The Campus Voice

Issue date: 11/10/09 Section: Opinion

Media Credit: TJ Sanchez [Click to enlarge]

[Click to enlarge]

With an alarming number of missing children inundating the nightly news, law enforcement officers, community members, and parents are educating themselves on the Amber Alert process and getting abducted children back into the arms of their families.

Thanks to the AMBER Alert system; however, 492 children have successfully returned home.

Six alerts currently remain unsolved, one dating as far back as September of 2000.

That may seem like a low number, but it is the lives of children and they are one of the most valuable treasures known to man. All of the efforts that have occurred and that are underway are well worth the time and investment.

According to the AMBER Alert website, there are guidelines for posting a new alert to insure accurateness and uniformity.

First, law enforcement officers must confirm that there has indeed been an abduction. Stranger abductions are the most dangerous for children and it is the primary focus of an AMBER Alert. Everyone involved must act quickly, but a good evaluation of all information is

Second, the child must be at least 17 years of age or younger. And third, the law-enforcement agency must have reason to believe that the child is in imminent danger of serious bodily injury or death.

AMBER Alerts have been proven successful.

In Sarasota County, in September of 2009, an AMBER Alert was issued on a 3-year-old child who was in the custody of a babysitter. The mother of the child instructed the babysitter to bring the child back home but he refused. The babysitter saw the AMBER Alert and contacted law enforcement to turn himself in.

Another positive success story happened in Miami-Dade County.

An AMBER Alert was issued on a 22-month-old child who was taken by the non-custodial mother. It was believed by the law enforcement agency that the AMBER Alert exposure convinced the mother to return the child.

The national Wireless AMBER Alerts Initiative is a voluntary partnership between the United States Department of Justice, the wireless industry, and the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children (NCMEC), to distribute AMBER Alerts to wireless subscribers who choose to receive the messages and are able to receive text messages on their wireless devices.

You can register at www.wirelessamberalerts.org.

Statistics show that the first three hours after a child's abduction are most critical to recovery efforts. Taking advantage of wireless devices only heightened the chances of a victim to be found.

For more information please contact the Florida Department of Law Enforcement at

1-888-356-4774.

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