Department of Justice Observes Anniversary of Amber Alert Program

/PRNewswire/ -- 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.

"When a child is missing, the focus of the nation is on making a safe recovery," said Laurie O. Robinson, the Assistant Attorney General for the Office of Justice Programs and National AMBER Alert Coordinator. "Significant and important advancements to the AMBER Alert program have assisted in these recoveries and energized us to continue improving, strengthening and promoting this important tool."

The AMBER Alert network includes law enforcement, broadcasters, transportation officials, the wireless industry, trucking carriers, retail outlets and many more. The PROTECT Act, signed into law in April 2003, statutorily established the national AMBER Alert Coordinator's role.

Since that time, AMBER Alert has made remarkable progress:

-- All 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and the U.S.
Virgin Islands have AMBER Alert plans, creating a network of plans
nationwide to aid in the recovery of abducted children.
-- To protect children from being transported across international
borders, the Department of Justice collaborated with the Canadian
provinces to expand AMBER Alert into Canada, and is working to expand
AMBER Alert into the Mexican border states.
-- Tribal nations are working to develop their own plans tailored to
their specific needs so that children in Indian country may benefit
from AMBER Alert.
-- Ninety-eight percent of the 495 AMBER Alert recoveries have occurred
since AMBER Alert became a nationally coordinated effort in 2002.
-- The AMBER Alert Secondary Distribution Program (AASD) which enhances
AMBER Alert activations for law enforcement and the general public,
has been widely expanded to include various internet providers,
outdoor digital signage systems, coordinated highway networks and
public and private employers.
-- Anecdotal evidence demonstrates that perpetrators are well aware of
the power of AMBER Alert, and in many cases have released an abducted
child upon hearing the alert.


The Office of Justice Programs (OJP), headed by Assistant Attorney General Laurie O. Robinson, provides federal leadership in developing the nation's capacity to prevent and control crime, administer justice, and assist victims. OJP has five component bureaus: the Bureau of Justice Assistance; the Bureau of Justice Statistics; the National Institute of Justice; the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention; and the Office for Victims of Crime. In addition, OJP has two program offices: the Community Capacity Development Office, which incorporates the Weed and Seed strategy, and the Office of Sex Offender Sentencing, Monitoring, Apprehending, Registering, and Tracking (SMART). More information can be found at http://www.ojp.gov/.

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Department of Justice Observes AMBER Alert Awareness Day

/PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The U.S. Department of Justice commemorated the 13-year anniversary of the AMBER Alert program today by outlining its tremendous success and announcing the latest tool to aid in the search for missing persons.

The PROTECT Act, which President Bush signed into law in April 2003, statutorily established the national AMBER Alert Coordinator role within the Department of Justice. Since that time, AMBER Alert has made remarkable progress:

-- All 50 states have statewide AMBER Alert plans, creating a network of
systems to aid in the recovery of abducted children nationwide.
-- A secondary distribution effort undertaken in partnership with
wireless companies, online service providers, and other private and
public entities enables AMBER Alerts to be sent directly to the
public.
-- Tribal nations are working to develop their own plans tailored to
their specific needs so that children in Indian country may benefit
from AMBER Alert.
-- More than 90 percent of the 432 AMBER Alert recoveries have occurred
since the program became a nationally coordinated effort in 2002.
-- Anecdotal evidence suggests that perpetrators are well aware of the
power of AMBER Alert, and in many cases have released an abducted
child upon hearing the alert.


"The Department of Justice leads our federal government's commitment to protecting children and to supporting families at every possible place of vulnerability in our society," said Office of Justice Programs' Assistant Attorney General Jeffrey L. Sedgwick, who serves as the National Amber Alert Coordinator. "Over 400 children have been recovered as a result of the Amber Alert network. This unprecedented partnership between law enforcement, alert citizens, and the news media continues to be one of the most effective tools employed to protect children."

On January 13, 1996, Amber Hagerman was abducted while riding her bicycle and then brutally murdered. The AMBER (America's Missing: Broadcast Emergency Response) Alert network was created after her tragic death to provide emergency broadcast messages to the public when law enforcement determines that a child has been abducted. AMBER Alert broadcasts include information about the child and the abductor, including physical descriptions and information about the abductor's vehicle, which could lead to the child's recovery.

