AMBER Alert
An AMBER Alert or a Child Abduction Emergency (SAME code: CAE) is a child abduction alert system. It originated in the United States in 1996.
AMBER is officially a contrived acronym for America's Missing: Broadcast Emergency Response, but was named after Amber Hagerman, a 9-year-old abducted and murdered in Arlington, Texas in 1996. Alternative regional alert names were once used; in Georgia, "Levi's Call"[1] (in memory of Levi Frady); in Hawaii, "Maile Amber Alert"[2] (in memory of Maile Gilbert); and Arkansas, "Morgan Nick Amber Alert"[3] (in memory of Morgan Nick).
In the United States, AMBER Alerts are distributed via commercial radio stations, Internet radio, satellite radio, television stations, and cable TV by the Emergency Alert System and NOAA Weather Radio[4][5] (where they are termed "Child Abduction Emergency" or "Amber Alerts"). The alerts are also issued via e-mail, electronic traffic-condition signs, commercial electronic billboards,[6][7] or through wireless device SMS text messages. AMBER Alert has also teamed up with Google,[8] Bing,[9] and Facebook[10] to relay information regarding an AMBER Alert to an ever-growing demographic: AMBER Alerts are automatically displayed if citizens search or use map features on Google or Bing. With the Google Child Alert (also called Google AMBER Alert in some countries), citizens see an AMBER Alert if they search for related information in a particular location where a child has recently been abducted and an alert was issued. This is a component of the AMBER Alert system that is already active in the US (there are also developments in Europe). Those interested in subscribing to receive AMBER Alerts in their area via SMS messages can visit Wireless Amber Alerts, which are offered by law as free messages.[11] In some states, the display scrollboards in front of lottery terminals are also used.
The decision to declare an AMBER Alert is made by each police organization (in many cases, the state police or highway patrol) that investigates each of the abductions. Public information in an AMBER Alert usually consists of the name and description of the abductee, a description of the suspected abductor, and a description and license plate number of the abductor's vehicle if available.
The alerts are broadcast using the Emergency Alert System, which had previously been used primarily for weather bulletins, civil emergencies, or national emergencies.[12] Alerts usually contain a description of the child and of the likely abductor.[13] To avoid both false alarms and having alerts ignored as a "wolf cry", the criteria for issuing an alert are rather strict. Each state's or province's AMBER alert plan sets its own criteria for activation, meaning that there are differences between alerting agencies as to which incidents are considered to justify the use of the system. However, the U.S. Department of Justice issues the following "guidance", which most states are said to "adhere closely to" (in the U.S.):[14]
It is recommended that AMBER Alert data immediately be entered into the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) National Crime Information Center. Text information describing the circumstances surrounding the abduction of the child should be entered, and the case flagged as child abduction.
The Royal Canadian Mounted Police's (RCMP) requirements in Canada are nearly identical to the above list, with the exception that the RCMP instead of the FBI is normally notified.[16] One organization might notify the other if there is reason to suspect that the border may be crossed.
When investigators believe that a child is in danger of being taken across the border to either Canada or Mexico, U.S. Customs and Border Protection, United States Border Patrol and the Canada Border Services Agency are notified and are expected to search every car coming through a border checkpoint. If the child is suspected to be taken to Canada, a Canadian Amber Alert can also be issued, and a pursuit by Canadian authorities usually follows.
