AMBER Alerts

The AMBER Plan is a voluntary, cooperative program between law-enforcement agencies and local broadcasters to send an emergency alert to the public when a child has been abducted and believed to be in danger of serious bodily harm or death. Under the AMBER Plan, area radio and television stations interrupt programming to broadcast information about the missing child using the Emergency Alert System, formerly known as the Emergency Broadcast System. While EAS is typically used for alerting the public to severe weather emergencies, it is also the warning system for civil and national emergencies. The federal government requires all radio and television stations and most cable systems to install and maintain devices that can monitor EAS warnings and tests and relay them rapidly and reliably to their audiences. The idea behind the AMBER Plan is a simple one: if stations can broadcast weather warnings through EAS, why not child abductions? The AMBER Plan provides law-enforcement agencies with another tool to help recover abducted children and quickly apprehend the suspect.

PURPOSE

The purpose of the AMBER Plan is to provide a rapid response to the most serious child-abduction cases. When an AMBER Alert is activated, law-enforcement agencies immediately gain the assistance of thousands of broadcast and cable listeners and viewers throughout the area. The plan relies on the community to safely recover the abducted child. It is hoped this early warning system will not only coerce a kidnapper into releasing the child for fear of being arrested but also deter the person from committing the crime in the first place.

The following criteria are utilized to determine if an AMBER Alert should be issued for the state of Iowa:

1. Law enforcement confirms a child has been abducted and entry has been made into the IOWA/NCIC Systems identifying the child as missing.
2. The child is under the age of 18.
3. Law enforcement believes the circumstances surrounding the abduction indicate the child is in danger of serious bodily harm or death.
4. There is enough descriptive information about the child, abductor, or suspect's vehicle to believe an immediate broadcast alert will help.

ONLY LAW ENFORCEMENT MAY REQUEST ACTIVATION OF THE AMBER PLAN

The goal of the AMBER Plan is for the safe recovery of children a law enforcement agency believes have been abducted and are in danger of serious bodily harm or death. The above criteria should be broadly interpreted to ensure the safe recovery of Iowa's abducted children.
 

If the criteria for an AMBER Alert cannot be met, other state resources are still available to assist in the search for a missing child. Please call Des Moines State Radio at 515-323-4360 to request assistance.

• The local law enforcement agency verifies a child has been abducted and is in danger of serious bodily harm or death.
• The reporting law enforcement agency contacts Iowa State Patrol Communications and submits an informational packet by FAX with all the required information for the alert.
• Iowa State Patrol Communications verifies receipt of the AMBER Alert Notification Plan with the reporting/initiating agency, via telephone or IOWA System.
• The AMBER Alert information is sent to all broadcasting companies, the National Weather Service and the Department of Transportation.
• The broadcasters, National Weather Service, Department of Transportation and Iowa Lottery broadcast the information to the general public.
• The general public should call 911 if they can provide any information that would help in locating the child and/or abductor.