The Indiana Amber Alert System

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In an attempt to acquaint readers with the Indiana Amber Alert System’s technology, this report will review its source, users, funding and relationship with the Emergency Alert System, sometimes called the Emergency Broadcast System. History and criteria of the system will be examined, as well as collaboration, sharing and program funding. Local information will be discussed from the perspective of an area law enforcement officer. Statewide information will be touched upon from the perspective of the director of the Indiana Amber Alert Clearinghouse in Indianapolis.

It was just another day of play for nine year old Amber Hagerman when she was abducted while taking a bicycle ride in her neighborhood in Arlington, Texas in January of 1997(State of Indiana Amber Alert Plan, 2010). Upon hearing a child’s scream, a neighbor peered out the window of her home to see a child being pulled from her bicycle and pushed into the front seat of a pick-up truck. Other than a basic description of the truck and its driver, the neighbor could offer no other information to the police detectives called to the scene.

Arlington police as well as agents from the Federal Bureau of Investigation questioned others adjacent to the crime scene. No one saw anything. Local radio and television stations broadcast news of the abduction, and an avid search for Amber ensued. Four days later Amber’s body was found in a drainage ditch four miles from the initial abduction site. Her throat had been cut. The case of the kidnapping and murder of Amber Hagerman remains unsolved to this day (State of Indiana Amber Alert Plan, 2010).

This event spurred an Arlington citizen to contact a Dallas, Texas radio station suggesting child abductions be aired ...

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... Cited

Amber Alert Brochure, (2010). Article retrieved on July 8, 2010, from http://www.in.gov

Federal Communications Commission, (2010). The emergency alert system. Article retrieved on July 28, 2010, from http://www.fcc.gov

General Assembly for the State of Indiana, (1999). House Bill No. 1869. Article retrieved on June 30, 2010, from http://www.in.gov

Moore, L., (2010). Amber alert program technology. Article retrieved on July 8, 2010, from http://www.policyarchive.org

State of Indiana Amber Alert Plan, (2010). Article retrieved on June 30, 2010, from http://www.amberalertindiana.com

Trilithic, (2010). Common alerting protocol status. Article retrieved on July 28, 2010, from http://www.trilithic.com

United States Department of Justice, (2010). Technology standards and guidelines. Article retrieved on July 8, 2010, from http://www.amberalert.gov

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