On January 13, 1996, nine-year-old Amber Rene Hagerman (November 25, 1986 – January 17, 1996) was abducted while riding her bike with her brother in Arlington, Texas.[18] A neighbor who witnessed the abduction called the police, and Amber's brother, Ricky, went home to tell his mother and grandparents what happened. On hearing the news, Hagerman's father, Richard, called Marc Klaas, whose daughter, Polly, had been abducted and murdered in Petaluma, California, on October 1, 1993. It is often believed[by whom?] that Hagerman's murderer kept her alive for up to two days maximum. Richard and Amber's mother, Donna Whitson (now Donna Norris), called the news media and the FBI. They and their neighbors began searching for Amber. Four days after the abduction, near midnight, her body was found in a creek behind an apartment complex – with cut wounds to her neck. The site of the discovery was less than five miles from where she went missing. There are no suspects to her abduction and homicide.[19]
God's Place International Church donated the first office space for the organization, and as the search for Amber's killer continued, P.A.S.O. received almost-daily coverage in local media. Companies donated various office supplies, including computer and Internet service. Congressman Martin Frost, with the help of Marc Klaas, drafted the Amber Hagerman Child Protection Act. Both of Hagerman's parents were present when President Bill Clinton signed the bill into law, creating the national sex offender registry. Whitson and Richard Hagerman then began collecting signatures in Texas, which they planned to present to then-Governor George W. Bush as a sign that people wanted more stringent laws for sex offenders.[21]
In July 1996, Bruce Seybert[clarification needed] and Richard Hagerman attended a media symposium in Arlington. Although Hagerman had remarks prepared, on the day of the event the organizers asked Seybert to speak instead. In his 20-minute speech, he spoke about efforts that local police could take quickly to help find missing children and how the media could facilitate those efforts. C.J. Wheeler, a reporter from radio station KRLD, approached the Dallas police chief shortly afterward with Seybert's ideas and launched the first ever Amber Alert.[22]
Whitson testified in front of the U.S. Congress in June 1996, asking legislators to create a nationwide registry of sex offenders. Representative Martin Frost, the Congressman who represents Whitson's district, proposed an "Amber Hagerman Child Protection Act." Among the sections of the bill was one that would create a national sex offender registry.[23]
For the next two years, alerts were made manually to participating radio stations. In 1998, the Child Alert Foundation created the first fully automated Alert Notification System (ANS) to notify surrounding communities when a child was reported missing or abducted. Alerts were sent to radio stations as originally requested but included television stations, surrounding law enforcement agencies, newspapers and local support organizations. These alerts were sent all at once via pagers, faxes, emails, and cell phones with the information immediately posted on the Internet for the general public to view.[citation needed]
Following the automation of the AMBER Alert with ANS technology created by the Child Alert Foundation, the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) expanded its role in 2002 to promote the AMBER Alert, although in 1996 now CEO of the NCMEC declined to come in and further assist the AMBER Alert when asked to by Bruce Seybert and Richard Hagerman and has since worked actively to see alerts distributed using the nation's existing emergency radio and TV response network.[citation needed]
By September 2002, 26 states had established AMBER Alert systems that covered all or parts of the state. A bipartisan group of US Senators, led by Kay Bailey Hutchison and Dianne Feinstein, proposed legislation to name an AMBER Alert coordinator in the U.S. Justice Department who could help coordinate state efforts. The bill also provided $25 million in federal matching grants for states to establish AMBER Alert programs and necessary equipment purchases, such as electronic highway signs. A similar bill was sponsored in the U.S. House of Representatives by Jennifer Dunn and Martin Frost.[24] The bill passed the Senate unanimously within a week of its proposal.[13] At an October 2002 conference on missing, exploited, and runaway children, President George W. Bush announced changes to the AMBER Alert system, including the development of a national standard for issuing AMBER Alerts.[25] A similar bill passed the House several weeks later on a 390–24 vote.[26] A related bill finally became law in April 2003.[27]
The alerts were offered digitally beginning in November 2002, when America Online began a service allowing people sign up to receive notification via computer, pager, or cell phone. Users of the service enter their ZIP code, thus allowing the alerts to be targeted to specific geographic regions.[28]
By 2005, all fifty states had operational programs and today the program operates across state and jurisdictional boundaries.[29] As of January 1, 2013, AMBER Alerts are automatically sent through the Wireless Emergency Alerts (WEA) program.[30] Apple Inc.'s Devices have a option to turn on or off amber alerts to be sent to them right away.
Amber Alerts may also be distributed via the Alert Ready emergency alert system, which disrupts programming on all radio, television stations, and television providers in the relevant region to display and play audio of Amber Alert information.[33][34]
Over the years, the program gathered more partners in order for the alert to be communicated on different media platforms. As in Ontario, lottery crown corporation Loto-Québec puts to the disposition of the police forces their 8500 terminals located throughout the province. Some of these terminals are equipped with a screen that faces the customer which makes it the largest network of its kind to operate in Canada. The technology employed enables them to broadcast the message on the entire network in under 10 minutes. In addition, The Canadian Wireless Telecommunications Association (CWTA) offers to most Canadians, upon free subscription, the possibility to receive, via text message, on their mobile devices AMBER alert notices.
