An AMBER alert is a child abduction bulletin used by local police and public authorities to quickly broadcast notice of the unexplained disappearance of a child, especially where a kidnapping or other crime is suspected. The alert is an acronym for "America's Missing: Broadcasting Emergency Response." It was originally named for nine year old Amber Hagerman of Arlington, Texas, who was abducted and murdered in January 1996.
In the United States AMBER alerts usually are broadcast by conventional media such as radio and television, as well as by e-mail, wireless text message systems and through electronically-controlled road signs and billboards. AMBER alert data is entered into crime databases, such as the FBI National Crime Information Center (NCIC), so that authorities in other jurisdictions can be on the lookout for a victim.
Mexico has announced that it intends to implement its own AMBER alert protocol in 2012. Today U.S. ambassador Anthony Wayne said that Mexican officials will be trained by personnel from the U.S. Dept. of Justice. Training will be offered to local police, state and federal prosecutors as well as employees of non-governmental agencies, so that "Mexico has the capacity to fully implement the program at a national level," said Wayne. Several other countries have established similar alert systems.
At an AMBER inaugural ceremony in Mexico City today, a U.S. Justice Dept. official publicly recognized the contribution of Marcel Ebrard, the governor of Mexico's Federal District, in helping to establish the new alert system in his state.
[Fn. The killer of Amber Hagerman, whose body was found two days after her kidnapping, was never determined.]
Also on U.S. Ambassador Anthony Wayne: http://mexicogulfreporter-supplement.blogspot.com/2011/11/new-us-ambassador-to-mexico-stands.html.
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