From: Mark Ourada, state senator, District 19
After a summer filled with tragic stories of child abductions and murders, the nation finally saw a happier ending as two California teens were freed from their kidnapper early this month.
The tool that saved these girls’ lives is the AMBER alert system, a public safety program that was recently adopted in Minnesota.
AMBER – or “America’s Missing: Emergency Broadcast Response” – uses the media to alert the public that an abduction has taken place and to ask for their tips on the crime. The program, which originated in Texas, is named after 9-year-old Amber Haerman, who was kidnapped and killed in 1996. Since its creation, AMBER has been adopted by 26 states and is credited with the safe return of 17 children.
Within four hours of the recent California abductions, descriptions of the girls, their kidnapper and his vehicle were broadcast across statewide television and radio stations and displayed on 316 electronic road signs.
Thanks to these alerts, police received numerous calls on sightings of the vehicle, ultimately enabling law enforcement helicopters to track down the abductor and safely apprehend the girls.
Minnesota Commissioner of Public Safety Charlie Weaver recently announced that the AMBER system is now up and running in Minnesota. Thanks to the combined efforts of our state’s media and law enforcement personnel, we will now have an invaluable tool to help locate abducted children in those first critical hours.
At a time when these troubling crimes seem to be a nearly daily occurrence, it is reassuring to know that our state is working hard to address the problem. I’d like to thank everyone involved with AMBER for finding and implementing new ways to protect Minnesota’s families.