In a related effort, the Department of Justice is raising awareness about its latest public resource to aid in the search for the missing. The Department's National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NamUs) Initiative consists of a missing persons database and a database of unidentified remains which will ultimately interconnect to search and match records later this year. The missing persons component of NamUs is now available to accept missing persons data from law enforcement and the public at www.namus.gov. The unidentified remains component of NamUs was launched in 2007 and currently serves as the nation's sole repository for information on unidentified remains.

NamUs provides access nationally to criminal justice personnel and the general public for reporting, locating, and matching missing persons to unidentified remains records. The NamUs initiative has been supported by a number of key participants in the nation's effort to solve missing persons cases, including the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. Individuals can search the NamUs database using characteristics such as demographics, anthropologic assessments, dental information, and distinct body features.

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Amber Alert Issued for Georgia Child

Editor's Note: The license plate for the black Cadillac is 616HWS.

If you have information, please contact Burke County Sheriff's Office, 706-554-2133.

A three year old white male, Isaiah Ezekiel Tan, has been abducted. He was last seen in Midville, Georgia, wearing a navy blue t-shirt and cartoon underwear. The child is 3'2" and weighs 36 pounds.

He is believed to be with suspect Deloris Marie Miller, age 46, in a black cadillac with Tennessee plates. Miller is 5'6", weighs 150 pounds ad has brown hair and eyes. She was last seen wearing a light brown button-up shirt with blue jeans and black tennis shoes.

It is believed the vehicle may be traveling to Tennessee.

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Amber Alert issued for Two Florida Children

The State of Florida issued the Amber Alert Wednesday morning after the children were reportedly abducted by a male relative. THe suspect made threats against the children ans is considered armed and dangerous.

Angela Ragins a 12 year old Caucasian female with blond hair and blue eyes.

James Ragins a 14 year old Caucasian male with blond hair and blue eyes.

The suspect is James Ragins, 36, who is a white male, about 6 feet 2 inches tall, with brown hair and brown eyes.

The suspect vehicle is a 1990 white Chevrolet Blazer, with a champagne-colored stripe down the side and Florida tag 534-IKX.

Lake County Sheriff's Office at 352-343-2101 or 911.

More information may be available at http://codeamber.c.topica.com/maalWSXabIbkkbLmA6JbafpLR8/

OAAA Partners with the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children for Outdoor Advertising AMBER Alert Initiative

The Outdoor Advertising Association of America (OAAA) today announced a new initiative that will use digital billboards to help recover abducted children across the country. OAAA, the industry group representing outdoor advertising companies, is partnering with the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children (NCMEC) as a secondary AMBER AlertTM distributor.

“Digital billboards are on the cutting edge of outdoor advertising technology and are uniquely suited to purposes like AMBER Alerts,” said Nancy Fletcher, OAAA’s president and CEO. “Because they can be updated by computer, AMBER Alerts on digital billboards can reach thousands of drivers within minutes of the Alert being issued.”

The AMBER Alert Program, operated by the U.S. Department of Justice, is a voluntary partnership between law-enforcement agencies, media outlets, and transportation agencies to activate an urgent bulletin in the most serious child abduction cases.

OAAA’s new initiative enhances the overall goal of the AMBER Alert program – to notify as many people as possible about a recent child abduction, and to provide information which can help in the search for the abducted child, suspected abductor, and/or suspected vehicle and in the safe return of the child. AMBER Alerts will be distributed by a central computer server to OAAA members participating in the program which fall within the specific, geographically targeted areas for the Alert.

“Today’s announcement reflects the dynamic progress we continue to make in improving the AMBER Alert system. This exciting initiative shows that public-private partnerships are central to the protection of our children,” said Jeff Sedgwick, the Acting Assistant Attorney General of the Office of Justice Programs and the National AMBER Alert Coordinator.

The program is named after 9-year-old Amber Hagerman, who in 1996 was abducted while riding her bike in her Texas neighborhood and later found murdered. Since the program’s inception in 1997, AMBER Alerts have been credited with the successful recovery of more than 399 children.

“The success of the AMBER Alert program is directly related to people’s willingness to get involved, which is invaluable,” said John Kelly, Chairman of NCMEC’s Board of Directors. “OAAA’s digital technology will allow thousands more to join the search and aid in the rescue and recovery of these children.”

Initial OAAA members participating in the partnership include CBS Outdoor, Clear Channel Outdoor, Epic Outdoor Advertising, Fairway Outdoor Advertising, Lamar Advertising Company, Magic Media, Norton Outdoor Advertising, Titan Outdoor, and YESCO (which also designed the software for the program). These companies operate more than 900 digital billboards in the United States in hundreds of communities.