* FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
* WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 13, 2010
* WWW.OJP.USDOJ.GOV
DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE OBSERVES ANNIVERSARY OF AMBER ALERT PROGRAM
495 Children Recovered to Date
WASHINGTON - The U.S. Department of Justice's Office of Justice Programs today observes the anniversary of the AMBER Alert program by asking that all individuals assist in the work of recovering abducted children by being aware and responsive to AMBER Alert postings. Since its creation in 1996, the AMBER Alert program has helped to find and safely recover 495 abducted children. Today all 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands have AMBER Alert plans.
On January 13, 1996, Amber Hagerman was abducted while riding her bicycle and was then brutally murdered. The AMBER (America's Missing: Broadcast Emergency Response) Alert network was created after her tragic death. AMBER Alerts are emergency messages broadcast when a law enforcement agency determines that a child has been abducted and is in imminent danger. The broadcasts include information about the child and abductor that could lead to the child's recovery, such as physical description and information about the abductor's vehicle. The AMBER Alert program began in 1996 when Dallas-Fort Worth broadcasters teamed up with local police to develop an early warning system to help find abducted children.
