Nanny GPS: Amber Alert Explained

The AMBER Alert Program was created in the USA. It is a voluntary partnership between law-enforcement agencies, broadcasters, and transportation agencies to activate an urgent bulletin in the most serious child-abduction cases. Broadcasters use the Emergency Alert System (EAS) to air a description of the abducted child and suspected abductor. The goal of an AMBER Alert is to instantly galvanize the entire community to assist in the search for and safe recovery of the child.

Once law enforcement has been notified about an abducted child, they must first determine if the case meets their AMBER Alert program's criteria. The U.S. Department of Justice recommends the certain criteria for issuing an AMBER Alert.

If these criteria are met, alert information is assembled for public distribution. This information may include descriptions and pictures of the missing child, the suspected abductor, and a suspected vehicle along with any other information available and valuable to identifying the child and suspect. For parents and guardians it is important to provide this critical information as fast as possible. Please see our section on Be Prepared for Child Abduction.

The information is then faxed to radio stations designated as primary stations under the Federal Communications Commission's (FCC) Emergency Alert System (EAS). The primary stations send the same information to area radio and television stations and cable systems via the EAS, and participating stations immediately broadcast the information to millions of listeners. Radio stations interrupt programming to announce the Alert, and television stations and cable systems run a "crawl" on the screen along with a picture of the child.

Law enforcement also notifies National Centre for Missing and Exploited Children or NCMEC when an AMBER Alert is released for a specific geographical area. Once NCMEC validates the AMBER Alert, it is entered into a secure system and transmitted to authorized secondary distributors for dissemination to customers within the geographic areas specified.

The AMBER Alert message encourages the public to look for the abducted child or suspect. The public become the eyes and ears of local law enforcement.

In the event you spot a child, adult, or vehicle fitting the AMBER Alert description, immediately call the telephone number given in the AMBER Alert and provide authorities with as much information as you know.

Given the success with the AMBER alert in the USA, some international countries have also adopted this process. The following countries have an AMBER alert system. Click on links below for details within each country.