Amber Alerts: How & When Does It Get Triggered

Yesterday (Oct 5) there was an Amber alert issued for a missing Augusta girl. She is now with her family and the investigation is continuing. BUT, how and when do Amber alerts get triggered?  Here is the deal.

I was thinking about this after seeing so many comments on my own Facebook feed about why was it not issues sooner.

There are national guidelines that most states follow closely.  Here is the summary list from amberalert.gov for when a child is missing and meets the guidelines.

There is reasonable belief by law enforcement that an abduction has occurred.  The law enforcement agency believes that the child is in imminent danger of serious bodily injury or death. There is enough descriptive information about the victim and the abduction for law enforcement to issue an AMBER Alert to assist in the recovery of the child. The abduction is of a child aged 17 years or younger. The child’s name and other critical data elements, including the Child Abduction flag, have been entered into the National Crime Information Center (NCIC) system."

Here is information from the Maine Association of Broadcasters as to what Maine does and how and when it gets triggered.

‘The AMBER Plan requires law enforcement to meet three criteria when evaluating a child abduction. Police departments must have all 3 criteria present before an EAS activation can occur. The AMBER Plan should be activated ONLY when: (1) a child 17 years of age or younger is abducted*, AND (2) there is reason to believe the victim is in imminent danger of serious bodily injury or death, AND (3) there is information available to disseminate to the general public which could assist in the safe recovery of the victim and/or the apprehension of a suspect.”

As you can see, it is not something that happens without a very serious situation.