.
As one that believes that the individual states should make their own laws and rules, I say on this subject it should be a national law or rule put into effect to help in the recovery of lost or taken children. We are not talking about speed limits here. If a child is missing, the whole country should be on the same page to recover that child. I don’t like being disturbed over and over again while watching television during an amber alert. If it was my child or grand child, I would want everyone to feel different. The fact is that this law can and has been effective in many cases. It should be a uniform law throughout the Unites States. I would be the happiest person alive if I assisted in the recovery of a missing child through identification or otherwise. It is in the best interest to pay attention. It may be for your own or your families good someday.
Illinois broadcasts their amber alerts over the NOAA weather radio alert system. I have found that this is a nuisance. First of all, they always seem to issue these alerts in the middle of the night. Second of all, the alerts always come in pairs or more. All they do is wake me up in the middle of the night. These frequent alerts run the danger of being the boy who cried wolf. Most of the alerts seem to be family problems (non-custodial parent stole the child) or misunderstandings of where the child is.
Does it really matter why the kid is missing from his or her home? Regardless of the reason, the kid needs to get back to where they belong and then let the courts settle things between the parents. Any missing person is a person that is not where they are suppose or need to be. They deserve to be found and let things happen from that point. No one need to be taken from their surroundings unwillingly to satisfy another. Would you want it to happen to you?
Uniform guidelines for issuing Amber alerts would be nice, but rules can’t replace human judgment. Since every case is unique, they will have to be handled individually. Still, if I were making the guidelines, I would err on the side of caution - because the harm of issuing an Amber alert in a borderline case isn’t as bad as failing to issue an alert when a child is in true danger.
As for whether Amber alerts “perk my antenna” - absolutely. Even before I was a parent, I always paid close attention to Amber alerts - I memorize the description and watch during my commute and errands. I think it’s awesome that you could potentially save a child simply by paying attention. Apparently, I’m not alone in this, because it seems like Amber alerts really work.
Heaven forbid you have to use it, but the Amber alert system is a tremendous tool.
The Amber Alert is a great idea and although I don’t know the statistics, my impression is that the program is a successful one. I do pay attention and keep my eyes open. A uniform system could only help.
Effective, maybe a little, but they make everyone feel better.
Collosal waste of time and money. They may only genuinely be used 2- 3 times per year, and 90% of those will be false alarms due to the child wandering down the street.
I agree Luna what a waste…unless the idiot kid and/or his kidnapper walks up to my door and rings the doorbell what good is it other than interrupting my TV show with a stupid crawler or worse a news break in.
I keep one eye on them, but many in this area are put out for people who are idiots and just don’t know which relative or latest squeeze has their kid. To me there is no excuse for abusing the system that way. I heard the little boy who cried wolf later grew hair on his palms!