Since its introduction in Quebec, every AMBER alert has had positive results.[36][37]
After the abduction and murder of Victoria Stafford, an online petition was started by Suzie Pereira, a single mother of 2 children who gathered over 61,000 signatures, prompting a review of the Amber Alert. There was some concern regarding the strict criteria for issuing the alerts – criteria that was not met in the Stafford case – that resulted in an alert not being issued. Ontario Provincial Police have since changed their rules for issuing an alert from having to confirm an abduction and confirm threat of harm, to believe that a child has been abducted and believe is at risk of harm.[39][40]
Currently, there are alert systems active in 20 European countries: Belgium, Bulgaria, Cyprus, the Czech Republic, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Spain, Switzerland and the United Kingdom.[45][46]
AMBER Alert Europe is an international non-profit organisation with 28 members (law enforcement, ministries & NGOs) in 20 countries. It exists to provide an EU wide response to the EU objective on Child Alerts, which states that an early warning system for child abductions, with cross-border interoperability, should be established in all 28 EU countries.[47] AMBER Alert Europe uses the same technology as the Dutch AMBER Alert plan.[48]
The first cross-border AMBER Alert was issued in the early morning of May 8, 2013 for two Dutch brothers. The boys' photo was displayed on large screens in the Belgian province of Limbourg and in North Rhine-Westphalia (Germany) and has received extensive media attention in the Netherlands, Belgium and Germany. The bodies of the children were found on May 19, 2013 near Cothen (the Netherlands).[49][50][51][52]
In 2014, AMBER Alert Europe launched the Police Expert Network on Missing Children. Goal of the network is to allow missing children police experts to quickly and informally contact their colleagues in other European member states and exchange best practices.[53]
The Dutch AMBER Alert was launched in 2008 by the Dutch National Police,[54] the Dutch minister of Justice at the time, Ernst Hirsch Ballin,[55][56] and social enterprise Netpresenter.[57] On February 14, 2009, the first Dutch AMBER Alert was issued when a 4-year-old boy went missing in Rotterdam. He was found safe and sound after being recognized by a person who saw his picture on an electronic billboard in a fast food restaurant. He was recovered so quickly, that the transmission of the AMBER Alert was halted before all recipients received it. Since 2008, the AMBER Alert system has been deployed for 25 AMBER Alerts and almost 1000 Missing Child Alerts.[58]
Currently, AMBER Alert has 3 million participants including thousands of large organizations.[59] In addition, the last AMBER Alert that was issued, was seen by more than 12 million Dutch citizens (89 percent of the Dutch population).[60] With a success rate of 92 percent, the Dutch AMBER Alert system is an example of effective citizen sourcing.[61]
An AMBER Alert is issued when a child is missing or abducted and the Dutch police fear that the life or health of the child is in imminent danger. The system enables the police to immediately alert press and public nationwide, by means of electronic highway signs, TV, radio, social media, PCs, large advertising screens (digital signage), email, text messages, apps, printable posters, RSS news feeds, website banners and pop-ups.[55] There are four key criteria in The Netherlands to be met before an AMBER Alert is issued:
AMBER is officially a contrived acronym for America's Missing: Broadcast Emergency Response, but was named after Amber Hagerman, a 9-year-old abducted and murdered in Arlington, Texas in 1996. Alternative regional alert names were once used; in Georgia, "Levi's Call"[1] (in memory of Levi Frady); in Hawaii, "Maile Amber Alert"[2] (in memory of Maile Gilbert); and Arkansas, "Morgan Nick Amber Alert"[3] (in memory of Morgan Nick).
In the United States, AMBER Alerts are distributed via commercial radio stations, Internet radio, satellite radio, television stations, and cable TV by the Emergency Alert System and NOAA Weather Radio[4][5] (where they are termed "Child Abduction Emergency" or "Amber Alerts"). The alerts are also issued via e-mail, electronic traffic-condition signs, commercial electronic billboards,[6][7] or through wireless device SMS text messages. AMBER Alert has also teamed up with Google,[8] Bing,[9] and Facebook[10] to relay information regarding an AMBER Alert to an ever-growing demographic: AMBER Alerts are automatically displayed if citizens search or use map features on Google or Bing. With the Google Child Alert (also called Google AMBER Alert in some countries), citizens see an AMBER Alert if they search for related information in a particular location where a child has recently been abducted and an alert was issued. This is a component of the AMBER Alert system that is already active in the US (there are also developments in Europe). Those interested in subscribing to receive AMBER Alerts in their area via SMS messages can visit Wireless Amber Alerts, which are offered by law as free messages.[11] In some states, the display scrollboards in front of lottery terminals are also used.
