Amber Alert Program Technology
Linda K. Moore
Specialist in Telecommunications Policy
September 9, 2009
Congressional Research Service
7-5700
www.crs.gov
RS21453
CRS Report for Congress
P
repared for Members and Committees of Congress
Amber Alert Program Technology
Summary
Amber Alerts (also referred to as AMBER plans) use technology to disseminate information
about child abductions in a timely manner. Research has found that most abducted children
murdered by their kidnappers are killed within three hours of the abduction. Prompt response to
child abductions is therefore deemed critical by many. Amber Alert plans are voluntary
partnerships including law enforcement agencies, highway departments, and companies that
support emergency alerts. Technologies used for alerts include the Emergency Alert System
(EAS), highway messages boards, telephone alert systems, the Internet, text messaging, and e-
mail. All 50 states have statewide Amber Alert programs. Because kidnappers can cross state lines
with their victims, the Department of Justice will often be involved in responding to an abduction.
For this and other reasons, there is increased federal involvement in and support of Amber Alert
plans.
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Amber Alert Program Technology
Contents
How Amber Alerts Work ............................................................................................................. 1
Amber Alerts and All-Hazards Warnings ..................................................................................... 1
Emergency Alert System (EAS) .................................................................................................. 2
Presidential Initiatives and The Department of Justice ................................................................. 2
National Emergency Child Locator Center .................................................................................. 3
National Center for Missing Adults ............................................................................................. 3
State Initiatives ........................................................................................................................... 4
Contacts
Author Contact Information ........................................................................................................ 4
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Amber Alert Program Technology
How Amber Alerts Work
Amber Alerts1 (also referred to as AMBER2) use technology to disseminate information about
child abductions in a timely manner. Typically an Amber Alert is triggered for children under 18
who are believed by law enforcement officers to have been abducted (except in cases of parental
abduction). Research has found that most abducted children murdered by their kidnappers are
killed within three hours of the abduction. Prompt response to child abductions is therefore
deemed critical by many. Law enforcement officers are encouraged to send out an alert if
circumstances indicate that the child is in harm’s way, if they have sufficient descriptive
information about the child and/or the abductor for an alert, and if they believe that the immediate
broadcast of an alert will help. When there is information about a vehicle used in an abduction,
this information will usually be transmitted to highway message boards, if that technology is in
place. While each plan sets its own parameters, most follow guidelines set by the National Center
for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC).
A typical Amber Alert would include an Emergency Alert System (EAS) broadcast, alerts on
highway message boards, and notifications to public service partners such as police, highway
patrols and the field crews of public utilities. A number of counties and cities have Amber Alert
programs that notify local residents using e-mail or telephone alert systems to aid in the recovery
of abducted children. Alerts can also be sent by text messages to cell phones and other wireless
devices. AT&T Mobility, Sprint Nextel, Verizon Wireless and T-Mobile are among the wireless
service providers that participate in the Amber Alert network; subscribers can sign up for free text
messages.3 These systems have the advantage of targeting selected audiences by function or
geographical location but may not be received in a timely manner; telephone alert systems, for
example, can be blocked by call-screening technologies.
Amber Alerts and All-Hazards Warnings
Some states participate in a consortium that operates an Amber Alert Web Portal using Internet
technology.4 Information about an Amber Alert is sent to a web portal and reconfigured for
different types of broadcasting, including cell phones, pagers, e-mail, highway signs, TV news
websites, and emergency communications centers. The technology allows police officers to
transmit details and photos through encrypted computer systems in patrol cars. Information,
therefore, is disseminated both more quickly and more widely, maximizing the opportunity to
find a missing child in the critical first three hours. The alert system is managed from a dedicated
web portal that can be accessed by statewide or local systems. The software recognizes the
reported locations of abductions and sends emergency messages to targeted areas.
1 Named after Amber Hagerman, kidnapped and murdered in 1996. Websites with additional information include
http://codeamber.org/ and the site of the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, http://www.ncmec.org.
2 For “America’s Missing: Broadcast Emergency Response.”
3 For more information, see http://www.wirelessfoundation.org and https://www.wirelessamberalerts.org/index.jsp.
4 For more information, see http://www.amberalert911.com/.
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Amber Alert Program Technology
Emergency Alert System (EAS)5
EAS sends emergency messages with the cooperation of broadcast radio and television and most
cable television stations. Its most common use is for weather alerts. EAS technology is also used
in the Amber Alert programs administered in some states and communities. To facilitate
transmittal, EAS messages are classified by types of events, which are coded. These event codes
speed the recognition and retransmittal process at broadcast stations. For example, a tornado
warning is TOR, evacuation immediate is EVI, a civil emergency message is CEM. When a
message is received at the broadcast station, it can be relayed to the public either as a program
interruption or, for television, a “crawl” at the bottom of the TV screen. In the early stages of
Amber Alert program development the CEM (civil emergency) event code was used for EAS
messages. In February 2002, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) added several new
event and location codes for broadcast and cable stations to use; included was a Child Abduction
Emergency (CAE) event code. Although broadcaster participation is mandatory for national
alerts, the participation of broadcast and cable stations in state and local emergency
announcements is voluntary.
Presidential Initiatives and The Department of
Justice6
Because kidnappers can cross state lines with their victims, the Department of Justice will often
be involved in responding to an abduction. For this and other reasons there is increased federal
involvement in and support of Amber Alert plans. However, critics are concerned about the
possibility of false arrests, overzealous vigilantism, the release of sensitive information about
minors, and confusion with homeland security alerts.
