Amber Alerts for Child Abduction. Find the Child, Save a Life.

Recently in Canada there have been a series of Amber Alerts sent out to notify the public that a child has gone missing or been abducted by a known suspect; as recently as a couple of days ago. Amber Alerts are not a threat to those who receive them; they are a public safety measure and they unify Canadians towards the same objective; protect one another. Amber Alerts, a part of the Alert Ready system, can be sent for a variety of emergencies from child abduction to emergencies related to biological hazards, fires, natural disasters, environmental hazards or terrorist threats/attacks. For this article, I will focus on Amber Alerts for Child Abduction. Find the child, Save a life.

Amber Alert

The Amber Alert is an emergency notification that is sent out if a child under 18 has been abducted and is in grave danger. It is an Emergency Alert. Only government officials can decide to send an Amber Alert and they are determined at the provincial/territorial level.  They could include multiple jurisdictions or levels of governance depending on the scale of the emergency. Information is provided via wireless service providers so that we, as a united front, can help. The Amber Alert began when a nine year old girl from Texas, Amber Hagerman, was kidnapped and murdered.

The impact on the community prompted an alerting system, which we have adopted and utilized in Canada. An emergency alert is sent to your phone. Instead of solely police and RCMP officers looking for the child or suspect, the entire province or country is helping. I believe they are a very useful tool for public safety. The ability to send out a wide-scale alert has saved lives.

Amber Alerts in Europe

The Dutch Amber Alert system is an amazing example of citizen sourcing; with a reach of twelve million citizens, they have a 94% success rate of finding children. Their Amber Alerts appear on the front of ATM machines, in text messages and they are exploring the potential for additional notification mechanisms. The ATM machines that show missing children in immediate danger are in airports, shopping malls and tourist attractions.

According to AmberAlert.eu, in 2018 there were 26 alerts issued across Europe for approximately 30 missing children. Of those, 97% of children were successfully recovered. The Dutch run habitual technical testing and training for the staff operating the alerts, in order to assess Operational Readiness. In Europe, 30 organizations in 21 countries participate in the Amber Alert system. In addition, 465 Members of European Parliament back the system with knowledge, participation and resources.

Amber Alerts for Child Abduction

The purpose of the Amber Alert is to encourage anyone who sees the missing child, the suspect or the vehicle (or any other provided information) to notify the police. The goal is the find the child. An Alert triggers an investigation team comprised of millions of Canadians. If you have no information, no action needed. If you do, it could help find the child. The goal is to locate the abducted child using all resources possible. A united front is the greatest resource we can employ when a suspect could be fleeing with a child and time, literally, could save a life.

Find the Child, Save a Life

Finding the child that has been abducted is saving a life. Amber Alerts are only initiated when the child (or children) is in grave danger. It’s not a ‘my kid won’t return from the park’ alert or an ‘I think she’s at her friend’s house’ alert. The alert is a direct message that a child has been abducted by someone that is capable, and likely, to cause harm or death. Find the child, save a life. Fast, informative and critical to AT LEAST one person’s safety. One could mean many. Many could mean you. This is a public safety measure.

There has been criticism, which I will touch on shortly, about receiving Amber Alerts. Citizen sourcing and sharing of information for the benefit of public protection is not a new concept. Before one complains about this ‘new’ Amber Alert annoyance we have, perhaps reflect on another similar notification system you may have heard of. It is called Interpol.

Interpol is the International Criminal Police Organization; founded in 1923. The General Secretariat of Interpol, staffed by police and civilians, utilize satellite offices, multiple government organizations and 194 member countries that support and operate a connected, secure network as a global platform for engaging citizens and officials for public safety.

Nighttime Phone Alerts

Let’s revisit the current problem we’re having in Canada. People calling 911 to complain that the Amber Alert woke them up. Yes. I’m serious. If you’re Canadian, you know about this already. If you’re reading this from out of country, I’m sorry on behalf of these individuals. It’s very Uncanadian of them.

If you keep your phone on at night, it is for one of two reasons; you’re expecting a call or you keep it on for emergencies. Otherwise, turn your phone off. You have the power to do that. If you choose to keep your phone on at night, in case of emergency, please remember this. An Amber Alert IS an EMERGENCY. Your emergencies are not the only ones that matter because when YOU are in one, YOU will need help. It’s a two way street.

This year, two Amber Alerts were sent out that resulted in complaints about being woken up or disturbed. In one case, the child was not found in time. In the more recent case, the two young boys were found. I repeat. In the first case, the child was NOT found in time to save her life. That is tremendously sad.

The problem I hope to illustrate is that it is calling 911 to complain is unacceptable. In fact, it was such a large problem that the Toronto police had to issue a message asking people to stop calling 911 when they are woken up and explain that 911 is for emergencies. If you have enough intelligence to read the alert, you should have enough intelligence to understand what 911 is for. For lack of a more eloquent way of phrasing this, please pull your thick skull out of your self-centered, narcissistic ass.

Amber Alert complaints flood in after 2 boys, grandfather went missing in Newmarket.

Alert Ready or Get Fined

Alert Ready was designed, negotiated and implemented to extend alerting to cellular devices. It is a part of our National Public Alerting System. The resource are set up by multiple levels of government in order to protect the lives of Canadians.

There was much dismay by many Canadians when it was revealed that people are actually calling 911 to complain about an Amber Alert. You lost sleep? Someone lost a child. Someone else needed to call 911 because their partner was having a heart attack but you took that resource, that time, so you could complain.

I believe if an individual clogs up our first line of emergency response (calling 911) to complain about a public safety measure, they are misusing public resources intentionally and improperly.

Intentional Misuse of Emergency Services

If you use our emergency response system for your personal complaints, you should be fined for the costs. Perhaps we don’t call it a fine, so much as the cost of your phone call. Similar to long distance charges, however these would be considerably higher IMHO. In Canada there are a plethora of offenses that could result in a fine or being criminally charged. Traffic related infractions, causing disturbance, obstructing justice or uttering threats. I believe intentional misuse of emergency services should be included.

Get a Grip

Perhaps it felt like a venting session for those who took the time of our 911 operators. Perhaps those individuals would consider some self-control and nighttime coping skills if they were sent a $2000 bill a couple of days later for intentional misuse of emergency services.

Being annoyed is an emotion. Work through it. Get a grip on your life. The Amber Alert is an emergency alert. However, your lack of emotional control and subsequent monetary contribution could go towards improving our emergency response protocols, providing additional resources to RCMP/police and expanding our reach of civilian sourcing for emergencies. That way, any individual who wastes the time and money of the public would essentially be providing resources for further Amber Alert options. Is your complaint an emergency? No. But we will use that $2000 to help create a wider scale of alerting. Thanks for calling.

Find the child, save a life.  As one brilliant teacher said “If you can, help others; if you cannot do that, at least do not harm them.”

Misuse of emergency response services is harmful. Your sleep is important; your life and a child’s life are more important.  If there is any confusion about this article, please do not call 911.