The decision to declare an AMBER Alert is made by each police organization (in many cases, the state police or highway patrol) that investigates each of the abductions. Public information in an AMBER Alert usually consists of the name and description of the abductee, a description of the suspected abductor, and a description and license plate number of the abductor's vehicle if available.
Contents
[hide]Activation criteria[edit]
An example of a July 2010 Amber Alert from Milwaukee, Wisconsin, where electronic LED billboards, such as this one in Sheboygan, Wisconsin owned by Lamar, are used to relay details of the incident to the public.
AMBER Alert displayed on cable TV by the Emergency Alert System. Generated via a R189 One-Net EAS device used by a NJ cable system.
- Law enforcement must confirm that an abduction has taken place.
- The child must be at risk of serious injury or death.
- There must be sufficient descriptive information of child, captor, or captor's vehicle to issue an alert.
- The child must be under 18 years of age.[15]
It is recommended that AMBER Alert data immediately be entered into the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) National Crime Information Center. Text information describing the circumstances surrounding the abduction of the child should be entered, and the case flagged as child abduction.
The Royal Canadian Mounted Police's (RCMP) requirements in Canada are nearly identical to the above list, with the exception that the RCMP instead of the FBI is normally notified.[16] One organization might notify the other if there is reason to suspect that the border may be crossed.
When investigators believe that a child is in danger of being taken across the border to either Canada or Mexico, U.S. Customs and Border Protection, United States Border Patrol and the Canada Border Services Agency are notified and are expected to search every car coming through a border checkpoint. If the child is suspected to be taken to Canada, a Canadian Amber Alert can also be issued, and a pursuit by Canadian authorities usually follows.
Incidents not meeting alert criteria[edit]
For incidents which do not meet AMBER Alert criteria, the United States Department of Justice developed the Child Abduction Response Teams (CART) program to assist local agencies. This program can be used in all missing children's cases and can be used as part of an AMBER alert or when an abduction or disappearance does not meet AMBER Alert criteria. CART can also be used to help recover runaway children under the age of 18 and who are in danger. As of 2010, 225 response teams have been trained in 43 states, Washington, D.C., Puerto Rico, the Bahamas, and Canada.[17]Amber Hagerman[edit]
| Amber Hagerman | |
|---|---|
Amber Hagerman in 1994
| |
| Born | Amber Rene Hagerman November 25, 1986 Arlington, Texas, US |
| Died | Between January 15–17, 1996 (age 9) Arlington, Texas, US |
| Cause of death | Murder—Slit Throat |
| Parent(s) | Donna Norris (mother) Richard Hagerman (father) |
Program development[edit]
Within days of Amber's death, Donna Whitson was "calling for tougher laws governing kidnappers and sex offenders".[20] Amber's parents soon established People Against Sex Offenders (P.A.S.O.). They collected signatures hoping to force the Texas Legislature into passing more stringent laws to protect children.[citation needed]God's Place International Church donated the first office space for the organization, and as the search for Amber's killer continued, P.A.S.O. received almost-daily coverage in local media. Companies donated various office supplies, including computer and Internet service. Congressman Martin Frost, with the help of Marc Klaas, drafted the Amber Hagerman Child Protection Act. Both of Hagerman's parents were present when President Bill Clinton signed the bill into law, creating the national sex offender registry. Whitson and Richard Hagerman then began collecting signatures in Texas, which they planned to present to then-Governor George W. Bush as a sign that people wanted more stringent laws for sex offenders.[21]
In July 1996, Bruce Seybert[clarification needed] and Richard Hagerman attended a media symposium in Arlington. Although Hagerman had remarks prepared, on the day of the event the organizers asked Seybert to speak instead. In his 20-minute speech, he spoke about efforts that local police could take quickly to help find missing children and how the media could facilitate those efforts. C.J. Wheeler, a reporter from radio station KRLD, approached the Dallas police chief shortly afterward with Seybert's ideas and launched the first ever Amber Alert.[22]
Whitson testified in front of the U.S. Congress in June 1996, asking legislators to create a nationwide registry of sex offenders. Representative Martin Frost, the Congressman who represents Whitson's district, proposed an "Amber Hagerman Child Protection Act." Among the sections of the bill was one that would create a national sex offender registry.[23]