The Bush Administration and Congress encouraged federal support for Amber Alerts and other
types of alert programs. For example, in October 2002, President George W. Bush requested that
the Department of Justice establish standards for the issuing and dissemination of Amber Alerts.
On April 30, 2003, the president signed into law the PROTECT Act (P.L. 108-21), formally
establishing the federal government’s role in the Amber Alert system. The Office of Justice
Programs, at the Department of Justice, now includes an Amber Alert division, the National
AMBER Alert Initiative.7 The Department of Justice, the Department of Transportation, NCMEC,
broadcasters, and law enforcement officers collaborate on national strategies for the Amber Alert
program. One collaborative initiative was to develop standard procedures for emergency call
takers responding to a report of a missing or abused child. Members of the joint committee that
developed the standard included the Association of Public-Safety Communications Officials
(APCO), the National Academies of Emergency Dispatch (NAED), the National Emergency
Number Association (NENA), NCMEC, and the Department of Justice. The American National
5 See CRS Report RL32527, The Emergency Alert System (EAS) and All-Hazard Warnings, by Linda K. Moore.
6 Broader policy issues are discussed in CRS Report RL34050, Missing and Exploited Children: Background, Policies,
and Issues, by Adrienne L. Fernandes.
7 See http://www.amberalert.gov/.
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Standards Institute (ANSI) Board of Standards Review approved the standard in December 2007
[APCO American National Standard (ANS)1.101.1-2007].8
National Emergency Child Locator Center
The National Emergency Child Locator Center has been established within NCMEC, as required
by the Homeland Security Appropriations Act, 2007 (P.L. 109-295, Title VI, Subtitle E).9 The
purpose of the center is to identify children separated from their families as the consequence of a
disaster and reunite them expeditiously. NCMEC is to operate a toll-free call center, set up a
website with information about displaced children, and take other steps to collect and disseminate
information about the children and their families. NCMEC established a website with links to
reports of missing children and missing adults in the aftermath of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita.10
National Center for Missing Adults
Amber Alert technology and alerting techniques are also used for other missing person
notifications. A number of local or faith-based organizations maintain services to assist in locating
missing adults. The National Center for Missing Adults (NCMA)11 operates as the national
clearinghouse for missing adults. NCMA also maintains a national database of missing adults
determined to be “endangered” or otherwise at-risk. NCMA was formally established after the
passage of Kristen’s Act (P.L. 106-468).12 NCMA is a division of the Nation’s Missing Children
Organization, Inc. (NMCO)—a 501c (3) non-profit organization working in cooperation with the
U.S. Department of Justice’s Bureau of Justice Assistance, Office of Justice Programs.13
Kristen’s Act authorized the Attorney General to make grants to public agencies or not-for-profit
organizations to perform these functions:
• to assist law enforcement and families in locating missing adults;
• to maintain a national, interconnected database for the purpose of tracking
missing adults who are determined by law enforcement to be endangered due to
age, diminished mental capacity, or the circumstances of disappearance, when
foul play is suspected or circumstances are unknown;
• to maintain statistical information of adults reported as missing;
• to provide informational resources and referrals to families of missing adults;
• to assist in public notification and victim advocacy related to missing adults; and
8 APCO News, “New Standard Addresses Handling Reports of Missing Children,” January 22, 2008 at
http://www.apcointl.org/new/news/missing-children-standard.php. Viewed January 25, 2008.
9 P.L. 109-295, Sec. 689b, 120 STAT1449-1450.
10 See http://www.missingkids.com/missingkids/servlet/PageServlet?LanguageCountry=en_US&PageId=2077.
11 See http://www.theyaremissed.org/ncma/content.php?webid=about_ncma.
12 See http://www.theyaremissed.org/ncma/content.php?webid=kristens_law.
13 See http://www.theyaremissed.org/ncma/content.php?webid=about_nmco.
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• to establish and maintain a national clearinghouse for missing adults.14
State Initiatives
All 50 states operate Amber Alert programs15 for missing children. Many states have extended
their Amber Alert programs to include missing adults or participate in other alert programs. Silver
Alert programs, for example, are operated for the benefit of those with Alzheimer’s Disease and
other cognitive impairments.16 Silver Alerts are modeled on Amber Alerts and use many of the
same technologies and information channels for disseminating information.17 CRS has prepared
an analysis of 11 states with active alert programs, evaluating program features such as legal
authority, administrative responsibility, training, and interstate coordination.18 The states are:
Colorado, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, Rhode Island,
Texas, and Virginia.
Author Contact Information
Linda K. Moore
Specialist in Telecommunications Policy
lmoore@crs.loc.gov, 7-5853
14 P.L. 106-268, Sec. 2 114 STAT 2027.
15 A list of state contact is at http://www.amberalert.gov/state_contacts.htm.
16 Example of state Silver Alert programs are provided in Silver Alert Initiatives in the States, National Association of
State Units on Aging, May 1, 2008 at http://www.nasua.org/pdf/
Silver%20Alert%20Initiatives%20in%20the%20states.pdf.
17 Information at http://nationalsilveralert.org/.
18 CRS Report R40552, Alert Systems for Missing Adults in Eleven States: Background and Issues for Congress, by
Adrienne L. Fernandes and Kirsten J. Colello.
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