NCJ Number
252164
Date Published
May 2018
Length
42 pages
Annotation
After reviewing the history and operational strategy of AMBER Alert, which is a system for finding children (age 17 or younger) believed by law enforcement to have been abducted, this report presents information on AMBER Alerts issued in the 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands from January 1, 2017, through December 31, 2017.
Abstract
Under criteria set by AMBER Alert, a child's recovery is considered a "success story" when his/her safe recovery occurred as a direct result of the AMBER Alert being issued. Over the period covered by this report, 195 AMBER Alerts were issued, involving 263 children. Of these cases, 193 resulted in a recovery, 39 of which were recovered as a direct result of an AMBER Alert being issued. As of February 26, 2018, when statistics for this report were finalized for the AMBER Alerts issued in 2017, 2 children remained missing and 6 children were deceased when located. In 2017, 79 percent (n=154) of AMBER Alerts were issued state-/territory wide; 21 percent (n=40) of AMBER Alerts were issued regionally, and 1 percent (n=1) of AMBER Alerts were issue locally. Various details of the cases are provided, including month of occurrence, hoaxes, characteristics of children reported missing, time between activation and recovery, travel distance, missing and recovery locations, international abductions, and a 5-year comparison of AMBER Alerts issued. 23 figures and a map showing location of AMBER Alerts