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Amber Alert Training and Technical Assistance Program

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Amber Alert Training and Technical Assistance Program Fall 2020 report reviewing the status of AMBER Alert Plans FALL 2020 across the United States and territories, as well as additional alerts utilized by our states to help recover missing adults, children, and AMBER Alert Training and Technical other vulnerable populations. Assistance Program In Partnership With: National Criminal Justice Training Center at Fox Valley Technical College 1 Contents Introduction ............................................................................................................................................. 4 1000 Children Saved Due to AMBER Alert ................................................................................................. 5 History of AMBER Alert ............................................................................................................................. 6 AATTAP Mission and Program Facts .......................................................................................................... 6 AMBER Alert Plan Review History ............................................................................................................. 7 Best Practices Recommendations for AMBER Alert Plans .......................................................................... 9 Clear and Effective Plan Title ..................................................................................................................9 Stakeholders and Partners ......................................................................................................................9 Memorandum of Understanding ............................................................................................................9 Criteria for Activation............................................................................................................................10 Quality Control Measures and Processes .............................................................................................10 Activation Authority ..............................................................................................................................10 Tools to Activate and Manage Alerts ...................................................................................................10 Technology to Support Activation and Management of Alerts ............................................................10 Training .................................................................................................................................................11 Phone Bank Planning and Operations ..................................................................................................11 After-Action Reporting ..........................................................................................................................12 Oversight Committees ..........................................................................................................................12 The 2018 Ashlynne Mike AMBER Alert in Indian Country Act .................................................................. 12 Communication and Coordination Initiative ............................................................................................ 12 Regional Liaisons ........................................................................................................................... 13 Comprehensive Child Recovery Strategies .............................................................................................. 14 Outcome Contributors ................................................................................................................... 15 AMBER Alert Activation Data .................................................................................................................. 17 Child Abduction Response Teams (CART) ................................................................................................ 18 Additional Alerts ..................................................................................................................................... 19 General Definitions of Some Uniquely Named Alerts ..........................................................................19 State Listing of Additional Alerts .................................................................................................... 20 2 Application of 12 Components to Additional Alerts ........................................................................ 21 Plan Title ...............................................................................................................................................21 Stakeholders and Partners ....................................................................................................................21 Memorandum of Understanding ..........................................................................................................21 Criteria ..................................................................................................................................................21 Quality Control ......................................................................................................................................21 Activation Authority ..............................................................................................................................21 Tools to Activate ...................................................................................................................................21 Technology Management .....................................................................................................................22 Training and Development ...................................................................................................................22 Phone Bank Operations ........................................................................................................................22 After Action and Oversight Committees...............................................................................................22 Other Key Issues ...................................................................................................................................22 Blue Alert ............................................................................................................................................... 23 Summary of Content within Blue Alerts ......................................................................................... 27 Ashanti Alert .......................................................................................................................................... 28 Examples of Additional Alerts and Criteria .............................................................................................. 29 Summary and Recommendations ........................................................................................................... 42 Summary ....................................................................................................................................... 42 Recommendations ......................................................................................................................... 43 This publication was prepared under Cooperative Agreement number 2017-MC-FX-K003 from the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP), U.S. Department of Justice. Points of view or opinions expressed in this document are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent the official position or policies of OJJDP or the U.S. Department of Justice. 3 Introduction The AMBER Alert process has been credited with saving over 1000 children since the first AMBER Plan was started in the Dallas/Fort Worth, Texas area in 1996. Every state has an AMBER Alert plan, and the system exists in at least 30 countries around the world. It is clear that an AMBER Alert plan coupled with an effective and efficient comprehensive child recovery strategy saves the lives of children. In an effort to build on the success of AMBER, every state has implemented additional alerts to help expand recovery efforts to locate children and adults who may go missing for reasons or circumstances not previously covered. More than 50 additional types of alerts exist across our country and this report will provide an overview of the strategies used to protect vulnerable populations and individuals that are in harm’s way. Much work has been done to develop consistency within AMBER Plans by developing a national template of critical components that should be contained in each plan. While no two AMBER plans are exactly alike, the consistency and details of the plans across the United States has improved dramatically since the first AMBER Plan Report in 2002/2003. Given the additional alerts that exist today, little uniformity exists across our country relating to the content in the plans. While many plans carry a title that is only slightly different from a neighboring state, the criteria can vary significantly. One example is in August 2020 - one state issued separate silver alerts for 2 ten-year-olds, a fourteen-year-old, 2 fifteen-year-olds, a forty-five-year-old, as well as a ninety-one-year-old who were missing. Alerts can serve children who do not meet the AMBER criteria, missing adults under suspicious circumstances that place them at risk, and/or developmentally disabled individuals regardless of age. Additional alerts can be used to help locate suspects who have killed or seriously injured law enforcement
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