The document provides information about the AMBER Alert system and criteria for issuing an alert. It explains that AMBER Alerts are issued when a child has been abducted and is believed to be in imminent danger. It outlines the recommended criteria from the Department of Justice, including that there is evidence an abduction occurred, the child is at risk of serious harm or death, and there is sufficient information to issue a public alert to help locate the child. It also notes that not every missing child case meets the criteria for an AMBER Alert and describes other categories of missing child cases.

1. Do You Know AMBER?
The AMBER (America’s Missing:
Broadcast
Emergency Response) Alert System

2. My Child is Missing
• The words can strike terror into a parent or guardian to
just think them
– I need an AMBER Alert
• The AMBER (America’s Missing: Broadcast Emergency Response)
Alert System
• It means a child has gone missing
• It means Law Enforcement is looking as hard as possible
for the missing child
• It means Billboards have been activated
• New media have been contacted
• It Means secondary and third party distributors have
been contacted
• OR DOES IT !!!!!

3. AMBER Alert
• It means panic
• It means second guessing yourself
• It means YOUR CHILD MEETS CERTAIN
REQUIREMENTS FOR AN AMBER
ALERT TO BE ISSUED
• Certain Criteria ????????????????

4. Do you know AMBER?
Americas Missing Broadcast Emergency Response
• Not every child who is reported and
verified missing is an AMBER Alert
• Did you know this?
• over 2000 children per DAY are reported
to Law Enforcement as missing
• in 2009 over 800,000 children were
reported missing.

5. Summary of Department of Justice Recommended Criteria
There is reasonable belief by law enforcement that an abduction has occurred.
The law enforcement agency believes that the child is in imminent danger of
serious bodily injury or death.
There is enough descriptive information about the victim and the abduction for law
enforcement to issue an AMBER Alert to assist in the recovery of the child.
The abduction is of a child aged 17 years or younger.
The child’s name and other critical data elements, including the Child Abduction
flag, have been entered into the National Crime Information Center (NCIC)
system.

6. • Guidelines for Issuing AMBER Alerts
Every successful AMBER plan contains clearly defined activation criteria. The following guidance
is designed to achieve a uniform, interoperable network of plans across the country, and to
minimize potentially deadly delays because of confusion among varying jurisdictions. The
following are criteria
• Risk of Serious Bodily Injury or Death
Plans require a child be at risk for serious bodily harm or death before an alert can be issued.
Sufficient Descriptive Information
For an AMBER Alert to be effective in recovering a missing child, the law enforcement agency
must have enough information to believe that an immediate broadcast to the public will enhance
the efforts of law enforcement to locate the child and apprehend the suspect.
Age of Child
Every state adopt the “17 years of age or younger” standard; or, at a minimum, agree to honor
the request of any other state to issue an AMBER Alert, even if the case does not meet the
responding state’s age criterion, as long as it meets the age criterion of the requesting state.
Most AMBER plans call for activation of the alert for children under a certain age. The problem is
that age can vary---some plans specify 10, some 12, some 14, 15, and 16. Differences in age
requirements create confusion when an activation requires multiple alerts across states and
jurisdictions. Overuse of the AMBER Alert system will undermine its effectiveness as a tool for
recovering abducted children.
NCIC Data Entry
Immediately enter AMBER Alert data into the National Crime Information Center (NCIC) system.
Text information describing the circumstances surrounding the abduction of the child should be
entered, and the case flagged as a Child Abduction.

7. What if All of this criteria is not
met?
• When a child is reported missing to NCMEC, the
child is categorized into one of four types of
cases:
• endangered runaway;
• family abduction;
• lost,
• injured, or otherwise missing
• and
• non-family abduction.

8. • National Center for Missing & Exploited Children®
• Best-Practices Guide for Child ID Kits
• One of the most important tools for law enforcement to use in the
• recovery of a missing child is an up-to-date, good-quality photograph
• along with descriptive information. A Child ID Kit should be a simple
• yet effective tool in helping families maintain a current photograph of
• and descriptive information about their children. The method should be
• streamlined for ease of use, because this information can greatly assist
• law enforcement in finding a child when disseminated in a timely
• manner. The Child ID Kit should be made available at little or no cost.
• 1. Recent, Accurate, and Good Quality Image of Child
• 2. Recent, Accurate, and Good Quality Descriptive Information
• 3. Additional Identifying Information
• 4. Information Maintained by Parents/Guardians
• All copies of the child’s photos and descriptive and identifying information
should
• be maintained by the parent and/or guardian only and should be secure and
• readily accessible.
• 5. Ease of Use and Information Distribution

9. Credits
• OJJDP:
http://www.ncjrs.gov/html/ojjdp/204958/index.h

11. AMBER APARTMENT
ALERTS ®©
Re-uniting missing children with their
loved ones and giving abductors fewer
safe places to hide using the most
effective business network in America,
Multi Family Housing and Apartment
Suppliers
AMBER Apartment Alerts is a Registered ® Trade Name and is copyright © protected. No
use of it is permitted without the express authorization of the owner. Copyright © 2012

12. The AMBER Alert program was developed after 9 year old AMBER
Hagerman was abducted and then murdered in 1995.
In July of 1996 The AMBER Alert program was developed through a
presentation at a symposium in Arlington, Texas.
As a result of this meeting the AMBER Hagerman Child Protection Act
was signed into law by President Clinton in October 1996.
Until 1998 AMBER Alerts were distributed manually to radio stations
that chose to participate in the program. It was then that the first
Automated Notification System was put in place that notified
communities that children were missing.
Automation expanded it to include Radio, TV, Pagers, Fax, E-mail and
Cell Phone message. Now they include Internet.
AMBER Alert is also an acronym for “America’s Missing: Broadcasting
Emergency Response. “

13. It started February 3, 2008 was the beginning AMBER Apartment
Alerts®©.
While watching Superbowl LXI in a local pub I received an e-mail from
a friend of ours. The message simply said “missing girl”.
The message stated:
“ This is the picture of a niece of a woman that my husband works for.
They are trying to get her picture out because they dropped her off at
the movies and have not seen her since. She asked if I could post this
picture for her to get the word out. Thanks for taking the time to take a
look at her picture.”
AMBER Apartment Alerts is a Registered ® Trade Name and is
copyright © protected. No use of it is permitted without the express
authorization of the owner. Copyright © 2012