Amber (information system)

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AMBER is a system for disseminating child missing persons reports in the United States . It was introduced in 1996 after Amber Hagerman's child abduction . Search messages are broadcast via the connected radio stations and traffic information boards. The system is a voluntary cooperation between the police, broadcasters, transport companies and telecommunications providers .

Function and range

Authorities can send a message, which is then broadcast in the current program of the connected radio stations in the affected area. The technical means of the Emergency Alert System (EAS) are used. The reports are organized regionally by a "federal state coordinator". If other areas are affected, a more extensive alarm can be triggered.

All US states, the District of Columbia , Indian Country, Puerto Rico, the US Virgin Islands and 22 other countries are connected to the system.

In September 2016, the Wireless Emergency Alerts (WEA) went into operation, a system that sends search messages to smartphones via WLAN.

Europe

Germany

The Missing Children initiative calls for an AMBER alarm system to be set up in Germany as well. This means that messages via social networks, information screens at train stations, mobile applications and via SMS and WhatsApp can be distributed nationwide at the same time. More than six million people could be informed within three hours, the initiative states.

Luxembourg

Official logo of AMBER Alert Luxembourg
Official logo of AMBER Alert Luxembourg

Luxembourg has had an extensive AMBER system since 2016, with the American name being adopted because of its memorability and the fact that it has already partially spread to the population. In cases of kidnapping, search reports with information on the alleged perpetrator and the missing child are sent directly to television and radio stations. At the same time, search messages and descriptions are automatically transmitted to publicly accessible screens (e.g. in supermarkets, cinemas, day-care centers, swimming pools, sports centers) via specially set up systems and transmission protocols and displayed there with priority. The search for perpetrators or children using the electronic information boards along the highways proved to be particularly effective. In addition, the search report is distributed to the Luxembourg population through cooperation with Internet companies such as Google and Facebook in social networks, in Google Maps and via email.

The Luxembourg authorities use the system not only for child abductions, but also for suspected child abuse, if the information received does not allow any conclusions to be drawn about the current whereabouts of the victim.

criticism

According to Facebook, between 1997 and February 2017, a total of 868 children in the United States were found using the AMBER Alert System.

In the US, studies have repeatedly shown that around three quarters of search reports are false positives. The other quarter consists mainly of cases in which the child is with the non-custodial parent.

University of Nevada criminologist Timothy Griffin and co-author Monica Miller have investigated hundreds of cases and concluded that AMBER was only a very small part of the children's repatriation. The system is particularly successful in more harmless cases, when the child is “kidnapped” by a relative or a parent without custody. On the rare occasions when the kidnapper intended to kill or rape, the system almost always failed to prevent worse. They argue that the system is more theatrical than fighting crime. It is a constructed solution to a very rare but obnoxious problem.

The risk of a child being kidnapped is one in a million in the United States. The risk of being beaten, mistreated or starved to death by parents or friends at home is much greater than a kidnapping. The program therefore draws attention to a problem that is clearly overrated because it is very present in the media.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b AMBER Alert - America's Missing: Broadcast Emergency Response. Retrieved September 4, 2017 .
  2. ↑ a b Jana Stegemann: "The first 24 hours are most important" . In: sueddeutsche.de . May 25, 2015, ISSN  0174-4917 ( sueddeutsche.de [accessed September 4, 2017]).
  3. ↑ a b Frequently Asked Questions: Wireless Emergency Alerts | FEMA.gov. Retrieved September 4, 2017 .
  4. ↑ AMBER Alerts and Wireless Emergency Alerts FAQ (English) ( Memento from March 17, 2013 in the Internet Archive )
  5. ↑ AMBER Alert in action - AMBER Alert Luxembourg . In: AMBER Alert Luxembourg . ( amberalert.lu [accessed July 10, 2018]).
  6. ↑ AMBER Alert Luxembourg - AMBER Alert Luxembourg . In: AMBER Alert Luxembourg . ( amberalert.lu [accessed July 10, 2018]).
  7. ↑ Missing Children Fast Facts. CNN, April 23, 2017, accessed September 27, 2017 .
  8. ↑ Facebook expands emergency 'Amber Alert' system to help find missing children. In: mirror.co.uk. June 22, 2017, accessed September 27, 2017 .
  9. ↑ Thomas Hargrove " False alarms endangering future of Amber Alert system " (2005) - Scripps Howard News Service.
  10. ↑ Amber Alert Report 2014. Accessed February 4, 2019 .
  11. ↑ Griffin, T .; Miller, MK; Hoppe, J .; Rebideaux, A .; Hammack, R .: A Preliminary Examination of AMBER Alert's Effects. December 1, 2007, accessed February 4, 2019 .
  12. ↑ Drake Bennett: Abducted! In: Boston.com . July 20, 2008 (English, boston.com [accessed February 4, 2019]).