Professional Documents
Culture Documents
District of Columbia: Amber Alert Plan
District of Columbia: Amber Alert Plan
Response
Prepared by the
District Department of Transportation
In cooperation with the
Metropolitan Police Department, DC
Emergency Management Agency
Broadcasters Association
May 2005
TABLE OF CONTENTS
I. Background…….…………………………………………………………… 2
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I. BACKGROUND
Amber Hagerman, a nine-year-old from Arlington, Texas, was abducted in 1996
while innocently riding her bicycle. Her body was found four days later. In
response to community concern following this tragedy, the Association of Radio
Managers with the assistance of area law enforcement in Arlington, Texas, created
the “AMBER Plan.” Named for Amber Hagerman, AMBER stands for America’s
Missing: Broadcast Emergency Response”
Under the Plan, radio and television stations volunteer to immediately interrupt
programming to broadcast information about a child abduction by using the EAS, a
system typically used for weather or other civil emergencies. Since the AMBER
Plan was established in Texas, many areas across the country have adopted a
similar emergency alert plan on the local, regional, or statewide level. The plan is
simple -- to alert the public as quickly as possible to a child abduction in hopes of
gaining information which will lead to the safe recovery of that child and the
capture of the abductor. Between 1996 and 2004, AMBER Alerts have been
credited with the safe return of hundreds of children.
The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) has endorsed
the use of the AMBER Plan as used in Texas to assist in the most serious child
abduction cases and is promoting the use of such emergency alert plans
nationwide. The NCMEC has carefully assessed all current plans in use around the
country and has developed a guidebook entitled “AMBER Alert, America’s Missing
Broadcast Emergency Response.”
Sadly, more than 2,000 children are reported missing every day across America.
Tragically, many of these children are never returned to their families, and many
are victims of assault and murder. A 1997 study by the Washington State’s
Attorney General indicated that 74% of children abducted and murdered by
strangers were killed within three hours of being abducted.
Realizing that time is of the essence in these cases, Law Enforcement agencies
across the United States agree that the abduction of a child is of the highest
priority for response and investigation. In furtherance of this type of investigation, a
carefully planned and quick notification to the public by the dissemination of
information to commercial broadcast stations is paramount.
The broadcast media voluntarily provide their valuable airtime to inform the public
that a child has been abducted in the belief that such information is in the best
interest of the community.
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During child abduction emergencies, the broadcast media are the conduit between
law enforcement officials and the public in making sure that the most timely and
accurate information possible quickly reaches the intended audience. Broadcasters
are among the first responders, those who transmit the early, rapid AMBER Alerts,
giving citizens the basic information that will allow them to aid in the successful
recovery of abducted children.
It has been proven that the “AMBER Plan”, is a valuable tool in the recovery of
abducted children.
The purpose of the DC AMBER Plan is for the Metropolitan Police Department,
DC, which is the principal Law Enforcement agency, the US Park Police and the
United States Capitol Police, to collaborate with area broadcasters in child
abduction investigations for the safe and swift return of our children.
Going beyond the traditional methods of facsimile and Teletype, this Plan includes
the use of Internet technology supported by a secure satellite communications
system called EMnet, as well as Dynamic Message Signs (DMS) and other traveler
information systems to rapidly distribute the information. The DC AMBER plan is
designed to integrate with evolving Statewide plans in Virginia and Maryland.
The District’s AMBER Alert Plan should receive guidance from an Advisory Board
consisting of seven members. These members should represent the Metropolitan
Police Department, DC Emergency Management Agency, District Department of
Transportation, the United States Park Police, the United States Capitol Police and
two individuals from the MDCD Broadcasters Association (one member
representing radio, and one member representing television broadcasters.)
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Advisory Board Responsibilities and Procedures
The Advisory Board (referred to as the “Board”) shall convene quarterly to review
the District’s AMBER Alert Plan. The Board shall review all regional plans to
ensure:
1. Each Plan contains criteria, which are not in conflict with the District’s
AMBER Alert Plan.
The Board shall also meet, within two weeks “after” the activation of each
AMBER Alert to review activities to ensure all procedures were followed.
The Metropolitan Police Department, DC (MPDC) can only set activation of the
AMBER Alert Plan in motion for the District of Columbia (DC). All other police
agencies in the District of Columbia making requests for the activation, MUST
contact the DC Metropolitan Police Department’s on duty AMBER Coordinator who
will confirm that an alleged abduction meets the investigative criteria for an
AMBER Alert activation. Only when the AMBER Alert Administrator (Commander
of the Youth and Preventive Services Division) via the AMBER Alert coordinator,
agrees with the investigating officer, may an alert be issued by the Metropolitan
Police Department, DC.
