The Importance and Opponents of Amber Alert System

Amber Alert System
Name
Institution Affiliation
Abstract
The intent of the paper is to offer a detailed analysis of the Amber alert system and its role in criminology sector. Amber program is designed to rescue the victims of abductions, and it involves various agencies such as law authorities, transportation departments, media and public working in collaboration to save the lives of kidnapped children. The system works through a highly coordinated scheme between different parties, with a common goal of rescuing the victims of abduction. The method has received praises for its capacity to save the lives of abducted victims across the United States. A considerable number of children have been saved from the hands of the kidnappers using the Amber alert program. Equally, it has received criticism from some scholars who have argued that it plays little or no role in saving the kidnapped children. They have indicated that the issuance of Amber alerts creates public anxiety and in some instances confusion, and suggested the establishment of alternative strategies more effective than the current method.
Amber Alert System
The AMBER alert system is a strategy designed to save abducted children and it was first introduced in the United States in the year 1996. AMBER is the abbreviation of America's Missing: Broadcast Emergency Response, but its name was obtained from a 9-year-old girl called Amber Hagerman, who was kidnapped and killed in Arlington, Texas in the year 1996 (Simrell, 2014). Following the abduction and murder of this little girl, American government found it necessary to create a means of tracking the kidnapped children and rescue them before they are harmed by the abductors. Amber signals are distributed through different commercial media such as the internet, television stations, radio stations and satellite radio, using the emergency alert systems which are in some instances referred to as Amber alerts (Griffin & Miller, 2008). It is also possible to issue the alerts via electronic traffic condition signs and emails. Although most of these media are commercial, distribution of the Amber alerts is free of charge. The Amber alert system is a collaborative strategy that involves the partnership between various agencies, including law agencies, transportation companies, broadcasters and wireless organizations to stimulate an urgent alert in severe child-abduction cases. The primary objective of this system is to alert the entire community about the missing child to help in the search as safe-retrieval of the child. It allows the authorities to use the ears and eyes of the public through various media to quickly find the kidnapped child (Griffin & Miller, 2008). Once a case of a missing child is reported, the broadcasters interrupt their programs to convey the information to the community using EAS system. This concept is similar to the one used during natural disasters and other emergencies.
How the Amber System Works
Various participants in this system include officials from law enforcement and transportation agencies, media as well as the witnesses. The public is also an indirect stakeholder because people report back to the media or the authorities in case they find the whereabouts of the abducted...