For the next two years, alerts were made manually to participating radio stations. In 1998, the Child Alert Foundation created the first fully automated Alert Notification System (ANS) to notify surrounding communities when a child was reported missing or abducted. Alerts were sent to radio stations as originally requested but included television stations, surrounding law enforcement agencies, newspapers and local support organizations. These alerts were sent all at once via pagers, faxes, emails, and cell phones with the information immediately posted on the Internet for the general public to view.[citation needed]
Following the automation of the AMBER Alert with ANS technology created by the Child Alert Foundation, the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) expanded its role in 2002 to promote the AMBER Alert, although in 1996 now CEO of the NCMEC declined to come in and further assist the AMBER Alert when asked to by Bruce Seybert and Richard Hagerman and has since worked actively to see alerts distributed using the nation's existing emergency radio and TV response network.[citation needed]
International adoption[edit]
United States[edit]
In October 2000, the United States House of Representatives adopted H.Res. 605 which encouraged communities nationwide to implement the AMBER Plan. In October 2001, the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children that had declined to be a part of the Amber Alert in February 1996, launched a campaign to have AMBER Alert systems established nationwide. In February 2002, the Federal Communications Commission officially endorsed the system. In 2002, several children were abducted in cases that drew national attention. One such case, the kidnapping and murder of Samantha Runnion, prompted California to establish an AMBER Alert system on July 24, 2002.[12] According to Senator Dianne Feinstein, in its first month California issued 13 AMBER alerts; 12 of the children were recovered safely and the remaining alert was found to be a misunderstanding.[24]By September 2002, 26 states had established AMBER Alert systems that covered all or parts of the state. A bipartisan group of US Senators, led by Kay Bailey Hutchison and Dianne Feinstein, proposed legislation to name an AMBER Alert coordinator in the U.S. Justice Department who could help coordinate state efforts. The bill also provided $25 million in federal matching grants for states to establish AMBER Alert programs and necessary equipment purchases, such as electronic highway signs. A similar bill was sponsored in the U.S. House of Representatives by Jennifer Dunn and Martin Frost.[24] The bill passed the Senate unanimously within a week of its proposal.[13] At an October 2002 conference on missing, exploited, and runaway children, President George W. Bush announced changes to the AMBER Alert system, including the development of a national standard for issuing AMBER Alerts.[25] A similar bill passed the House several weeks later on a 390–24 vote.[26] A related bill finally became law in April 2003.[27]
The alerts were offered digitally beginning in November 2002, when America Online began a service allowing people sign up to receive notification via computer, pager, or cell phone. Users of the service enter their ZIP code, thus allowing the alerts to be targeted to specific geographic regions.[28]
By 2005, all fifty states had operational programs and today the program operates across state and jurisdictional boundaries.[29] As of January 1, 2013, AMBER Alerts are automatically sent through the Wireless Emergency Alerts (WEA) program.[30] Apple Inc.'s Devices have a option to turn on or off amber alerts to be sent to them right away.
Canada[edit]
Canada's system began in December 2002, when Alberta launched the first province-wide system. At the time, Alberta Solicitor-General Heather Forsyth said "We anticipate an Amber Alert will only be issued once a year in Alberta. We hope we never have to use it, but if a child is abducted Amber Alert is another tool police can use to find them and help them bring the child home safely."[31] The Alberta government committed to spending more than CA$1 million to expanding the province's emergency warning system so that it could be used effectively for Amber Alerts.[31] Other Canadian provinces soon adopted the system, and by May 2004, Saskatchewan was the only province that had not established an Amber Alert system.[32] Within the next year, the program was in use throughout the country.Amber Alerts may also be distributed via the Alert Ready emergency alert system, which disrupts programming on all radio, television stations, and television providers in the relevant region to display and play audio of Amber Alert information.[33][34]
British Columbia[edit]
Translink, the corporation responsible for the regional transportation network of Metro Vancouver in British Columbia, Canada, displays Amber alerts on all their buses' digital signs reading "AMBER ALERT | Listen to radio | Bus #". Details of the Amber alert information are also available on screens at transit stations.Quebec[edit]
The program was introduced in Quebec on May 26, 2003. The name AMBER alert was then adapted in French to Alerte Médiatique But Enfant Recherché, which directly translates as "Media Alert for Child Recovery". In order to launch an AMBER alert, police authorities need to meet 4 criteria simultaneously and with no exceptions:- The missing person is a child under the age of 18.