1.) The abducted child must be 17 years of age or younger, and the law
enforcement agency believes the child has been abducted (unwillingly taken from
their environment without permission from the child’s parent or legal guardian).
Child abduction by a non-custodial parent is not a case that would routinely meet
the DC AMBER plan criteria. Unless the investigating agency can articulate a
reasonable suspicion that the parent intends to physically harm the child.
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2.) The law enforcement agency believes the abducted child is in imminent
danger of serious bodily harm or death.
3.) A law enforcement investigation has taken place that verified the abduction
(i.e., eyewitness account) or eliminated alternative explanations;
4.) There must be sufficient information about the child; abductor and / or
suspect to disseminate to the public that could assist in locating the child,
suspect, and/or the suspect’s vehicle;
5.) The abductor and/or child are likely to still be in the broadcast area;
6.) The reporting agency provides the incident report number to the
Metropolitan Police Department, DC’s AMBER Coordinator;
7.) The Child must be entered in the Washington Area Law Enforcement
System (WALES) and the National Crime Information Center (NCIC).
After an abduction is confirmed, and the investigating officer’s report has been
entered into the N.C.I.C. System and the W.A.L.E.S. System, the AMBER Alert
Coordinator shall activate the AMBER Alert. By immediately entering the child
abduction emergency (CAE) information into the Emergency Management Network
(EMnet) system, and the Internet web site www.DCAmberplan.com. this
concurrently notifies the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children and
the FBI.
The AMBER Coordinator shall further provide the EMA with an electronic
request with all information that he is requesting to be disseminated by
the EMA and subsequently distributed to the District Department of
DDOT’s TMC shall display pertinent information on the DMS signs and
immediately contact the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority
(WMATA), Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT), and the
Maryland Department of Transportation (MDOT), Operations Centers and
provide them with the AMBER information.
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3.) The AMBER Coordinator shall request additional notifications be made
through the Regional Incident Coordination Communications System (RICCS)
or other text messaging systems by the DCEMA.
If a DC AMBER Alert is not received via the EMnet system or its web site, it should
not be considered valid.
V. DEFINITIONS
Abduction - A child is reported to be involuntarily missing from the person(s) having
care-taking responsibilities if an eyewitness states that the child was taken by a
person or persons for whom there are a physical description, a vehicle description
(if one is involved), and a direction of travel from the point last seen. Lacking an
eyewitness, there MUST exists articulable evidence that the child’s disappearance
was not voluntary.
*Particular consideration must be given when a child between the ages of 15 and
17 are reported missing as to their own behavior or mental capacity in some way
contributing to the criminal activity. A child under 14 cannot legally give consent for
any action and therefore that age group should be considered more at risk.
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The AMBER Alert shall include the following:
Once the first five hours have passed, the broadcasters may provide updated
alerts for the next seven hours, (not to exceed 12 hours), if significant new
information received may result in the location of the abductor, and/or the child, or,
if within 24 hours, the child is found.
If within 24 hours the child is not found, the alert is self-canceling. If the
cancellation resulted from investigative findings, contrary to the initial reported
information, the reason for the cancellation shall be disseminated.
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The DCEMA shall serve as the backup input point for the MPDC for the transmittal
of the information to the broadcasters via the EMnet system or other systems that
are part of the DC EAS plan.
The DCEMA shall assist the MPDC in the dissemination of the AMBER Alert
information via the following:
• Pagers, Nextel cell phones and radios, text messages, fax and E-
mail systems
• Washington Area Warning System (WAWAS)
• The City Wide 800 MHz radio system through DCEMA
• EMnet
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following information; Child AMBER Alert ***Vehicle Description ***Call 911
with Information.
3. Information shall be displayed for the first two hours after the initial alert.
Information may be displayed for a longer period of time.
4. Highway Advisory Radio (HAR) stations shall also be programmed with all
the details of the alert and shall conclude with the statement that the
person(s) who may locate the abductor should not take any action other
than to call 911 with the information. A TMC Lead Supervisor and/or
designee(s) will program and activate the HAR Traffic Advisory Trailer
System;
5. The TMC Lead Supervisor and/or designee(s) shall notify via phone, fax,
text message and/or pager, VDOT, MDOT, WMATA Operations Centers
and local utility companies (PEPCO, Verizon, WASA and Washington Gas)
of a DC AMBER Alert activation;
6. The TMC Lead Supervisor and / or designee (s) shall monitor the AMBER
Alert activation for the duration of the event. TMC personnel shall monitor
CCTV cameras for child abductor vehicle.
