NCJ Number
219418
Date Published
2006
Length
0 pages
Annotation
This DVD instructs Utah law enforcement officers, broadcasters, and the general public about the nature and implementation of an AMBER Alert in a case of child abduction.
Abstract
The DVD first explains that an AMBER Alert is issued only when a case known to police meets all of four criteria. First, based on current evidence, do the police believe the child reported missing has been abducted? Second, is the victim believed to be facing imminent danger of serious bodily injury or death? Third, is there information that could assist the public in the safe recovery of the victim or apprehension of a suspect? Unless police can answer all four questions a "yes," they should not issue an AMBER Alert for a missing child. These criteria must be met in order to ensure that the AMBER Alert is restricted to serious cases of child abduction. It is important that the AMBER Alert not lose its credibility as an action used only for serious cases that require an immediate and large-scale involvement of police, the media, private-sector entities, and the general public. The DVD portrays one case of the successful use of the AMBER Alert across State borders. The child abduction occurred in Minnesota, and the police in Minnesota had information that the suspected abductor was taking the child to Utah. Consequently, the police in Minnesota extended the AMBER Alert to Utah, where it received full play as if the abduction had occurred in Utah. The child was recovered when a Utah State trooper monitoring one of the highways likely to be used by the suspect calculated the approximate travel time from Minnesota and then recognized the vehicle based on the description in the AMBER Alert.