- The police have reason to believe that the missing child has been abducted.
- The police have reason to believe that the physical safety or the life of the child is in serious danger.
- The police have information that may help locate the child, the suspect and/or the suspect's vehicle.[35]
Over the years, the program gathered more partners in order for the alert to be communicated on different media platforms. As in Ontario, lottery crown corporation Loto-Québec puts to the disposition of the police forces their 8500 terminals located throughout the province. Some of these terminals are equipped with a screen that faces the customer which makes it the largest network of its kind to operate in Canada. The technology employed enables them to broadcast the message on the entire network in under 10 minutes. In addition, The Canadian Wireless Telecommunications Association (CWTA) offers to most Canadians, upon free subscription, the possibility to receive, via text message, on their mobile devices AMBER alert notices.
Since its introduction in Quebec, every AMBER alert has had positive results.[36][37]
Ontario[edit]
Ontario furthered its reach beyond media and highway signs by offering Amber Alerts on the province's 9,000 lottery terminal screens.[38]After the abduction and murder of Victoria Stafford, an online petition was started by Suzie Pereira, a single mother of 2 children who gathered over 61,000 signatures, prompting a review of the Amber Alert. There was some concern regarding the strict criteria for issuing the alerts – criteria that was not met in the Stafford case – that resulted in an alert not being issued. Ontario Provincial Police have since changed their rules for issuing an alert from having to confirm an abduction and confirm threat of harm, to believe that a child has been abducted and believe is at risk of harm.[39][40]
Mexico[edit]
Mexico joined international efforts to spread the use of the AMBER alert at an official launch ceremony on April 28, 2011.[41][42]Australia[edit]
The Australian state of Queensland implemented a version of the AMBER Alerts in May 2005.[43] Other Australian states joined Queensland in Facebook's Amber Alert program in June 2017.[44]Europe[edit]
Logo AMBER Alert Europe
AMBER Alert Europe is an international non-profit organisation with 28 members (law enforcement, ministries & NGOs) in 20 countries. It exists to provide an EU wide response to the EU objective on Child Alerts, which states that an early warning system for child abductions, with cross-border interoperability, should be established in all 28 EU countries.[47] AMBER Alert Europe uses the same technology as the Dutch AMBER Alert plan.[48]
The first cross-border AMBER Alert was issued in the early morning of May 8, 2013 for two Dutch brothers. The boys' photo was displayed on large screens in the Belgian province of Limbourg and in North Rhine-Westphalia (Germany) and has received extensive media attention in the Netherlands, Belgium and Germany. The bodies of the children were found on May 19, 2013 near Cothen (the Netherlands).[49][50][51][52]
In 2014, AMBER Alert Europe launched the Police Expert Network on Missing Children. Goal of the network is to allow missing children police experts to quickly and informally contact their colleagues in other European member states and exchange best practices.[53]
France[edit]
In February 2006, France's Justice ministry launched an apparatus based on the AMBER alerts named Alerte-Enlèvement (abduction alert) or Dispositif Alerte-Enlèvement (abduction alert apparatus) with the help of most media and railroad and motorway companies.Netherlands[edit]
Logo AMBER Alert Nederland
Currently, AMBER Alert has 3 million participants including thousands of large organizations.[59] In addition, the last AMBER Alert that was issued, was seen by more than 12 million Dutch citizens (89 percent of the Dutch population).[60] With a success rate of 92 percent, the Dutch AMBER Alert system is an example of effective citizen sourcing.[61]
An AMBER Alert is issued when a child is missing or abducted and the Dutch police fear that the life or health of the child is in imminent danger. The system enables the police to immediately alert press and public nationwide, by means of electronic highway signs, TV, radio, social media, PCs, large advertising screens (digital signage), email, text messages, apps, printable posters, RSS news feeds, website banners and pop-ups.[55] There are four key criteria in The Netherlands to be met before an AMBER Alert is issued:
- The child is (very likely) abducted by an unknown person or persons or the child is missing and its life is in imminent danger
- The victim is a minor (under 18 years of age);
- There is enough information about the victim to increase the chances of the child being found by means of an AMBER Alert, such as a photo, information about the abductor or the vehicle used during the abduction;
- The AMBER Alert is issued as soon as possible after the abduction or disappearance of the child.[54]
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