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Known as
the AMBER Alert system, the governor said a new partnership with the
Illinois Broadcasters Association and National Weather Service will
enable the Illinois State Police to send information on missing or
abducted children to radio and television outlets throughout the
state for immediate broadcast.
“The
National Weather Service and the state's broadcasters have agreed to
help us make an important program even better,” said Blagojevich.
“With their help, we will now be able to alert the public almost
immediately when a child disappears. This provides yet another means
to help recover a missing child quickly and safely.”
Blagojevich was joined in making the announcement at the 1st
District Police Station on Chicago's south side by representatives
from the Illinois Broadcasters
Association,
Illinois State Police,
Illinois Toll Highway Authority,
Illinois Department of Transportation and
National Weather Service.
The new
system will allow law enforcement to send AMBER Alerts using the
Emergency Alert System, which also delivers emergency storm
warnings, to television and radio newsrooms. Stations will then be
able to insert a prerecorded message directly into broadcasts, which
will include details about the missing child and the abduction. The
new system will also have the ability to target alerts to the region
of the state where the child was reported missing or abducted.
“This is
a common-sense way that we can use existing technology to improve a
critical system,” Blagojevich said.
AMBER
Alerts are issued when a child under the age of 16 or person with
mental or physical disabilities is reported missing and the police
have reason to believe the child is in danger of serious bodily harm
or death.
Currently, when information is received about a missing or abducted
child, local law enforcement officials contact the Illinois State
Police, who then work with the Illinois Emergency Management Agency
to send a fax to 180 major broadcasters statewide. In addition,
electronic notification signs are posted on the state's tollways and
highways.
Once the
new system is operational, the Illinois State Police will be able to
target any of the state's 1,100 broadcasters with the message and
more efficiently focus their outreach in the area where the
abduction took place. In addition, the new system's use of the EAS
audio alert to newsrooms will ensure that AMBER Alerts do not sit
unnoticed on broadcasters' fax machines.
[to top of second column in
this article] |
An AMBER
Alert issued in Pennsylvania last weekend helped law enforcement
officials locate and recover a 13-year-old girl and her abductor.
The girl had been taken from her home the night before, after the
abductor allegedly killed both of her parents. Before the girl's
father died, he was able to identify the abductor. Local law
enforcement officials who had been tipped off by the AMBER Alert
chased the abductor and safely recovered the girl.
“We know
that locating missing children in the first few hours after their
disappearance significantly increases the chances of a safe
recovery,” said Larry Trent, director of the Illinois State Police.
“By partnering to maximize our outreach when a child is discovered
missing, we will hopefully prevent future tragedies.”
At
today's press conference, Blagojevich also unveiled plans to set up
a computerized AMBER Alert system, enabling the state police to
e-mail alerts to broadcasters and instantly update the Illinois
State Police website with photographs and new information on
abduction cases for other law enforcement agencies, the media and
the general public. In addition, all AMBER Alert notices will be
posted at www.illinois.gov,
the state's website, and linked to the details on the state police
website.
Both the
website database and the new broadcast alert system are expected to
be up and running by early summer.
“We're
going to use every tool available to recover children quickly. In
minutes, we will be able to fax and e-mail notices to as many as
1,100 broadcasters who can disseminate the information to the public
quickly. In the same move, we will provide law enforcement officials
with the information they need to search for missing children,” said
Blagojevich.
The
AMBER Alert system has been activated four times in Illinois since
it was implemented on Jan. 31, 2002. In three of those cases the
abducted child was safely recovered.
AMBER
Alerts are named in memory of a Texas girl, Amber Hagerman, who was
abducted and killed in 1996. AMBER also is an acronym for America's
Missing: Broadcast Emergency Response.
[Illinois
Government News Network
press release] |