7. The TMC Lead Supervisor and/or designee(s) will notify via test message
key DDOT management personnel of the activation of an AMBER Alert;
During child abduction emergencies, the broadcast media are the conduit between
law enforcement officials and the public in making sure that the most timely and
accurate information possible quickly reaches the intended audience. Broadcasters
are among the first responders, those who transmit the early, rapid AMBER Alerts,
giving citizens the basic information that will allow them to aid in the successful
recovery of abducted children.
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The critical role played by broadcast journalists in an early response does not
minimize the need for other media during AMBER Alert incidents. Cable
companies, newspapers, and specialty publications also play a vital role in
reaching all segments of the public. AMBER Alerts solicit the public’s eyes and
ears, and all media, regardless of audience or geographical reach, can help enlist
the public’s participation when a child is abducted. Consequently, all forms of
media are important and needed.
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• Law enforcement and broadcasters will agree to make equipment, time
and personnel available for periodic tests of the system used for
broadcasting the alert.
Once the case information has been entered into the appropriate systems, the
MPD AMBER Alert Coordinator will inform the DC Emergency Management
Agency electronically that an AMBER Alert is being issued. This communication
will contain all relevant information that should be disseminated by EMA.
Once the information is received and verified by EMA, it will be distributed via the
EMnet system to local broadcast media and the DC Department of Transportation.
Media outlets in the District of Columbia will receive all details of the AMBER Child
Abduction Alert via the EMnet system. This information can be verified by the
media (and the public at large) at www.DCAMBERplan.com, however verification
on the web site is not required for broadcasters to issue the AMBER Alert once it
has been received through EMnet. The information received through EMnet by
itself may be considered authentic and complete.
Upon receipt of the AMBER Alert from MPD, broadcasters will interrupt normal
programming to advise the public of the Alert and to provide the relevant
information which may aid in identifying the suspect, abducted child or the vehicle.
The broadcast should begin with the phrase:
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In addition, the following information may be included if known, and if
transmitted as part of the Alert information:
The alert should conclude with a statement that person(s) who may locate the
abductor should take no action other than to call 911 as soon as possible and
provide law enforcement with the location.
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Once the first five hours have passed, broadcasters may provide updated alerts for
the next seven hours if significant new information is received which may result in
the discovery of the child or abductor or, if within 24 hours, the child is found. No
alerts need to be broadcast more than 12 hours following the abduction.
If within 24 hours the child is not found, the alert is self-canceling. If the criteria are
met (as set forth below) for canceling an Alert before 24 hours have elapsed,
broadcasters are free not only to stop broadcasting the Alert, but to inform the
public that the Alert has been canceled and why. In particular, if the cancellation
resulted from investigative findings contrary to the initial reported information, the
reason for the cancellation may be disseminated unless otherwise negotiated with
MPDC.
The decision to rebroadcast the AMBER Alert information will be left up to each
individual broadcasting station and is completely voluntary.
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VIX. CANCELLATION OF THE ALERT/LOCATING
THE CHILD
• Updates shall be provided to the MPDC by the investigating police agency.
• The investigating agency must notify immediately the MPDC regarding the
termination of the Alert.
• After the termination of the DC AMBER Alert, any updates may continue to
be made by the MPDC Public Information Office.
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X. District of Columbia AMBER Plan
ACTIVATION REQUEST
Initiating Agency
Department
Point of Contact
Telephone Number
Pager Number
Case Investigator
Child Information
Child’s Name (F,M,L)
Child’s Gender (M,F)
Child’s Race
AGE and DOB:
Height and Weight
Eye Color
Hair Color
Clothing
Scars, Marks,
Tattoos
Abduction Information
Time of Abduction
Location of Abduction
Miscellaneous
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Suspect Information
Name
Sex and Race
Age and DOB:
Height and Weight
Eye Color
Hair Color and Style
Clothing
Scars, Marks, Tattoos
Location, Address
Suspect Vehicle
Year Make Model Color
Reg State Reg Number Date/Time Last Seen
District of ______________________________________________________
Columbia
AMBER Plan
Activation
Request (cont.)
Case Info:
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Reason for Disapproval:
Follow-Up:
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XI.
DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA LAW
ENFORCEMENT AGENCIES
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XII. AMBER PLAN CHECK SHEET
GUIDELINES
III. Once an activation has been authenticated, MPDC becomes the lead
Agency.
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XIII. DC AMBER PLAN CHECK SHEET
BROADCASTERS
I. Request received from lead police agency, MPDC for activation of
DC AMBER Alert.
• The information received through EMnet by itself may be
considered authentic and complete.
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XIV. STAKEHOLDERS TELEPHONE
NUMBERS
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